Nasra Wehelie knows that far too often the Muslim community is portrayed negatively in the media and that the fear of Muslims and Islam, in general, is rampant across the United States. To break these barriers and to provide meaningful dialogue, she and the Muslim Youth of Madison are inviting the community to come and have dinner and celebrate Ramadan this Friday.
“It’s about connecting, but it’s also about understanding and suspending judgment that you might have of somebody who is different that you,” Wehelie tells Madison365. “It’s about understanding a different narrative than you might constantly be getting from the media and getting to know your neighbors and community members. All of us are striving to treat each other right and I think a community dinner like this is a great way to start.”
The third annual Muslim Youth of Madison Community Iftar will be held this Friday, July 1, 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Fitchburg Community Center.
Iftar is the meal eaten by Muslims after sunset during Ramadan.
“It’s a great chance to spend time with our neighbors and to get to know the Muslim community here in Madison,” says Wehelie. “It’s also a chance to learn about Ramadan.”
The theme of the third annual Community Iftar is “Embracing our Neighbors.”
“The Muslim community in Madison is growing,” Wehelie says. “The reason why we chose ‘Embracing our Neighbors’ [theme] is because of what is happening on both the national level and the local level where people are stoking fear in the minds of Americans and Muslims are trashed in the media. By meeting with the Muslim community and having conversations with them will give people a real sense of who they are – they are equally as American as you and I [are]. The idea of telling them that they don’t belong here creates more problems and more fear. That’s one of the reasons we are hosting this event. People will have direct contact with Muslims and can ask questions and have conversations with Muslims.”
Wehelie started Muslim Youth of Madison a few years ago to make sure that young people in the community were hearing more than just negative things about Islam from their peers — and negative things about the United States from radical extremists. The mission of the Muslim Youth of Madison is to improve the lives of Muslim youth and to create a supportive, loving, friendly, safe and well-established Muslim community while allowing and supporting them to grow in an environment suitable for their Islamic knowledge.
“We come together to let the young people know that they can maintain both of their identities as an American and a Muslim without compromising either of those identities,” Wehelie says. “It has been a very interesting group and it’s something that we want the greater community to be part of, too.”
There will be two guest speakers at the event: John Vaudreuil, the U.S. Attorney for Western Wisconsin and Imam Alhagie Jallow of the Madinah Community Center.
Jallow was born in Mbollet, The Gambia in 1987. After completing his primary studies he traveled to Diourbel, Senegal where he completed the memorization of the Qur’an. Upon returning to The Gambia he taught Qur’an in Masjid Bilal while completing his secondary education until receiving a scholarship to study at the Islamic University of Imam Muhammad bin Saud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Imam Alhagie Jallow will talk about what Islam says about our neighbors,” Wehelie says. “Islam is very, very sensitive about how we behave with others and neighbors have been really emphasized – how we treat them, how we relate to them.”
Vaudreuil has been very strong throughout his career in protecting vulnerable communities by enforcing civil rights laws.
“John Vaudreuil will talk about his experiences dealing with Muslim communities. He travels to many Muslim countries and has had many interesting relationships with those communities,” Wehelie says. “He will talk about how we as Americans … how can we leverage the relationship we have with our neighbors or with our communities rather than just having fear in my minds and hearts.”
Wehelie says that it is events like this that help people get past stereotypes they might have.
“I think when people connect they will suspend any pre-judgement they had on the Muslim community,” she says. “It’s so important that we get to know our neighbors and who are community members are rather than just having continuous fear.
“But another great reason to come is that there will also be very delicious food from all over the world at the event,” she adds. “I feel like it’s a great opportunity. Every day, we as humans continue to learn and grow and this is an opportunity to do just that with our neighbors in the community.”
