The Madison Muslim Community will be hosting a community event titled “Clearing Misconceptions about Islam” to bring together speakers and prominent Muslims from Wisconsin and around the country to provide an open forum for all to learn more about Islam and understand where common misconceptions about Muslims originate from.
Sarah Schlosser will be the moderator for “Clearing Misconceptions About Islam” which will take place on Sunday, May 21, 2 p.m. at the Marriott West in Middleton.
“A year ago in January, the Madison Muslim Community put on an event and it was really about saying to folks, ‘Hey, we have the same concerns about ISIS and terrorism that you all do.’ That event was really well-received,” Schlosser tells Madison365.
The event that she is speaking of was “Islam, Muslims, and the West: ISIL- Our Common Enemy” at Monona Terrace and featured panelists like County Executive Joe Parisi, Mayor Paul Soglin Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, Alder Samba Baldeh, U.S. Congressman Mark Pocan, former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney and more. It was moderated by Masood Akhtar.
“Since that first event, obviously, there has been a lot that has happened on the political scene, and we’ve seen a rise in hate crimes not just among Muslims, but in Jewish communities and others. We’ve seen an increase in fear, too,” says Schlosser, who converted to Islam a year ago. “The community came together and said that it’s time to have another session, another opportunity for people in the community to come and clear up some misconceptions – things that they have heard or seen and never really had an opportunity to get a better understanding or clarification. That’s the point of the event.”
“Clearing Misconceptions About Islam” will feature speakers from across the nation including Dr. Hadia Mubarak, a lecturer on religion at the University of North Carolina and Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She will speak on “Women’s Rights in Islam” at the forum.
“One of the topics that we chose was women’s rights. We recognized that many Muslim women who cover themselves sort of put themselves in a position of being recognizable and identified,” Schlosser says. “There’s a lot of growing fear among sisters about wearing Hijab and whether that make them a target for the potential hate crimes that happen.
“We know that people misunderstand when they see that hijab, when they see that physical symbol of Islam and they misinterpret that to be oppression,” she adds. “Or they think that women in Islam don’t have education or rights and they are not able to participate in community. Those are the things that we are really going to talk about to help people truly understand what is the case rather than what they perceive.”
Another major topic will be Sharia Law on which Sheikh Azfar Uddin, an Imam from the Islamic Foundation North of Libertyville, Illinois, will speak about.
“There have been a number of states who are adopting that ‘foreign’ law cannot be applied or used in a state. That’s raised a lot of questions about sharia law,” Schlosser says. “Unfortunately, a lot of times when Sharia Law is brought up in the media it’s being applied in a way that isn’t actually consistent with the guidelines of Sharia Law.”
Sheikh Alhagie Jallow, an Imam at Madinah Community Center here in Madison, will speak about jihad and terrorism.
“There’s a misunderstanding about what jihad is. The word means ‘struggle’ and the word has been hijacked by groups like ISIS for religious war,” Schlosser says. “Sheikh Alhagie Jallow will be clarifying what jihad is and what it isn’t and how groups like ISIS have taken that term and misrepresented it.”
“Clearing Misconceptions about Islam” will also feature short videos on combating terrorism with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne will also talk to the group about the relationships between the Dane County community and the Muslim communities.
Schlosser says that she hopes to see many more events like this in the community to help learn about each other, break down barriers and celebrate diversity.
“For me, when I think about it … one of the things that I really love about Madison and the surrounding area is that, in general, it is a friendly, open community,” she says. “It’s the kind of place where you want to raise your kids and run your business. I think the reason that people should come to this event is so that we can continue to get to know our neighbors. We need to be diligent about constantly learning about each other and understanding each other so that we can reduce any kind of fear that might generate acts of hate in our community.”
