Islam 101 Shares Faith with Fort Wayne Community

“Who is Allah?” “Why is Islam often misunderstood?”

Colorful posters hanging on the walls of the Universal Education Foundation in Fort Wayne bore these questions and provided answers to these and other common questions about the Muslim faith.

“Islam 101: Get to Know Your Muslim Neighbor,” presented by the foundation, sought to bring these posters to life by connecting area Muslims with those of other faiths who wanted to know more about their beliefs.

“People need to have correct information and being a part of this community, as good civic leaders, we need to tell people what Islam does and does not believe in,” said Tariq Akbar, UEF board president.

UEF, which was established in 2005, draws about 200 worshipers on average Fridays — the Muslim holy day. It also educates youth in kindergarten through high school every Sunday about Islamic history, the Arabic language and the Quran.

Saturday's event was the first of its kind for the foundation. Akbar, as he mingled among the crowd of mixed ethnicities and faiths, added he would like the event to lead to more interaction between faith groups.

Nearby, Steven McPeek, pastor at Markle United Methodist Church read the many posters on the wall.

He learned of the event too late to inform his congregation, but he said he would likely discuss his experience at a service.

“We're connected in some way, so I'm trying to understand more about the faith so we can see each other as humans, so there's not that fear, that anxiety about the Muslim faith.” McPeek said. “We're all created in God's image.”

After an opening reading from the Quran, Nuhu Abdulai — an imam, a Muslim worship service leader— stood in front of the 90 or so in attendance and shared the main aspects, or pillars, of Islam.

The native of Ghana fluidly switched between Arabic and English throughout his presentation, translating for the audience as necessary.

He stressed, among other things, the importance of daily prayer, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan and adherence to the faith's teachings.

“You have to judge the religion based off of what it teaches, not by what people who say they are followers choose to do,” Abdulai said.

The audience question-and-answer period touched on a wide variety of topics, from abortion, to salvation to dietary restrictions. Abdulai would then elaborate on the Muslim teaching on the given subject.

A comment from an audience member questioning the role and dress of Muslim women drew some laughs from the audience.

“I'm not going to go too deep into this,” Abdulai said, creating a few more audience chuckles.

Audience member Judy McDonald was bothered by what she described as inequality between the genders in Islam, she said after the Q&A.

“I think it paints a view of Islam that is not true,” she said of the presentation, adding she believes the religion to be repressive to women.

Fort Wayne resident Heather Van Frankenhuyzen has lived in Michigan, Washington and Maine. She said the Muslim community in Fort Wayne, however, is the best she's ever lived in.

“I've lived in places where people assume they know everything about Islam from reading newspapers and watching TV,” she said.

She noted a particular appreciation of Mayor Tom Henry for his support of interfaith efforts, including the Prayers for the City event May 5.

“It's nice to know that someone is seeking to understand a group,” she said.

As the event shifted from education to socialization, Susan Sirois and her daughter Renee helped themselves to some of the cultural foods that filled the air with their spices. The two attended the open house as a way to learn more about the people and the faith behind some of their favorite cultural dishes.

“We have a lot of interest in other cultures,” Susan Sirois said. “If you just sit at home in your box, you're never going to learn about the world and experience it.”