My masjid - Masjid Annur in Sacramento - held a dawah open house last night with the subject "Jesus in Islam". Our new imam gave the talk and had question & answers afterwards. As one of the few native English speaking Muslims in the Dawah committee they selected me to read the English translation after the imam read the Qur'an (Surrah Mariam ayats 20 through 36) and I was extremely nervous!
We had about three or four local Islamic restaurants donate food for the event, so alhamdulillah we had some VERY good eatin' during the evening (rice, chicken curry, lentils, a couple Pakistanin/Asian dishes I wasn't familiar with and of course the ubiquitous pizza!).
The turn-out was astonishing. Normally we get a lot of Muslims - and non-Muslim brothers - to our Dawah events but this time we actually got many non-Muslim sisters. Every chair at every table was taken. The question and answer session went on beyond discussing Jesus to other - and I felt very valid - questions about Islamic practices and beliefs.
The event ended as is proper with the call to prayer, and after the adhan the visitors were invited & encouraged to watch us pray Maghrib. We had no shahadahs that night but inshallah I know at least one brother had "that look" in his eyes that said he was close. He left with my email address for any further questions.
I managed to take a few photos, and so did another brother. I got to bed late & had to wake up early for Fajr & to head to work but its what I call a "good tired"!
Asalaamu alaikum
Daniel
We had about three or four local Islamic restaurants donate food for the event, so alhamdulillah we had some VERY good eatin' during the evening (rice, chicken curry, lentils, a couple Pakistanin/Asian dishes I wasn't familiar with and of course the ubiquitous pizza!).
The turn-out was astonishing. Normally we get a lot of Muslims - and non-Muslim brothers - to our Dawah events but this time we actually got many non-Muslim sisters. Every chair at every table was taken. The question and answer session went on beyond discussing Jesus to other - and I felt very valid - questions about Islamic practices and beliefs.
The event ended as is proper with the call to prayer, and after the adhan the visitors were invited & encouraged to watch us pray Maghrib. We had no shahadahs that night but inshallah I know at least one brother had "that look" in his eyes that said he was close. He left with my email address for any further questions.
I managed to take a few photos, and so did another brother. I got to bed late & had to wake up early for Fajr & to head to work but its what I call a "good tired"!
Asalaamu alaikum
Daniel
