AHMEDABAD: Sending a message of communal harmony, a mosque in Gujarat has opened its doors for people across all religions.
With a poster that read: “Let us visit the mosque, see live namaz (prayer) and understand Islam,” Masjid Umar-Bin-Khattab “inviting non-Muslims to understand Islam.”
The one-year-old masjid located in Rakhial area has started an exhibition where people from any religion can come and witness the activities going on in the Mosque.
Around 120 non-Muslims, mostly Hindus, men and women attended the special gathering, as per reports published in Times Of India.
The organiser of the exhibition told ANI, “The main motto is to initiate communal harmony among people. Today, people have wrong impressions about the activities that take place in a mosque. So, we kept it open to let people know what exactly is happening here. We request other mosques also to follow this trend so that people can understand our religion.”
A panel was also put on display with a message from Hadith — sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) along with a smartphone’s image showing social media platforms like WhattsApp, Facebook and Twitter. The message reads, “Do not spread rumours. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had stated that the man who spreads a message without cross checking its authenticity is also a liar.”
A Hindu visitor said that it is a very nice gesture. He added, “I am happy that they have kept the mosque open for all. Today, I came here and witnessed the Namaz, which gave me positive vibes.
In the last few years, events titled ‘Masjid for all’, ‘Visit My Mosque’ are being organised in the United States, UK and in western world to clear wrong impressions and misconceptions about the religion and Muslims.
Recently, trustees of some mosques had run such campaigns in Hyderabad and Pune. However, it was for the first time Gujarati Hindus had got a chance to visit a mosque.
With agency inputs