الولايات المتحدة: توزيع مواد تعريف بالإسلام خلال معرض مينيسوتا

قام عدد من المسلمين بتوزيع مواد تعريف بالإسلام على زوار معرض ولاية "مينيسوتا" لشرح معنى الإسلام والتعريف به؛ مساهمةً منهم في إزالة سوء الفهم الاجتماعي تجاه الإسلام والوصول للقاعدة العريضة من المجتمع.

وقام المتطوعون بتوزيع مطوية "شرح الإسلام" للتعريف بمعنى الإسلام، إضافة إلى الإعلان عن موعد بث إذاعي من خلال محطة WCCO لتقبل الاستفسارات عن الإسلام، وتقديم نسخ من القرآن لمدة أسبوع.

وقد أكد الموزعون أن ردود الفعل قد تباينت؛ فمن الناس من تقبل المطويات ومنهم من اعتذر، ومنهم من أخذ المطويات وطرحها سلة المهملات؛ تأكيدًا على أن التعريف بالإسلام إساءة ومخالفة للثقافة الأمريكية.

الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

Muslims spread message at the fair

In addition to handing out literature at the State Fair, Muslims also will run an ad on WCCO Radio for a week.

Among the surprises weekend State Fair-goers might find in their swag bags, the most unexpected might be the small card reading "Islam Explained."

The cards, which emphasize that Islam "is an Arabic word which means peaceful," are part of a broad outreach effort by Muslims to wade into the mainstream of Minnesota. On Monday, an ad inviting people to ask questions about Islam and receive a copy of the Qur'an will begin running on WCCO Radio, where it will air for a week.

The campaign, which also included a highway billboard campaign last year and similar informational handouts at the recent Ramsey and Hennepin County fairs, is likely to get more attention than it otherwise might because it comes during widespread debate about a proposed mosque near the ground zero site of the World Trade Center attack and plans by a Florida church to burn the Qur'an.

"Education promotes tolerance," said Julianne Scasny, a Muslim who was handing out cards outside the State Fair Sunday with her husband, Mounaf Alsamman, a U.S. citizen from Syria who said he has never seen such suspicion of Islam in the United States as he has seen recently.

"You cannot judge the faith by the actions of a few," said Hamed Muhammad, 28, of Blaine. "We want to educate people about what Islam is all about."

Muhammad was stationed Sunday under a shade tree across Como Avenue from one of the main fairground gates, where fair-goers flowed past like so many smelt. Many people -- hands already full of buckets of cookies, plastic swords, bratwurst baskets, cell phones, inflated animals and even some live ones -- either walked past or declined Muhammad's offer. But many others took the cards and appeared to read them. In three hours, Muhammad gave away 400 and none hit the ground, at least not in the immediate area.

But not everyone was receptive. Connie Ramberg of St. Cloud, Minn., tossed hers into the nearest trash can, saying she found the effort anti-American and "offensive".