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Shoes come off at mosque open day
Salmaan Qureshi was telling a crowded room of non Muslim visitors about the rules of praying in a mosque, Under Armour Charged Phenom 2 when his small son walked across the prayer hall in front of him, breaking his chain of thought.
“Islam is different from Christianity, in that there are no sacred or profane places. The mosque is simply a place for people to gather, to talk and pray and that’s my son, wearing his Nike SB shoes inside, which he shouldn’t be,” said Dr Qureshi, smiling sheepishly.
Gathering at an open day to try to demystify Islam for ASICS gelnoosa tri 10 the local community, several hundred first time visitors went to the United Muslim Migrants Association of Victoria Centre for Asics gelquantum 365 CM a barbecue with halal sausages in bread, followed by plates of teeth aching sweets and a series of talks on Muslim beliefs.
Near the entrance, children queued for face painting and intricate henna hand decorations. The main event was inside the prayer hall, in an area usually off limits to women and children, where silver haired Caucasian women, dressed in their Sunday best, sat beside young Pakistani men.
“Please don’t go home tonight and regret not asking the questions you wanted answered, particularly the difficult ones you perhaps think you shouldn’t ask,” said Dr Qureshi.
Although no one asked directly about the recent London bombings, Under Armour Golf KPU local Muslims like Qudsia Sayed were keen to tell visitors how she felt.
“The Muslim community does condemn such attacks, and Islam does not encourage killing innocent people,” Mrs Sayed said.
Arsonists attacked the East Doncaster mosque only days after the 2002 Bali bombings, spraying it with anti Islamic slogans, smashing windows and throwing petrol bombs into the prayer hall. The bottles failed to explode, limiting damage to carpet burns, ASICS gelnoosa tri 10 and yesterday the centre’s leaders play down the attack as “a small issue”.
Sampling a plate of sweets at the back of the centre, Frankston grandmother Marie Patterson, 65, said she had enjoyed her first time inside a mosque.
“I’ve found it very similar to my Christian beliefs, just with different sorts of labels,” said Mrs Patterson, standing beside her Asics 19 year old granddaughter Verity, who recently converted to Islam. “I wish more people of all faiths would realise that, because it’s ignorant people that cause all the sadness.”