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Hugh Fitzgerald: Mosque Open House at Texas A&M (Part One)

Jan 18, 2019 10:00 am By Hugh Fitzgerald

“College Station’s Islamic Center hosts mosque open house,” by Rebecca Fiedler, The Eagle, November 4, 2018:

Graduate student Osama Qureshi worked with five black ink pens on Saturday afternoon, crafting ornate name signatures of Arabic calligraphy for visitors to the Islamic Center and Masjid in College Station.

“Islam is very iconoclast,” Qureshi explained as he transformed names such as “Graham” and “Samuel” into works of art, each syllable becoming a shape.

What fun to have your very own name, transformed into exotic Arabic, by a practiced calligrapher. “Yes, of course you may take it home. No, there’s no charge. We want to share with you the art of Arabic calligraphy. Just as we want to share our faith with you.” Words to that effect.

“[We] don’t like doing images of people’s faces, which is why this [mosque] is decorated very sparsely. Images are very looked down on out of fear they might lead to idolatry. So going off of that, calligraphy developed within Islam to basically glorify the word of God. There’s a [Plato] quote, ‘beauty is the splendor of truth.’ What is more truthful for a Muslim than the word of God? Now it has become the pinnacle artform of Islam.”

Osama Qureshi knows, but is not about to tell visitors, why “[we] don’t like doing images of people’s faces.” The reason why Muslims over the past 1,400 years have avoided depicting images not just of people’s faces, but of any living creatures, is that in a hadith, Muhammad reports that the angel Gabriel said he wouldn’t enter a house where there is a “dog or pictures.” “Pictures” have been taken by Muslims to mean all depictions of living creatures, whether in paintings or in statues. Thus, because of one hadith, more than 1.5 billion Muslims today continue to severely limit their means of artistic expression.

Qureshi’s calligraphy station was just one feature of the Islamic Center’s biannual Mosque Open House.

These Mosque Open House events ordinarily offer demonstration of a craft practiced by Muslims (though not only by Muslims), usually resulting in something tangible the visitors can take home. It might be a woman applying henna decorations onto the backs of female visitor’s hands, which those visitors can then proudly wear for a few days. Henna painting is not limited to Muslims, but no one need be told that. A favorite at these Mosque Open Houses is teaching girls the proper way to tie, and wear, a hijab. And some of the girls, given the hijab as a gift from the Islamic Center, will begin delightedly to wear those hijabs at home and school, in a multicultural masquerade. At the Islamic Center of Texas A&M, the main craft conveyed was calligraphy, and each student who participated came away with a card on which his or her name had been carefully written in Arabic by calligrapher Osama Qureshi.

Each public school semester, the Islamic Center hosts the event not just for Texas A&M students, but for any non-Muslims in the area to come and learn about the religion and meet the Muslims who live and worship in Brazos County.

“I would say for most part, a lot of students don’t know anything about Islam, which is surprising to me because of how prevalent it’s been in modern American culture,” said Texas A&M Muslim Students Association president Mu’ath Adlouni, also a board member at the Islamic Center. “I think a lot of people know what they hear or see on TV. Many don’t do their own research; it’s a small minority. That’s why we have initiatives to try and teach people about Islam.”

“How prevalent it’s [Islam has] been in modern American culture”? Whatever can Mu’ath Adlouni be thinking of? Less than 1% of the American population is Muslim. Muslims have had a scarcely discernible impact on American culture — on American music, art, literature, science, philosophy, political thought. The knowledge about Islam of “a lot of people” comes from “what the [Americans] hear or see on TV” — obviously, in reports about terrorism — and that is what worries Mu’ath Adlouni, the fact that Islam is “prevalent” in those news accounts. “Many  [Americans] don’t do their own research.” He says, confusingly, that “it’s a small minority.” The meaning here is ambiguous. Adlouni might mean that “it’s only a small minority” of Americans who do their own research on Islam, and don’t just base their opinion of the faith on what they are shown on television, that is, Muslim terror attacks. Or he might mean that the Muslims you “hear or see on TV” — that is, terrorists, shown having killed or killing or threatening to kill — are “a small minority” of the Muslim population. Either way, he wants Americans to get beyond what they see or hear on television and learn about the real Islam. And what better way for those benighted Americans to “do their own research” than to come to a Mosque Open House, and be told the truth about Islam, by the people who know it best. That means Muslims themselves, so eager to share — no holds barred, ask-us-anything and we’ll answer! — that knowledge.

Several dozen college-aged men and women removed their shoes and entered the central prayer room of the mosque on Saturday, greeted by the aroma of hot pastries. Members of the mosque had cooked up multiple pans of a wide variety of foods from several different international cultures, spread out for the enjoyment of mosque guests. Two young women handed out shawls to any female visitors interested in trying out a hijab, answering questions about the garment. Visitors could pick up a brochure on different aspects of the religion, or even take home an English-translated Quran.

The food. At every single one of these mosque events, there’s always the savory, copious, and free food. The exotic delights of Arab and Pakistani cuisines. Visitors, first “greeted by the aroma of hot pastries,” enter a room where “a wide variety of foods from several different international cultures” have been “spread out for the enjoyment of mosque guests.” This food is not tangential, but central to these mosque presentations on Islam. A festive spread meant to create an instant warm feeling, literally and figuratively, for visitors, as they break bread with their kindly Muslim hosts, asking questions now about this strange food and now about that one, learning about spices new to them, such as zaatar, and even taking away a recipe or two, for curried chicken, manasheek, fattoush, umm ali.

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Filed Under: academia, dialogue, Featured, Hugh Fitzgerald, War is deceit Tagged With: Osama Qureshi, Texas A&M


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Comments

  1. Buraq says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 10:09 am

    They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. But Al Quran’s approximately 75,000 words paint a very ugly picture! Clowns!

  2. Jay says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 10:30 am

    This is a PR stunt on steroids! Beware of this attempt to undermine everything America stands for!!
    Giving free hijabs is just a ploy ! I hope the people attending this were “not brainwashed” into thinking
    Islam is a religion of peace!! God bless and save America!!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 19, 2019 at 12:01 am

      True–just mote Taqiyya.

      • gravenimage says

        Jan 19, 2019 at 12:30 am

        more Taqiyya

  3. FYI says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 11:15 am

    The name “allah” …really translates into “muhammed’s sock puppet” ..doesn’t it?
    At least it would if muslims were honest.

    Let’s see the following in Arabic:taqqiya,taysin,kitman,tawriya,muruna,daurura.
    Those islamic dissembling tricks:But ..but..they look so innocent in Arabic..

    I wonder can Qureshi figure out the identity of allah “the BEST of DECEIVERS” koran 3:54?HINT..it’s really muhammed pretending to be God and calling himself “allah”…no chance eh?The fact that allah is the best of deceivers is something moslems don’t get:how can you trust a god who defines himself as being a champion at deception?How do you know the best of deceivers is not deceiving you?You don’t.

    That odor?is it….is it islamic cooking?It’s definitely not Matzo Balls or anything Jewish right ?….because we know how much allah dislikes things that are Jewish.
    I do hope no kuffars were involved in the cooking….

    “Say,do you have Matzo balls?”

    Nice food.Calligraphy.Infidels in their sox on tippytoes.The Contrived “holiness” of islam’s dawa merchants….what could spoil that?

    The TRUTH.

    Koran 9;30 the koran CURSES Jews and Christians
    koran 5 v 51 “Take not the Jews and Christians for friends”

    So muslims making friends with kuffar is contrary to allah/muhammed’s teachings…so on the basis of koran 5 v 51 they cannot be sincere:they just want to lure in the gullible and the theologically-challenged to their CULT…

    There is a lot of information about the True nature of islam and plenty of advice from ex-muslims and former converts to islam to suggest one should NOT fall for the islamic dissembling tricks used to ensnare the easily-deceived.”Stay away from islam”

    Thank allah for the internet:islam’s greatest underminer…

  4. dan christensen says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 11:20 am

    “Or he might mean that the Muslims you “hear or see on TV” — that is, terrorists, shown having killed or killing or threatening to kill — are “a small minority” of the Muslim population.”

    I am sure that it was a great comfort for the Norwegian and Danish young girls to know, that it was only a small minority of the muslim population beheading them in Morocco.
    Of course one muslim suicide bomber exploding together with 100 infidel civilians, is only a small minority, like the jihadists from 9/11, killing 3000 persons.

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 19, 2019 at 12:30 am

      +1

  5. Sam says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 11:27 am

    With all the info about Islam available all over Islam must be banned and all mosques in the US must be closed. Islam is not a religion and totally against our constitution. We need a leader to declare “Islam is Evil” as Reagan did with Soviet Union calling it “Evil Empire”

    No beating around the bush will work any more.”ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”

    • Raja says

      Jan 18, 2019 at 6:10 pm

      Sam, Hope that day comes sooner than thought.

      Not many have opposed Jihad terror and all ethnic groups need to follow suit. All is not lost though.

      Thanks to the information age we live, Islam is being exposed like NEVER BEFORE. The other day I viewed a youtube video on Islamic debate wherein an infidel tells a Muslim: We know to kill also.

  6. Battle says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 12:52 pm

    Did visitors get offered free Female Genital Mutilations? Or offered a free demonstration of a wife beating? Or offered videos explaining being a victim of honor killing by father, husband, brother or uncle? Or try on a burka? Or try on a niqib? Or training how to be ignored while your husband is with wife #1 wife #2 & wife #3? Or show whips used for whipping you for being caught alone with a man? Or show sample stones used for stoning you if you are caught for adultry?

  7. PRCS says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 2:28 pm

    The ugly truth about hijab:

    Qur’an Q 33:58-59 “And those who undeservedly insult believing men and women will bear the guilt of slander and flagrant sin. Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and women believers to make their outer garments hang low over them so as to be recognized and not insulted: God is most forgiving, most merciful.”

    1. As Muslims believe Qur’an is Allah’s literal, infallible word–valid until the end of time–and as Islamic law pertains to Muslims, their slaves and their dhimmis,alone–read: Islamic law is irrelevant to the kuffar–a Muslim woman’s hijab sends this message to MUSLIM MEN: I’m a Muslim woman and it is a sin for you to insult/harass/abuse/annoy me.

    2. The obvious, underlying message: but, women dhimmis, women slaves, and other kuffar women are all fair game for Muslim men.

    3. Note: hijab is MORE than just a head covering.

    4. One can bet that items 1-3 are not discussed at these “Meet the Muslims” propaganda events, and, unless “filthy infidels” bring it up, they won’t be addressed at this upcoming “World Hijab Day” event (Feb 1).

    Here’s an example of a Westernized Muslim’s erroneous interpretation of hijab (beginning at 14:20):

    • revereridesagain says

      Jan 18, 2019 at 4:30 pm

      I think more to the point in case of both nations. would have been education in the formulation of the U.S. Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights, more specifically the First Amendment recognizing the right of every person, free of government interference, to decide what he will believe regarding the nature of reality and the existence, or not, of supernatural beings regardless of the mythology from which they derive.

      • gravenimage says

        Jan 19, 2019 at 12:34 am

        This *is* covered by the First Amendment. Why do you believe that it is not?

        • Wellington says

          Jan 19, 2019 at 12:41 pm

          Correct, gravenimage.

        • gravenimage says

          Jan 19, 2019 at 12:55 pm

          Yes, Wellington–no one is forced to believe in anything–or to have to pretend to do so.

  8. Eric says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 4:46 pm

    “Visitors could pick up a brochure on different aspects of the religion, or even take home an English-translated Quran.” How could they learn the truth about islam from an English translated koran? Because Arabic is the language in which the koran’s written, aren’t we repeatedly told unless we can read or understand it, we cannot really understand the koran or islam? Aren’t we told the mentally deranged, unstable, or ill people prone to violence who commit acts of violence in the name of islam or allah have obviously misread, misinterpreted, misunderstood, or mistranslated the koran? If the head of ISIS is an islamic scholar and cannot understand the koran how are we and what good would an English version be?

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 19, 2019 at 1:07 pm

      Good point–but Muslims only claim that you can’t learn about Islam from any non-Arabic translation if you are critical of any aspect of that creed.

      And of course this is claptrap–any language can be translated.

  9. ploome says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 5:47 pm

    In the 1960’s and 1970’s the Hari Krishna people would do the same

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 19, 2019 at 12:37 am

      But they didn’t want to violently conquer us and impose Shari’ah law–so, rather different.

  10. na says

    Jan 18, 2019 at 11:18 pm

    Can you guess what imam is thinking?
    a) She is 10 year old . But a spy . She has hidden camera to capture scenes inside the mosque.
    b) She is a goat promised by Allah. Allah Akbar!

  11. gravenimage says

    Jan 19, 2019 at 12:00 am

    Hugh Fitzgerald: Mosque Open House at Texas A&M (Part One)

    Graduate student Osama Qureshi worked with five black ink pens on Saturday afternoon, crafting ornate name signatures of Arabic calligraphy for visitors to the Islamic Center and Masjid in College Station.
    …,……………….

    Can you also ask him to do “kill the unbelievers wherever you find them” in Arabic calligraphy? That might be more apt…

    More:

    “Islam is very iconoclast,” Qureshi explained…
    …,……………….

    In other words, Muslims hate art and often destroy it, as well as murdering artists.

  12. Wellington says

    Jan 19, 2019 at 12:43 pm

    Wouldn’t go unless they have BLTs.

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 19, 2019 at 1:09 pm

      🙂

  13. Mahendra Singh says

    Jan 19, 2019 at 8:53 pm

    Reading Koran as it is is very, very boring. The Muslims powers should publish an illustrated
    version of Koran. I would gladly volunteer to draw a few sketches and skits.

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