Hawzah News Agency-The Waltham Islamic Society opened its doors to the public on Sunday, and more than 200 people walked in. Many were seeing the inside of a mosque for the first time.

The attendees were able to see the mosque, ask questions, hear presentations from young members of the mosque and hear a speech from an Islamic scholar at Sunday’s event. The idea was to give residents a true sense of what Islam is about instead of what they hear on TV.

“It was a joyful event. Everyone was really happy,” said Sharon Antia, the head of the Waltham-based Center for Community Engagement.

Antia organized the “Meet our Muslim Neighbors” event in the Government Center auditorium in February that sought to accomplish the same goal. This open house was to serve as a companion to that event and was originally scheduled for April 3 during “Say Hi to Waltham Week,” but was rescheduled to May 15 because of inclement weather.

Antia said children had booths set up around the perimeter of the mosque where attendees were invited to learn about the 5 pillars of Islam, about women in Islam and about why Islam is important to them.

“We were encouraged to ask questions freely and the answers were open and honest,” she said.

Yousuf Raheem, who sits on the board of directors for the Waltham Islamic Society, said the children who presented were those who attend weekend classes at the mosque. They were also helped by some youths from Framingham, where a similar event was held last month.

“It’s something every mosque is going through right now with the election and all the rhetoric,” he said. “It’s for people to learn about Islam and balance out what they hear on CNN and show them that what you hear is not the same.”

He added, “It’s an extra burden we have to prove of ourselves and we take the challenge and do it as much as we can.”

Antia said she hopes to run more events like the open house in the future, where members of the community can come together and reach a greater understanding.