Hawzah News Agency-As many as 500 St. Louis area Muslims and non-Muslims are expected to share in food and faith traditions Thursday for a "Sharing Ramadan" event.
The gathering invites members of the public to share in the iftar, Now in its third year, the event hosted by the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis and the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Missouri will begin at 7:30 p.m. with a guided tour of the Daar-ul-Islam Masjid in Ballwin.
Executive director of CAIR-St. Louis Faizan Syed said this year will see the biggest event yet, and while its growing popularity is positive, "we also have to live in the reality that we have to make sure that it is also a safe space for people."
"In the past, we never worried about security, we never had security at these events," Syed said. "But this year, because of the climate of this country, part of the program organizing is to worry about who is going to do security, how is it going to be managed and how are we going to deal with that as well."
"We really feel, especially in this growing tide of misunderstanding about the American Muslim community, who we are, what we believe and what we stand for, these types of events are so powerful," said Faizan Syed, "because you're inviting people into your center for the most unifying thing, which is breaking bread."
Showing unity is why Kelly Brown of north St. Louis is planning to attend. She said it is important for her to "stand with and learn more about our Muslim brothers and sisters"
"A lot of people online and politicians are trying to use the shooting as an opportunity to say really awful things about the Muslim community and to say that we need to keep Muslims out of our country and just awful things, and I don't feel like that's the right take away from that horrible massacre," she said.
"We love when people come in and ask awkward and difficult questions, because the worst is if you have that question and you never ask it," he said.
Syed also noted he and other organizers have made a concerted effort to reach out to people who don't already have an interest in learning about Islam. For instance, he reached out to local supporters of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims coming into the United States.
"Unless we invite the people who may not like us, we are just preaching to the choir, and that's not the goal we're trying to achieve," Syed said.
After all, he said, the goal of Ramadan is to build relationships - with god, within the community and with humanity.
Getting that personal connection is key to gaining "a perspective you can't get from reading a book or watching television," said Leslie Heberlie, co-executive director of Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis.
"This event, like any event where a faith community is inviting the public in, is a chance to put faces and names next to information that we have about a faith community, to learn that the people there are living in our home community, who have very similar concerns." she said.
