AN INTERFAITH DIALOGUE LOCAL MOSQUES OPEN DOORS TO THE CURIOUS, EXPLAIN ISLAM.Byline: BRAD A. GREENBERG Staff Writer RESEDA -- The doors of the Islamic Center of Reseda are open 16 hours a day, but non-Muslims rarely step inside. So Sunday, for the fourth straight year, the Islamic center joined two dozen Southland south·land or South·land n. A region in the south of a country or an area. south  land·er n.Noun 1. mosques to provide an open house for the region. A handful of Christians, Jews and spiritualists surveyed the mosque as San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Muslims worshipped and prayed. They approached the prayer room and added their shoes to a pile in the foyer, beneath a sign that read, ``Please keep this place clean -- purity is half of the faith.'' Inside the wood-paneled room with a vaulted ceiling and beneath the hum of an oscillating os·cil·late intr.v. os·cil·lat·ed, os·cil·lat·ing, os·cil·lates 1. To swing back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm. 2. fan, some 20 men, many wearing prayer robes, sat on the beige beige n. 1. A light grayish brown or yellowish brown to grayish yellow. 2. A soft fabric of undyed, unbleached wool. adj. Light grayish-brown or yellowish-brown to grayish-yellow. carpet with dark lines facing Mecca. They listened as the imam spoke in Arabic from the Quran. Five women, wearing hijabs, sat behind a barrier that resembled a dressing area. Zabie Mansoory, a 20-year-old Muslim from Sylmar, stood in the back with four visitors and answered questions. How do Muslims pray? Why do Sunnis and Shias kill each other? Why do some Muslims hate the West? As he fielded such questions, a man wearing a skull cap stood up in the front and boomed in Arabic. ``This is the call to pray,'' Mansoory explained. ``Muslims pray five times a day.'' The purpose behind Open Mosque Day was to break down the myths behind Islam and make clear that not all Muslims subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; the holy war extremism Extremism See also Fanaticism. drys advocates of Prohibition in America. [Am. Hist.: Allen, 41] Jacobins rabidly radical faction; principal perpetrators of Reign of Terror. [Fr. Hist. that often makes the news. And, just like last year, when the event was held only weeks after the London train bombings, Sunday's event came less than two weeks after the arrest of 23 British citizens who allegedly planned to bomb trans-Atlantic airliners. In light of rising Islamic terrorism, Muslim-American organizations have stressed that Islam is a religion of peace. This could be seen on a bumper sticker bumper sticker n. A sticker bearing a printed message for display on a vehicle's bumper. bumper sticker n → Aufkleber m in the Reseda mosque's foyer: ``Islam means peace, purity and submission to the will of God.'' Lyle Martens of Venice believed it. ``My wife and I have traveled in the Middle East and we very much like the Arab culture. Along with that culture is the religion. And with the news of the day, it's good to see the positive aspect,'' said Martens, a 55- year-old Christian who Sunday ``learned or (had) confirmed that Muslim people are people who respect life as much as any other religious people.'' Some area religious groups had encouraged their members to visit a mosque and learn about the Muslim faith and culture. ``This is a time when there is tremendous divisiveness in this country and beyond,'' said the Rev. Gwynne Guibord, head of ecumenical and interreligious concerns for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is a community of 85,000 Episcopalians in 147 congregations, 39 schools, and 18 major institutions, spanning all of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties, and part of Riverside County. . ``It is a time when we have labeled anyone who doesn't worship like us or talk like us or dress like us as `the other.' In the context of that, we have come to be afraid of and demonize de·mon·ize tr.v. de·mon·ized, de·mon·iz·ing, de·mon·iz·es 1. To turn into or as if into a demon. 2. To possess by or as if by a demon. 3. the other, forgetting that we are all children of the holy -- whatever we may call that, whether it is Buddha or Allah or Elohim or God or Jesus.'' Heather Atkinson, a Woodland Hills attorney and member of the Self- Realization Fellowship, an L.A.-based religious group dedicated to the teachings of Kriya yoga
``What does this one say?'' she asked, pointing to a framed copy of a saying in Arabic. ``There is no God but Allah,'' Mansoory answered. Atkinson, who prides herself on being a scholar of comparative religion, said she visited the mosque because Islam is one of the only faiths she hasn't studied. ``Thank you for concentrating on the interfaith dialogue and the openness,'' Atkinson said as she left with a pocket-sized Quran in her hand. ``That really helps.'' brad.greenberg(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3634 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Zabie Mansoory gives a tour of the Islamic Center of Reseda to Heather Atkinson on Sunday, during the fourth annual Open Mosque Day in Reseda. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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