News

Actions

#MeetAMuslim campaign comes to UW-Milwaukee

National campaign comes to MKE
Posted
and last updated

Young Muslims across the country are opening themselves up to questions, by standing with signs that say "Meet a Muslim."

The hashtag has been spread hundreds of times on social media and on Wednesday, the campaign came to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"There are questions that need to be asked and we're here to answer them," said Masroor Ahmad, a volunteer with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association.

He, along with other association members stood in the UWM Student Union for an hour on Wednesday with whiteboards that said "I'm Muslim, ask me anything."

"They're asking us questions like can you eat pork? Do you celebrate Christmas? What is Allah? Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" Ahmad said. "It's just these very basic questions that goes to show that a lot of Americans don't really know what Islam is about and we're here to show them and answer those questions."

He says they're also not afraid to discuss more serious topics, like terrorism.

UWM freshman Kevin Brings stopped to talk with them on Wednesday and asked them how they felt about people telling them that Islam is a religion based off of violence.

"The very world Islam means 'peace,'" Ahmad said. "If the name of the religion is translated into 'peace' how can you say that it's a violent religion?"

Brings said he definitely felt like he learned something after speaking with them.

"I personally just think that it's fair to listen to what every person has to say about their viewpoints, no matter how much I agree or disagree with," Brings said.

Ahmad said in his personal life, he's never experienced any kind of discrimination. In fact, he's had more of the opposite and said lately people have been expressing their support.

"You really see that at the end of the day, we're all people and we're all bound together by the same fundamental things," Ahmad said. "This is the first step I'd say in a long journey to breaking down these walls and bringing everyone together as Americans." 

Be sure and try our new SNOWCAST APP! It is the "snow equivalent to STORM SHIELD" - a great new product that gives you high resolution snow forecasts for any part of the nation! It has just been introduced for iPhones, but we are working on the Android version! Just search SNOWCAST in the App Store or click here.