HYDERABAD: In a bid to “clarify the misconceptions around Islam”, 400-year-old mosque Masjid-e-Tawheed in Tolichowki opened its doors to citizens across religion and gender on Sunday.
For at least 10 hours, members of the congregation attended and addressed visitors across religion. They described them the basic tenets of the religion and its various features. The members also talked about misconceptions around the religion and how it was being “misrepresented by the media”.
Abdullah Reddy, a member of the congregation said the misconceptions come because the Quran is misunderstood. “The Quran talks about peace and forgiving people, it is never about violence.” He also said that few of the sayings in the Quran are often “taken out of context for misleading people”. During the event, the members particularly stressed on how Islam was not a religion of extremism. Reddy added that they also offered to counsel to those whose views were similar to that of extremists. Another member of the congregation, Syed Tauseef said, “We ask them to show how their views are backed up by the Quran. They usually cannot.”
Another reason why the event was organised was that some members of the mosque felt that Muslims are keeping themselves away from religion. “Nowadays, people do not follow Islam according to the text. They don’t pray. We need to correct that,” added Tauseef.