Religious education: Sister Jeanie Hagedorn and Sister Elaine Hagedorn, Catholic nuns from Des Moines who happen to be genetic sisters, talk with Imam Ibrahim Dremali after he spoke Saturday at the Islamic Center in Des Moines.
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/764
July 9, 2005
MIM: New Jihadi on the block Ibrahim Dremali has wasted no time in setting up a new Islamic school and welcoming the neighborhood infidels to an open house in order to recruit new converts. Given the fact that one of the congregants of his former mosque Dr. Rafiq Sabir, was just arrested for swearing alligiance to Al Qaeda, one wonders how many people will show up, and if the religion affairs editor of the Des Moines Register,a supporter of Dremali, will cover the event. One of the speakers was the former Vice President of the Islamic Center Ako Abdul -Samad, who is a member of the Iowa school board. Ako crowed about how after 9/11when people started hearing that Islam was a religion of peace, they liked what they heard "and started converting right and left". (see bio below) One blogger commented:
"...Hey, farmers, students, good people of Des Moines, aren't you curious about this new religion? Man, how interesting? Huh?..." http://www.perspectives.com/forums/forum70/41085.html
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050708/NEWS08/507080354/1010
The Islamic Center of Des Moines, 6201 Franklin Ave., is holding an open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
The congregation is inviting people of all faiths to "come see for yourself how 1.9 billion people on six continents practice their daily life." The program includes a narration of Islam, Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad and Islamic beliefs. Speakers include Mohamad Khan, Ako Abdul-Samad, Aida Ma ki, Sarah Robertson and Ibrahim Dremali, imam of the Islamic Center.
Discussion periods will be held from 10 a.m. to noon and again from 2 to 4 p.m.
Everyone is welcome. Women are asked to dress conservatively, in keeping with Islamic tradition.
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MIM: This article is an account of the event yesterday. Note that the two sisters (nuns) are wearing what appears to be a white hijab with their habit.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050710/LIFE05/507100333/1039/LIFE
Published July 10, 2005
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Religious education: Sister Jeanie Hagedorn and Sister Elaine Hagedorn, Catholic nuns from Des Moines who happen to be genetic sisters, talk with Imam Ibrahim Dremali after he spoke Saturday at the Islamic Center in Des Moines. |
Islamic Center holds 'ice-breaker'
An open house at the Des Moines facility aims to dispel myths about Islam and the Muslim people.
By
CLARK KAUFFMAN CLARK KAUFFMAN
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Last week, while preparing for Saturday's open house at the Islamic Center of Des Moines, one of the Muslim organizers received a disturbing phone call.
"Tell me, when are you going to blow up another bus?" asked the male caller, making an apparent reference to last week's terrorist attacks in London.
The imam of the center, Ibrahim Dremali , says the call is indicative of some people's lack of understanding when it comes to Islam and the Muslim people. Some Americans still equate peace-loving Muslims with foreign terrorist extremists, forgetting that there are at least 2 million Americans of the Islamic faith.
Saturday's open house was intended to help "break the ice between Muslims and non-Muslims," Dremali said. About 70 people attended a morning presentation at which Dremali and a panel of guest speakers sought to dispel some of the more common myths associated with Islam.
Dremali, a husband and the father of four children, laughed as he talked about the perception of Muslim women being oppressed and treated as property. "I always make this joke: If you think we oppress women, come to my house and see."
Ako Abdul-Samad, a Muslim imam who serves on the Des Moines school board, said that locally the terrorist attacks of September 2001 resulted in non-Muslims actively seeking out information on the Islamic faith.
"Some people called and said, 'You should die,' but the majority of the people in Des Moines opened their hearts," he said.
Daniel Turner of Des Moines asked the panel how area residents could go about educating their friends and neighbors on the Islamic faith.
Abdul-Samad said the process should start in schools with comparative religion classes that don't seek to "convert" children but to educate them. And adults, he said, need to openly discuss their differences rather than focus on similarities in the spirit of group unity.
"I have a real problem with workshops where we all end up singing, 'Kumbaya,' " he said, to much laughter. "I never understood that song anyway."
Dremali reminded the group that Islam, Christianity and Judaism all trace their origins back to the prophet and patriarch Abraham. There are roughly 30,000 Muslims in Iowa, one-third of whom live in the Des Moines area, he said.
Dremali is optimistic that education will erase some of the misunderstandings that exist between Muslims and non-Muslims. The man who called the center Friday about the London bomb attacks stayed on the phone and listened as it was explained to him that Muslims are opposed to such violence.
"And then, after all of that, he apologized," Dremali said.
People interested in learning more about Islam can visit the Islamic Center of Des Moines, 6201 Franklin Ave.
MIM: Even before yesterday's 'ice breaker' the Da'wa efforts at the Islamic Center of Des Moines efforts to bring Islam to Iowa did not go unnoticed by this on this blog which asks, hey farmers, students, good people of Des Moines, aren't you curious about this new religion? Man how interesting ? Huh?
Former ICDM vice president Ako Abdul - Samad crowed that "After 9/11 when people saw that we were a religion of peace-we started getting converts right and left".
http://www.perspectives.com/forums/forum70/41085.html
Islam Growing in Central Iowa
They heard it was a religion of peace, and that was enough for them. From WHOTV, with thanks to Mackie:
Des Moines - Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the United States. Here in Iowa, it seems to be no different, and there are few reasons why so many Iowans are connecting with this faith.
The Islamic Center of Des Moines is one of three Muslim mosques in the metro, so it may suprise you that an estimated twelve thousand Muslims live in the metro area. One of the most well-known of them is Ako Abdul-Samad. He's says people moving into Iowa are helping the religion grow. "You have a large Bosnian population, about fifteen thousand in Des Moines. Ninety-nine percent of them are Muslim."
In fact, the Bosnian community just purchased a former day care center to build a new mosque to accomodate all the growth, and the very first Islamic grade school opened its doors in Des Moines this year. Some native Iowans are also converting to the faith. After 9-11, Ako says people living in Des Moines seemed to become more educated about Islam. He believes they learned it is a religion of peace. "When people saw that, we started getting converts left and right. People were saying, 'I like what I hear.'"
In the future, Ako expects more people will want to take a closer look at Islam, and he thinks Des Moines, a mostly Christian town, will accept that...
A Christian town? We have "Christian towns" now?
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Again, da'wa that references 9/11. Of course, everyone here knows what that means. Since, Allah plans everything, and has preordained that Islam shall dominate the globe, 9/11 was a triumph, something that had to happen. One more event in the never ending struggle for the faith, da'wa-jihad-da'wa-jihad-and more da'wa, turing the heads of Infidels, getting their attention, leading them to the true path, and, if Allah happens to send a few thousand to hell along the way, so be it. That's the way the Infidels crumble.
The local Muslims Student Association in Ames a little north of Des Moines had an 'understanding Islam day' just a while back. It seems da'wa is on full force in the heartland. And Iowans appear to have absolutely no clue what is hitting them. Perhaps an apostate at Iowa State should speak out about the true nature of Islam: Suras 4, 8 and 9, you know, characterizations and rules for women, Infidels, Muhammad's biography, Aisha, collective psychology, irrational divine command mentality, the brutality of Islamic history, and, of course, death to apostates, just as a start.
But will the apostate come forward? Maybe not, who wants to put their head on the chopping block. But, forget about that. Its a religion and peace. Hey, farmers, students, good people of Des Moines, aren't you curious about this new religion? Man, how interesting? Huh?
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Former Imam of the Islamic Center of Des Moines
http://www.dmps.k12.ia.us/schoolboard/1abdul-samad.htm
Info on the speakers:
1429-12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50314
(515) 283-0987 (h)
Ako Abdul-Samad is the founder and CEO of Creative Visions Human Development Center. He has served as Vice President of the Islamic Center of Des Moines, Coordinator for Urban Dreams, and as a counselor in the Iowa prison system. Abdul-Samad has lectured and counseled internationally on community development, service to at-risk youth, and substance abuse prevention and crisis intervention. He has received numerous awards for his work with community and youth, including the Citizen Diplomat Award from the Iowa Council for International Understanding, the Community Service Award for Outstanding Service from the NAACP, and the SBA Martin Luther King Jr. Community Vision Award for Exemplary Community Service from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Abdul-Samad is a member of the board of directors of the National Conference for Community and Justice, Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium, Directors Counsel of Des Moines, African American Leadership Coalition, Senator Charles Grassley's "Face It Together", Concerned Citizens for Justice and Bridges of Iowa. He is a graduate of Des Moines Technical High School.
Member Since: 2003
Term Expires: 2006
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/764