Teachings of Islam explored during seminar

Eric Leake

Monday, Aug. 8, 2005 | 9:25 a.m.

Aslam Abdullah concluded a three-day seminar on Islam and nonviolence Sunday by saying Osama bin Laden is not his spokesman.

Bin Laden, Abdullah said, is a politically motivated solider, not a religious scholar. Yet bin Laden and other terrorists are imposed upon Muslims as though they speak for them.

"A turban and a beard do not qualify a person to speak on our behalf," Abdullah said.

"Only those people who are hiding themselves in caves are the ones to get the major headlines," he said. "Does it mean we have to go to caves to have headlines?"

Abdullah is director of the Islamic Society of Nevada. He taught the free weekend seminar at Jamia Masjid on E. Desert Inn Road to try to open the doors of the mosque and Islam to more people in the Las Vegas Valley.

About 20 people attended the final session Sunday. The audience included a several Catholics and Jews as well as one deist. Some attendees took notes. One thumbed through "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Koran."

Abdullah lectured on the root of violence in Islam. He blamed political manipulations, socioeconomic conditions in Muslim nations and a failure of the faith's leadership.

"There will always be people who use Islam for violence based upon whatever justification," he said.

"I want to show everyone here that this Muslim community is as peaceful as your are."

Audience members asked about the treatment of women in Islam, about the difference in Muslim sects and for an explanation of the Taliban. They thanked organizers for the seminar.

"When I arrived here Friday night, I had a feeling of them against us," Jim Rogers, a 69-year-old real estate broker, said. "I leave with a feeling of us."

Rogers knew very little about Islam before attending the seminar, he said, and was concerned about a growing animosity between the Western and Muslim world.

After Sunday's session, he said, "I think comfort might be a good word. I felt comfortable this evening."

Roberta Sabbath, an assistant English professor in residence at UNLV, said she has conducted some research of the Koran but attended to learn more.

"We are all in the same community and we all share the same concerns of the radical hijacking of this religion," Sabbath said.

She said she was pleased to find the lectures intellectually rigorous. As Abdullah spoke, Sabbath would check his references in a English translation of the Koran. She said they all checked out.

Fahim Baig, 46, directs the mosque's weekly food drive and said he was glad to welcome the visitors.

"People think a Muslim is a bad person all around, in general," said Baig, a medical technologist who has lived in Las Vegas for 18 years.

"We are trying to explain our opinion," he said. "I think this was a good start."

He and others at the mosque invited people to visit, ask questions and meet worshippers. "Come with an open mind," Baig said.

Outside, after the session, Don Strevel, a 46-year-old Catholic, discussed similarities of faith with a Muslim man.

"They're not a violent people," Strevel said.

The exchange was the sort that Abdullah had likely hoped for in organizing the seminar. He plans to conduct more such seminars and hopes more people attend.

"If one person has changed his mind about Muslims," Abdullah said. "I think that's a step forward."