Masjid Tour: Chose love over hate

People from different faiths visited to see beyond the walls of the Masjid on Saturday in Bengaluru

As I entered the premises of the masjid, seeking to be a part of the tour, a volunteer guided me through the entrance and started the tour with the explanation of wazu, a type of ritual purification or ablution that must be performed before entering the praying hall.

I removed my footwear and walked up the stairs of the gold-lit mosque named MasjidE-Khadria in Bengaluru. Sahiba, my volunteer, left for a brief moment to address some issue. While waiting for her cluelessly, another volunteer came up, offering a shawl as a token of love with a wide smile. She did not persuade me to wear it but let it be my choice.

When I asked her the motive behind her volunteering, she said, “The image of Islam has been so tarnished, to the extent that everybody views us as anti-social elements. The tour aims to break the stereotype and show people what real Islam is.”

I nodded in agreement, and Sahiba took me to perform wazu. After helping me take off my bag, Sahiba taught me the ritual like I was a child. Other Muslim women performing their wazu around me smiled as I looked around to see if what I was doing was right.

She then helped me tie the shawl around my head, only after I asked her and she made sure every question for the rest of the tour was answered in detail and in truth. The tour also had exhibits of various Islamic artifacts and posters explaining contributions from Islamic scholars to the world in all fields – may it be science, mathematics or history. I came across many women voluntarily choosing to experience what it is like to wear the head covering with their gifted shawls.

They walked around the exhibits and frisked through artifacts as their children ran around the premises of the mosques, while their husbands were amidst maulanas who had sat down to answer any question regarding the religion. It was warming to see people who do not believe in the hate which is being propagated against the minority community and are open to understanding the real culture associated with the religion.

There were smiles all around as they chose love over hate. Before exiting, I went through the book of feedbacks. Each individual was grateful for the masjid to help them understand reality of Islam and in taking a step to unite all fractions of society. I, too, wrote down that I was grateful to have been there.

— Rachana Ramesh, journalist