In a beautiful act of courage and hope, Mona Haydar, a Muslim, set up an “Ask a Muslim” stand in Cambridge, Massachusetts, hoping to bring more understanding of the Muslim community. She also offered people who passed by the stand in front of a local library a free cup of coffee and doughnut to further beckon a Q&A chat.
The idea came to Haydar during dinner with her husband. In efforts to create positive change, they decided to do something “kind of crazy.”
"He had seen this segment on This American Life, where a young Iraqi man had done 'Ask an Iraqi,' " Haydar tells NPR's Carrie Kahn. "And so [Sebastian] was like, 'Why haven't we thought of this before? Why don't we get out and talk to people?'
"So, we did it," Haydar says.
NPR staff reports:
After the day was done, she posted a summary to Facebook — a post which has now garnered more than 11,000 likes and the attention of several different media organizations.
"We weren't out there that long today but the take away was clear: Keep your heads held high, dear Muslim family," she wrote in that post. "There is an overwhelming amount of love and so remember this post when you are faced with bigotry and hatred towards you or your faith.
Mona Haydar with husband Sebastian Robins
Mona Haydar says she initially thought the experience would be negative. As it turns out, the experience and interaction with many folks was very positive—so much, in fact, that she and her husband look forward to doing it again soon. Haydar mentioned that rather than asking questions, most people approached her to say they liked what she was doing. Some passersby even felt compelled to apologize for the worldwide discrimination against Muslims. Pretty cool.
You can read more of the Carrie Kahn/NPR interview with Mona Haydar via NPR.org. There is so much good in this world, and many of us want to believe that the good ultimately, and always, out-trumps the bad. (And yes, that pun was intended—for goodness sake.)
Thank you Mona Haydar and Sebastian Robins. You can visit Mona Haydar on her Facebook Page.
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