DALLAS (AP) - An Islamic grassroots organization that funded 12 billboards across Dallas and Fort Worth to combat misinformation about Islam has been receiving more hate calls in Dallas than in other cities participating in the nationwide campaign.
The Islamic Circle of North America used mosque donations to fund the billboards spread across the city’s highways, the Dallas Morning News (https://bit.ly/2gA63Zl ) reported. The billboards read “ISLAM = Racial Equality” and provide a hotline phone number and website for “Why Islam?”
New Jersey’s hotline call center manager Imam Jawad Ahmed said the group should do more of these campaigns in Dallas because of the amount of hate responses to the billboards.
“They would just curse the Muslims in general and say things like racial slurs, go back to your country, or get out of America, things like that.”
The billboards in Dallas have been up for five weeks, in which the group has received 75 phone calls. While the hotline did receive calls cursing Muslims, Ahmed said the majority of callers were non-Muslims that wanted to learn more about the religion.
The group’s local spokesman Furqan Ansari said the billboards are a response to the rise of hatred aimed at minorities, including Muslims, which coincide with the election of President-elect Donald Trump. About 52 of the at least 867 hate crimes reported since the election were aimed at Muslims.
“We wanted to show DFW residents the things said in the election campaign were not true,” Ansari said. He said the political talk has “made people have a lot of hatred and discrimination against Muslims.”
The group’s volunteers are trained to tell people that Islam promotes peace when callers ask about the religion’s view on terrorism and the Islamic State. ICNA does not view Islamic State members as Muslims, Ansari said.
Following the tense relationship between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities in the U.S., many Muslim organizations and mosques are holding open-house events to educate others on the religion and those who follow it.
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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, https://www.dallasnews.com
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