On a sunny day, Charlottesville’s downtown mall might feature local musicians, a juggler, a guy who offers free hugs to anyone in need – and on this day – about a dozen young Muslim students – like Amelle Chanda, wearing her headscarf or hijab.
“We handed out flowers and answered questions and just honestly had just really amazing, beautiful conversations with strangers who just wanted to know more about Islam and what we kind of do as Muslims.”
A Pew Research Center survey showed U.S. adults who knew someone from a religious group were more likely to report favorable views, which was why Amira Radwan wanted to join the event that she and the other students called Meet a Muslim.
“I feel like there are still a lot of misconceptions about us, and we just wanted to reach out – to let everyone know that we’re smiling faces, we’re good people. We just thought it was needed.”
Some people asked about the headscarves. Others were anxious to share their Christian beliefs and to lean about the fundamentals of Islam, but no one was hostile, and student Ibrahim Ahmed vowed to come back.
“People here were great, actually. I had some really good conversations with people.”
He knows students on campus, but he said it was nice to meet other area residents and to exchange views.
