Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga Hosts Open House

If you have wanted to speak to a Muslim, understand their faith and their stance on recent events, Saturday was your chance.

The Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga held an open house called "Meet Your Muslim Neighbor" at their location on Gunbarrel Road.

The purpose of the event was to dispel fear and encourage discussion and positive interfaith relationships among those living as neighbors in the Scenic City.

"Turn out has been fantastic and everyone has been very receptive," said Bassam Issa, a Muslim who has lived in Chattanooga for 40 years and serves on the board of the ISGC. "They are enjoying the conversation and asking questions about Islam and about our community and how we got started".

With an official car marked "ISGC Security" and a police car parked in front of the facility, one could conclude there may be threats against the Muslim group. But Issa said there were have not been threats against them, explaining the security car was for traffic control.

Issa said he hasn’t experienced prejudice for being Muslim in Chattanooga, a city located in the heart of the Bible Belt.

"If you live in a community or a city, you are a son of that city, a daughter of that city," said Issa. "And everybody is equal and everybody has a right to worship the way they want".

Jim Boyd is a man who converted to Islam about four years ago from Christianity.

He says he hasn’t experienced racism but surprise from his friends.  "When I tell people I’m a Muslim, they always ask ‘why’," he said. "I get that question all the time".

With ISIS and other terrorist attacks leading the news all over the world, this local group shared their unwavering stance on these events.

Regarding ISIS, Issa said, "They do not understand Islam in any way or fashion and we reject them and we will fight them anywhere if we find them because they are evil to humanity. They are even more evil to Muslims, more than anybody else because what happens is they create this notion that Islam is a bad religion but it’s not  We have nothing to do with them.  They do not understand Islam".

The ISGC encourages everyone to call or stop by with questions about the Islamic faith and Islamic community in Chattanooga.

Reported By Andy Santoro