Dawah at the Lincoln County Apple Festival

Dawah at the Lincoln County Apple Festival

Dawah in action as an AIOF volunteer Dae'e explains the concepts of Islam to a festival goer. AIOF volunteer is wearing a green shirt with a slogan reading "Ask me about Islam".
Volunteer dawah reps for AOIF talked to thousands of people throughout the day as they gave out over 550 Qur’an to locals, most of whom had never met a Muslim face-to-face before, let alone talked to one.
The Qur'anMobile's passive dawah caught the attention of many people. Just having a series of beautiful images and strong text helped people feel comfortable asking for information.
American Islamic Outreach Foundation (AIOF) brought the Qur’anMobile for the first time to Lincolnton, NC to give dawah in the form of exposing the community to more Islamic knowledge following anti-Muslim sentiment expressed by local Lincoln County lawmaker, Carrol Mitchem. For many in Lincoln County, the primary source of information about Islam is the evening news. Dawah is often more than convincing people to convert to Islam, often times it is merely to share information and spread knowledge about Islam. During the Apple Festival, the primary dawah focus was on answering questions about Islam and Muslims.
Dawah is being given with love to a man and his wife.
Knowledge about Islam is important to share in every corner of America. Throughout the day, dawah reps constantly expressed “We are not asking you to convert, we are asking you to learn more and decide for yourself instead of listening to everyone else.” AIOF was able to give out all 550 Qur’an, thousands of brochures and took requests to mail information. The immediate fruits of their efforts? Two people embraced Islam, and thousands of people were able to learn more about Islam. There are still millions across the Carolinas that AIOF seeks to reach.
providing the cultural practice of henna for free to festival goers was also a passive form of dawah.
Many women were happy to get free henna from AIOF volunteers who were happy to bring the art to the Apple Festival for the first time. Sisters were able to give dawah while sharing this art. This form of dawah is to share one of the aspects of a culture that has become a majority Muslim and has spread along with Muslims.
As some women got dawah during henna, they asked to try on a hijab to get a feeling for what they would look like wearing it.
Women were given the opportunity to try on hijab as AIOF volunteers helped them wrap and pin it to see how they would look. When people can appreciate the beauty of Islamic tradition, that is a strong form of dawah.

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