Va. Mosque Reaches Out, Joining Immigrant Fabric

Lakoira Aitettaleb, 53, hands food to Juana Perez, 54, left, and Kim Chee, 40, at the weekly distribution at Dar al Hijrah mosque in Falls Church. (Sarah L. Voisin - The Washington Post)

"People here seem more knowledgeable about each other's cultures now; they are getting to know each other better," Altaf said. Navarrete showed the notepad where she had written the names of Persian dishes phonetically so she could understand telephone orders.

"Baba kanush, korma sapsi," she practiced with a laugh.

Such public familiarity has not crossed the line into many personal friendships, let alone religious conversions, local leaders said. There are only a handful of Hispanic Muslims in the area, including Farhanaz Ellis, an outreach worker at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Sterling.

Ellis, born to a Catholic family in Panama, said her mosque had held a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and presentations for emergency workers. Yet she seemed to have few personal ties to area Latinos and said much of her work involved explaining Islam to outside groups.

"Many people here have the misperception that Islam oppresses women and that Muslims see non-Muslims as infidels," she said. She does not try to change critics, she said, "just give them food for thought."

One area Muslim who has plunged into Hispanic issues is Mukit Hossain, a Bangladeshi immigrant in Herndon who co-founded a day-laborer center there for Latino workers. The center provoked a public outcry and was shut down last year.

Hossain said area Muslims, most of whom came to the U.S. legally, traditionally had little interest in the problems of illegal or Latino immigrants. After the terror attacks of 2001, however, they began to face public hostility and find common cause with other immigrant groups.

"What happened on 9/11 was a wake-up call for all of us," Hossain said. To those who question why he would help Hispanic laborers, he retorted, "Do they think I am a terrorist here to convert people?"

Immigration is a "human rights issue," he said. "No one from any country should be treated like an animal."

It was the threat of a crackdown on illegal immigrants that first brought Dar al Hijrah into close contact with advocacy groups. A meeting was called in Culmore to discuss how to help families in cases of raids or arrests, and mosque officials offered their premises.

"We were blown away by their hospitality. They even bought us all pizza," said Cindy Brown of Hogar Hispano, a nonprofit aid agency for Latinos on Leesburg Pike.

Mosque officials say they have no desire to push their religion on other immigrants, only to inform them about it. At community events, they set up a booth with brochures in Spanish, including a booklet on the history of Islam, women's rights and "common misinterpretations" about their faith.

"We are one community of many cultures and faiths, and we want to break down the barriers that divide us," said Mohammed Abdelilah, a manager at Dar al Hijrah. "This is nothing magic. It's not for political gain. It is for the sake of God."

At a recent food distribution in the mosque, families from Morocco, Iran, El Salvador, Vietnam, Korea, Guatemala, Pakistan and Ethiopia waited their turn. Although clustered together by language groups, they greeted each other with smiles.

Carlos Moreno, 71, an immigrant from El Salvador, said that with food prices climbing, he and his wife were grateful for the assistance and felt comfortable visiting the mosque.

"The Bible says there should be no divisions between human beings, no racism and no prejudice," Moreno said. "When we die, we all look the same. Rich or poor, black or white, we all go to the same place."