Community members with an interest in being exposed to Muslim culture had an immersive opportunity recently, courtesy of the Islamic Center of Naperville. The center hosted an Open Mosque Day Festival in connection with an event featured in many communities.

The original festival was organized by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), where over 100 mosques across the U.K. hold open days to welcome their friends and neighbors from all faith backgrounds to learn about Muslim and Islam culture. An annual event, the festival aims to improve community relations and community cohesion for the good of society as a whole. The event also seeks to reduce misconceptions about Muslims as a people and a culture.

About 20 mosques took place in the first Open Mosque Day Festival in 2005. The following year, it expanded to 80 participating mosques, and this year, the event has continued to attract more visitors and shine a spotlight on how mosques help their local communities.

This year’s local festival at The Islamic Center of Naperville included tours, presentations, meeting the IMAM (or the person who leads prayers in a mosque), ethnic foods, Henna and fun activities for kids.

Beena Farid and Yousuf Siddiqui were among the event’s organizers. Siddiqui is originally from the U.K. and came to the U.S to be part of a larger faith community.

“I think the whole idea of this festival was to open up the doors and to build those bridges, to help also dispel stereotypes…to show people who Muslims are,” Siddiqui said. “What we really wanted to do was to get the Muslim community to engage with the wider community.”  

Organizers take pride in the fact the Open Mosque Festival draws its audience from a variety of ethnicities and cultures.

“For open mosque day we have over a thousand guests come in.  And these people from different faiths are our friends,” said Farid, a member of the Board of Directors who moved to Naperville over 20 years ago to find an environment where her family could be with a community of others who practice her religion.

Event organizers say the festival was a huge hit.

“People from the mosque can’t stop talking about it afterwards,” Siddiqui said. “They tell their friends: ‘I went to this new amazing event and look at my hands, I got this henna, and look at the things I learned and the people I interacted with.’ That’s what it should be all about.”

Among the different booths at this year’s festival, Farid ran a women’s rights booth to help spread the message that Muslim women are allowed to do things and wearing the hijab and the clothing is their own choice and not something they’re forced to wear.  From the presentations to free taste testings of cultural foods, the entire experience provided visitors with a little insight on what their culture means to them.