MUKILTEO — A town hall meeting to discuss topics including Islam and Christianity and the planned Islamic Center of Mukilteo is scheduled Saturday evening at Pointe of Grace Lutheran Church.
The event is part of the ongoing interfaith meetings that have been held in the city since plans for the mosque were announced. The project became the focus of an anonymous campaign last year against its construction, led by local Mukilteo businessman Peter Zieve. He later apologized for his actions.
“The main focus of the meeting is to tell the people who we are and what we can do,” said Mohammed Riaz Khan, president of the Islamic Center of Mukilteo. “Muslims and Christians should get along.”
Supporters have bought land for the mosque on Harbour Pointe Boulevard. Plans call for a 3,796-square-foot, two-story building with space for a prayer area, multi-purpose room, two small offices, a kitchen, bathrooms and two classrooms.
Khan said the group is planning on buying some adjacent property to provide more room for the mosque and parking.
Other speakers at Saturday’s event include Kyle Smith, an imam and teacher at the Mercy Association in Seattle who will speak on “Excellence in Diversity and Islamic Relations”; and the Rev. Terry Kyllo, who has helped organize a series of events in the Puget Sound region with a goal of bringing greater understanding between Muslims and Christians.
Kyllo recently formed a group, Neighbors in Faith, to foster relationships between Muslims and other faiths.
Amanda Smith, who lives in Kirkland, grew up as a Mormon before converting to Islam about three years ago. She said she plans to discuss “what it is we believe.”
She said one of her favorite verses from the Quran says in part: “We have created you from male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another.”
Too often when people think of Muslims they “they think of people screaming ‘Death to America,’” she said. “Our religion is a very peaceful one and very progressive in many ways,” although it’s often not portrayed in that way.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
Town hall
A town hall meeting on Muslim registry, Islam and Christianity and an update on the planned Islamic Center of Mukilteo is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Pointe of Grace Lutheran Church, 5425 Harbour Pointe Blvd. Mukilteo.
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