On Sunday, February 25, Seymour’s local mosque, Masjid Al-Sahabah held a prayer room open day.
It was part of the Islamic Council of Victoria’s annual Mosque Day, an important part of the state’s multifaith and multicultural calendar.
Masjid Al-Sahabah’s Imam Shahid Shah said only a few people came, but the hosts were more than happy to answer their questions.
“It was just generic information to see (and) to learn more about our faith,” he said.
“It was more of a positive communication, understanding kind of questions.”
This is the second time the mosque has held the open day, but only this year was it advertised.
“I think it still requires a little more exposure to people,” Mr Shah said.
“I think (people are) still hesitant to know more about it, so we’ve taken the initiative.
“It will be nice to see next year how we can involve the local communities to get to know each other.”
Mr Shah said although some responses (particularly online) were not pleasant, they still tried to communicate in the best way they could.
“People always will have questions, and that’s just curiosity,” he said.
“That’s just knowledge of the unknown, and the best way to deal with it is just to be straightforward.
“People who have a positive attitude towards things, they always see this as positive and those who don’t ... (it) doesn’t matter how positive you are.
“They will always remain how they are, so you can’t change an ignorant person’s mind, so that’s just how it is.”
Mr Shah said the open day was so important because it allowed locals to integrate with one another.
“People of different faiths, the same community, from different backgrounds, different cultures meet one another, and it gives us an understanding,” he said.
“There’s obviously people when they meet, they get to understand and see the positive side of things instead of what they see on social media or what they assume themselves.
“(The event is) to protect people from false assumptions ... to give people the opportunity of learning more.
“It’s all about giving knowledge about different cultures, different backgrounds, and I think that brings exposure to people and it gives them more of an understanding of different cultures and faith.
“I think that’s what Australia is all about.”