Street roots., January 26, 2018, Page 4, Image 4

News
Page 4
Street Roots
Demystifying Islam
Imam Abdulah Polovina builds connections with people
inside and outside of Portland’s Muslim community
Abdulah Polovina is im am o f a mosque a t the Bosniaks Educational & Cultural Organization in Portland. Polovina routinely welcomes people o f other faiths ^to l ^ m o s ^ e " *
BY EM ILY GREEN
In November, Polovina welcomed a group of
25 Linfield College students to his Friday
service. The students were there as part of a
s he walked softly across the plush,
religious studies class, led by professor Jennifer
carpet-covered floor of his Southeast
Williams.
Portland mosque, Imam Abdulah
Polovina explained that in Islam, there are “99 The female students brought scarves to
cover their hair, but Polovina told them there
Beautiful Names” for God.
was no need to wear the head coverings unless
“Allah,” he said, “is most common.”
they were comfortable with it.
Polovina, 44, is a soft-spoken Bosnian man
He showed the students where to take off
with a thick accent and a magnetic smile.
their shoes before entering, where mosque-
On this chilly Wednesday afternoon in
goers typically wash their hands and faces
January, the prayer hall at his mosque is quiet
before prayer, and where to sit during the
and empty. During Polovina’s Friday services,
Polovina often gives to first-time visitors states
service - they joined the women in the back
however, anywhere from 50 to 100 Muslims fill
that when people think of Muslim women as
partition
of
the
hall.
the room - even more when Friday lands on a
being “oppressed, inferior and unequal,” they
In Islam, everyone prays in the direction of
holiday, he said.
the shortest distance to «Mecca, Saudi Arabia. ’ are confusing Islam with cultural practices.
But his services aren’t exclusive to followers
These stereotypes,” it argues, “fail to
That’s where, in the seventh century, they
of Islam. Polovina has made a habit of opening
recognize that Islam has empowered women
believe Allah revealed the Quran to the
the doors of his mosque to anyone who wants
with the most progressive rights since the 7th
Prophet Muhammad. From Portland, that
to learn more about his faith. Whether visitors
century.
direction is slightly east of due north.
are followers of other religions, police officers,
According to the Quran, men and women are
Williams said her class needed to. “talk
politicians or simply the curious passerby,
equal
m the sight of God, and Islam gave
through” the gender segregation in the prayer
Polovina is happy to have them.
women the right to education, to marry
hall, but they didn’t feel excluded from their
“I invite them to come, to actually hear and
someone o* their choice, to work, to own and
position in the back with the women.
see that we Muslims have no hidden agendas,”
A pamphlet on “Women in Islam” that
he said.
S É N IO R S T A F F R E P O R T E R
■
aithfJustice
A series highlighting the role o f
religious leaders and groups in
Portland s resistance movement
See IM A M , page 5