'Meet a Muslim Family' campaign off to slow start in Halifax

A national outreach campaign called Meet a Muslim Family, meant to break barriers between Muslims and non-Muslims, has gotten off to a slow start in Halifax.

The two-week campaign, which was launched by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community on March 1, involves people registering online to meet Muslim people living near them to chat and ask questions.

It hasn't resulted in any meetings in Halifax — and the Qureshi family wants to change that.

Abdul Qureshi said his family doesn't want their religion to be misunderstood in light of recent violent attacks by extremists in the name of Islam.

"It's our religion that is sort of hijacked. It's our name that is maligned. Our religious name is maligned," he said. "We want to take that initiative."

The Qureshis say their values are Canadian values.

"Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, he said if you kill one person you kill the whole of humanity. And if you save one person, you save the whole of humanity," said Noor Qureshi.

In the first week of the Meet a Muslim Family campaign, 445 meetings took place elsewhere in the country — none so far in Halifax.

However, national organizers say 15 non-Muslim families here have signed up for the program in the city and they're in the process of being matched to local Muslim families.

The Qureshis are hoping people aren't put off by talk of radicalization or ISIS.

"It's a natural human instinct to be cautious and to be concerned," said Abdul Qureshi.

"Hopefully through this campaign we can ease some of those concerns and feelings."

The official meet a Muslim family campaign ends on Saturday, but the Qureshi family says they will be happy to meet all year round for a cultural exchange.