WEST CHESTER TWP. — Drawn together by curiosity and the events of Sept. 11, a group of Tristate women gathered at the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati Saturday to hear about the Muslim faith, its practices and attitude toward women.

Kay Owen, a graduate assistant at Miami University, looks around the mosque at the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati in West Chester on Saturday. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        For Islamic Center members, it was one of a dozen programs a month in what they say has been an “astronomical” surge in requests since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

        “People want to know about us,” said Karen Dabdoub, the center's administrator, who led about 70 women and a few men Saturday on a tour of the ornate mosque off Interstate 75 and who later moderated a panel discussion that included four women from the Islamic community.

        Mrs. Dabdoub said she has been fielding about 12 requests a month for speakers at churches, schools, nursing homes and other groups since Sept. 11, up from once a month before then.

        Saturday's event was organized by the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters in Hamilton and Clermont counties.

        Becky Destigter, co-president of the Cincinnati branch of the association of university women, said the goal was to foster understanding and dispel any stereotypes about Muslims in light of Sept. 11.

        Questions from the audience ranged from why Muslim men are allowed multiple wives to the religion's view on homosexuality to how Islamic teachings interpret the events of Sept. 11.

        “It breaks all of the rules,” Mrs. Dabdoub said of the latter.

        For Kay Owen, 22, a graduate assistant from Oxford, Ohio, Saturday's program was a way to learn more about some of the people she serves at Miami University's women's center.

        “It's important to know a lot about other women so we can be a resource for all women at the university,” Ms. Owen said.

        Jennifer Kramer, 22, a University of Cincinnati student from Clifton, wanted an insider's view of a class topic.

        “I wanted to put some faces to the ideas we are studying,” she said.

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