Muslim mosque now in downtown Blytheville

Masjid Tawheed, at 111 N. 2nd St. in Blytheville, is a newly established mosque. In addition to daily prayers for muslims, director Hamzah Goodson (pictured above), also provides Islam education classes at 2 p.m. each Sunday.

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Director Hamzah Goodson established the mosque not just as place for muslims to gather and pray but to educate the community about the Muslim religion.

"There has always been a muslim presence in Blytheville," said Goodson. "But we've lacked organization and leadership. As far as I'm concerned, the reason why there is a lack of knowledge in this town concerning muslims is because we (muslims) have failed to educate the public in regards to our religion and our practices... We live in a global society. There's no reason why we should know nothing about our neighbors."

In addition to Masjid Tawheed being open for muslims to pray daily, Goodson also teaches an Introduction to Islam class at 2 p.m. on Sundays. The class deals with education the public on the Muslim religion as well as dealing with many of the misconceptions that people may have with Islam.

"Terrorism, unfortunately, is always the biggest misconception that comes up," said Goodson. "Most people who think logically don't have that perception. They understand that there are some people that are going to take religious teachings and make them in to whatever it is they need to use in order to be aggressive. And most people know that most of the terrorist attacks have been political in nature and not religious."

Another common misconception about Islam is the ethnicity of it's members. Goodson notes that only 15 percent of the 1.2 billion muslims come from Arab countries. In fact, according to the United States Commission on Civil Rights website (www.usccr.gov) of the top 10 countries in the world with the largest muslim populations, only one, Egypt, is an Arab country.

Goodson is a native of the Blytheville area. He graduated from Gosnell High School in 1996 and entered the United States Marine Corps days later. He served in the Marines until 2000 and then was called back to Camp Pendleton in California in 2001 shortly after the September 11th attacks. Like many Americans, it was a day he'd never forget.

"Like most military minded people, the plane hitting the Pentagon had more of an impact on me," he said. "Hitting the Pentagon, that was like taking the head off of the snake of the military. I thought, 'how is this possible that there could be something that hit the Pentagon.' I didn't necessarily equate it with Muslims because I didn't really know anything about Muslims at the time."

After finishing his military service in 2002, Goodson remained out west and worked as an EMT in San Diego, Calif. and Phoenix, Ariz. He converted to Islam in 2008 and returned to Blytheville in 2009 to help take care of his ailing father who recently passed away. He is married to wife Aziza and they have a one year old son.

Goodson's roll at Masjid Tawheed is more commonly known in the Muslim community as "Imam" but he prefers to go by"director" if any title is used for him.

"Imam is an arabic word which means, 'to be up front,'" said Goodson. "I don't like to use a lot of arabic terms because it makes it seem even more foreign to people. He's (Imam) could be anyone in the congregation. It doesn't necessarily have to be the one running the show."

His title may seem insignificant at first but it's just one of many ways that Goodson is trying to break down communication barriers and stereotypes about the Muslim world to the Blytheville community. If you walk by 111 N. 2nd St. you'll notice that anyone can see right into the building and see what it taking place inside.

"I don't want there to appear to be any secrets. Everyone is welcome here."

While Islam may seem foreign to many people in the area, Goodson says that he, like many Blythevillians, has common goals for making Blytheville a better place to live.

"If nothing else, I want to educate the community that Muslims are here. We've been here and create more of an understanding. Once there is that understanding, then we can work toward common goals. There are a lot of issues in this city that if we stop approaching it from an individual standpoint we can come together and say, 'We're the majority. We're tired of drugs. We're tired of alcohol.' When you have so much of a religious presence you should be able to say, 'That's enough.' We're going to work with law enforcement. We're going to make sure that you will never be able to sell drugs in this town again. We need to be less reactive and more proactive."

For more information about Masjid Tawheed and prayer times, you can visit www.blythevillemuslims.com

afitzpatrick@couriernews.net