Metro Bus Da’wa Campaign Rolls Into DC

Community News - Community News

Written by By Salman Sheikh, Muslim Link Contributing Writer

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 13:31

There is a silver lining to being stuck in lunch-hour traffic in the District.

Dawah.

Beginning June 29, WhyIslam bus ads are paying a visit to a D.C. Metro bus near you.

This campaign started last year when local WhyIslam activists thought about doing a bus advertising campaign similar to those done in other cities around the country. Despite not having the funding, the group felt bus ads were a natural progression from static billboard ads. On April 18, WhyIslam-D.C. held a fundraiser in Herndon, Va., to reach the goal of $52,000 to fund WhyIslam activities for the next calendar year. The bus project alone costs $30,000 ($600 per bus for four weeks for 50 buses). All of the buses will run in Washington, D.C.

The group initially considered using some of the designs from other WhyIslam bus ad campaigns in New York, Chicago, Seattle, Houston and San Francisco. After much deliberation, they decided to create new designs so as to have the most impact using the donated money from the Muslim community. WhyIslam Bus campaign in San Fransisco

A professional graphic artist, herself a revert to Islam, generated some designs. A small team of WhyIslam volunteers and others deliberated on what message would pique people’s interest. Rather than limit the ads to a single design, the group opted for a series of five designs.

Each of the 50 buses will feature a single-side poster featuring one of the five designs. The designs all feature the 1-877-Why-Islam toll-free phone number and the WhyIslam.org website address.

The WhyIslam phone number is operated by a group of volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on a rotating basis by a system that is run by WhyIslam (national) based in New Jersey. They take calls from all kinds of people - some even become Muslim on the phone. The daily average of shahadahs per day by phone varies throughout the year but peaks in Ramadan.

The Web site provides basic information on the true teachings of Islam and has links for free literature on hot topics from hijab and terrorism to how Islam was spread. Also covered are Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them) in English and Spanish. They provide a free English translation of the Qur’an for anyone who asks for it.

About $35,000 was raised at the fundraiser, which covers bus ads and $2,000 for printing costs. This leaves little money for WhyIslam’s main activity – sponsoring information booths at fairs, festivals and community days throughout the rest of the summer in the D.C. area.

WhyIslam is hoping to extend the bus ads longer and also fund another billboard campaign as they have become cheaper in this sluggish economy. The group intends to provide staffing for the WhyIslam booth at the Islamic Society of North America conference next month.

Interested in donating or volunteering for WhyIslam-DC?

Please visit WhyIslamDC.org.
The writer volunteers with WhyIslam-DC.