RESTON, Va. — On Friday afternoons, the people coming to pray at this building take off their shoes, unfurl rugs to kneel on and pray in Arabic. The ones that come Friday evenings put on yarmulkes, light candles and pray in Hebrew.
The building is a synagogue on a tree-lined street in suburban Virginia, but for the past few weeks — during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — it has been doubling as a mosque. Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation members suggested their building after hearing the Muslim congregation was looking to rent a place for overflow crowds.
“People look to the Jewish-Muslim relationship as conflict,” said All Dulles Area Muslim Society Imam Mohamed Magid. “Here is a story that shatters the stereotype.”
Magid, who grew up in Sudan, said he did not meet someone who was Jewish until after he had moved to the U.S.
Beyond being tolerant, the synagogue and its members have been welcoming.
