Rashed Ferdous speaks to Austin High School students Tuesday morning about Islam including dispelling the myths and rumors around the religion. — Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Rashed Ferdous spoke to Austin High School students about God Tuesday.

He talked about how Adam sneezed, how Hallelujah and Al Hamdillula are the same phrase in different languages, and how the angel Gabriel helped form one of the largest religions in the world.

Ferdous gave presentations about Islam Tuesday to AHS social studies classes, the third year he has done so in Austin.

“In today’s world, we have a lot of misconceptions about Islam,” Ferdous said. “The best way to clarify those is to dialogue and in-person communication.”

There are plenty of similarities between Islam and Christianity, from each religion’s focus on one god to acknowledging angels and prophets as well as some of the prayers and blessings. Both religions stem from a Judeo-Christian tradition going back thousands of years.

Those similarities took a few students by surprise. One student asked about the Quran, Islam’s holy book, and how it differed from the Bible. Though Ferdous pointed out a few unique aspects of the Quran, he told students many lessons in the Quran were in the Bible as well.

Students did have a few questions, like whether Muslims thought God and Jesus were the same (Muslims don’t believe so), but otherwise took in as much information as possible.

“It was wonderful,” said MaKenna Fernandez, AHS senior. “I learned so many different things that I didn’t know before. I think all high school kids should get to do it.”

Fernandez said the talk helped clear up some of the rumors she had heard about Islam.

To Ferdous, that’s part of his mission. He began speaking to students, church groups and community members four years ago when he moved to Rochester. Though he works at IBM, he gives informational talks through the Islamic Resource Group. He said he felt called to speak about his faith after the Sept. 11 attacks, when so many people started asking questions about Islam that he hadn’t thought of before.

“I felt that our faith was hijacked by some people who called themselves Muslims,” Ferdous said. He was like many people in their faith: He knew the basics of Islam from his childhood in Bangladesh. He couldn’t answer questions about popular attacks on Islam such as oppression of women and jihad. Moreover, media reports and other talk had distorted many people’s view on Islam.

“There is a lack of information and lack of factual information about Islam,” Ferdous said.

That’s when he decided to speak about Islam to correct the misconceptions spread by bigots and Muslim extremists who don’t represent Islam.

“(I do this) for the sake of our children, so they better understand,” Ferdous said.