Saba Chughtai and Shakila Ahmad didn't draw the crowds Saturday that anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan did the night before.

And they didn't badmouth President Bush or the war in Iraq. But these Muslim mothers brought the same message as Sheehan to the New Thought Unity Center.

The Mason women, both leaders in the group Muslim Mothers Against Violence, called upon the 200-plus crowd of mostly women, to see Muslims as people who have more in common with them than differences.

Extremist clerics and "AM hate radio" have given Americans a distorted impression of Muslims, Ahmad said.

"We abhor violence associated with Islam. Islam stands for peace," she said. "There is no way God wants us to kill innocent people ... That is not what achieving peace as a result of submission to God is."

Ahmad's talk raised applause after she donned a hijab. She asked the crowd if they thought she appeared less educated or less of an American because she wore the veil - a Muslim women's way of covering herself to show her commitment to God. [Link]