Various locations, Ukraine – When the war began, the Muhammad Asad Islamic Cultural Centre in western Ukraine opened its doors to displaced people from across the country, turning classrooms and prayer halls into temporary shelters.Muslims lined study rooms with mattresses, cooked meals and distributed water – acts they saw as ordinary, yet gestures that quietly challenged long-held misconceptions about Islam.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listIbrahim Zhumabekov, the centre’s 29-year-old imam, said misinformation in Ukraine is prevalent, including claims that “Muslims are terrorists” and that their faith subjugates women.But amid the chaos of the early days of the war, these views were dispelled as hundreds of Ukrainians found peace at the centre and as women and children were given female-only quarters to sleep, change and wash in privacy. Zhumabekov motions to a small piece of the Kiswa, the black cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, which has been framed and put in a display cabinet, Lviv, Ukraine, January 29 2026 [Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]Muslims in UkraineAs two small, colourful birds flew overhead, chirping, Zhumabekov and 46-year-old Ezzideen el-Yaman, a visitor at the centre who is originally from Lebanon, recalled when a Ukrainian man once arrived at the centre banging on the door as he hurled anti-Muslim stereotypes.“We invited him in, showed him around, and he changed his mind – now he visits us regularly,” Zhumabekov said, smiling.Zhumabekov said educating Ukrainians about the country’s rich Muslim heritage is equally important, noting that Muslims in Lviv may have been present since the 14th century. People play table football at …
