ISLAM IN AMERICA
Muslim North Americans Continue Their Jihad Against Hunger When “action, not words,” became the unspoken rallying cry BY ISLAMIC HORIZONS STAFF
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he Covid-19 pandemic continues to keep millions of people out of work. Across North America, Muslims are living Prophet Muhammad’s (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) guidance, as reported by Ibn Abbas: “He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while the neighbor to his side goes hungry” (“al-Sunan al-Kubra,” hadith no. 19049). We take a look at a few places nationwide. The All-Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) of Sterling, Va., collected and delivered, either at pick-up centers or at home, packages of dairy products and fresh produce to at least 1,000 area families on June 12. ADAMS also sent food parcels to area soup kitchens. On June 5, The Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis helped distribute boxes — valued at about $30 each — from a truck loaded with 22,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables, reported KMOV.com on Jun 6. This distribution remains ongoing. Volunteers at the Al-Hidaya Center in Latham, N.Y., prepared and distributed 1,409 meals on one day to homeless shelters and the needy on the 2020 Annual National Muslim Soup Kitchen Day, reported the Albany, N.Y. Times Union on June 6. Muslim Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students launched this project in 2003. In Baltimore, the Muslim Social Services Agency and partners gave away food gift cards, hot meals, water and canned goods. Founder Hassan Amin told 2 ABC WMAR on June 14 that the recipient’s skin color or gender is irrelevant, for their effort is all about helping others. The Zakat Foundation of America (ZFA), after learning that farmers were being forced to destroy crops even as fears of food shortages were rising, persuaded them to donate bags of potatoes. As of June 10, more than 500,000 lbs. of potatoes had been distributed in Illinois, California, Virginia, Michigan, Missouri and North Carolina.
In California, partnering with actor, comedian, director and producer Omar Regan (known for his work on Rush Hour 2, Internet Dating and American Sharia, among other films), ZFA gave out 44,000 lbs. of potatoes, half of which went to the Orange County Food Bank to be redistributed. The other half went to other organizations that requested help, including Access California and Anaheim Saddleback Church. Mosques that have food kitchens — Long Beach Sharif Mosque, Anaheim Al-Ansar Mosque, Madina Islamic Center in Norwalk — also received shares. San Bernardino’s Sahaba Initiative Food Pantry received 7,000 lbs., and Corona Norco Mosque received 9,000 lbs. More potato distributions are coming, including a couple of thousand pounds to Riverside Pomona Day Labor Center. Each of these entities will distribute potatoes to families during their Covid-19 food drive. On June 20, ZFA delivered nearly 35,000 lbs. of farm-fresh produce to food-insecure East Oakland — one of the heaviest hit parts of Alameda County — for free distribution at Masjidul Waritheen, the city’s oldest mosque. The food relief comes after weeks of near-total shutdowns, impelled by violent police crackdowns on ethnically diverse anti-racist protestors outraged by police brutality against African Americans in general and ignited by the public police lynching of George Floyd. More than 30 Bay Area organizations under the Northern California Islamic Council (NCIC) umbrella — including Lighthouse Mosque and CAIR-Calif. — helped pass out produce crates to some 7,000 people. NCIC chair Hatem Bazian, co-editor and founder of the Islamophobia Studies Journal, director of the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project and a senior lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies at University
48 ISLAMIC HORIZONS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
