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Assalamu Alaykum / Peace and blessings be upon you “He who does not thank people, does not thank God.” [Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)] “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.” [Ralph W Emerson] In the past week, our community truly realized the “Glory of Friendship.” It is at times of challenge that one discovers one’s true friends. After the sign in front of MAPS was vandalized, hundreds of our co-citizens reached out to us with concern, care, support and love. Nearly 500 visited us. Many brought cards and flowers. Some made signs and stood in support in front of the mosque. Others raised money in their churches and synagogues. In fact, inter-faith leaders were among the first to check on us. One person launched a GoFundMe campaign and raised $1,850. Over one hundred people from across the nation took time and wrote to us. The words and gestures of these true friends have truly melted our hearts and brought tears to our eyes. We cannot quite put in words how much our community has been moved by this outpouring of support. We have created a web-page and documented many of the emails we received here and we have archived beautiful cards we received here and archived the “wall of support” signed by visitors here. Please take time and read some of these notes and appreciate the goodness and genuine friendship in our fellow neighbors. Many community leaders reached out to us and stood by us. Representatives of non-profit organizations called on us. Government officials, including the Redmond Mayor, the Issaquah Mayor, the Sound Cities Association which represents 37 cities of King County, the Governor, US Rep Jayapal and US Rep DelBene called us, visited us and issued strong statements condemning the act of hate. The press gave us fair coverage. We are blessed to be living in a state where our leaders strongly denounce hate and firmly stand by the timeless values of diversity and inclusion upon which our country was founded. Please read the letters from some of these leaders here . On behalf of the MAPS community, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks from the bottom of my heart to all those who reached out and cared for us. Each and everyone of our community members sincerely say thank you. We all pray that God’s blessings be upon all of us, that He strengthen our bonds of friendship and that He keep all of us safe. MAPS is planning a ceremony to restore the vandalized sign on Friday December 9th following our weekly Friday prayers. We would like to extend a heartfelt invitation for you to come and attend the ceremony. We are placing the new sign on an elevated base and we are inviting various leaders of churches, synagogues, non-faith organizations, government offices, etc. to come and place a handprint on the wet cement of that base during the ceremony. We would like to capture in cement the handprints of our friends who have supported us. We want the base of handprints to remain a sign of solidarity for posterity. The agenda of the ceremony on that day is as follows: 12:15 – 1:00PM: Friday Sermon and Prayers by Imam Mohamed Magid from Virginia 01:15 – 1:45PM: Sign restoration ceremony 01:45 – 2:15PM: Social gathering over tea and snacks Please come and attend the Friday Sermon starting at 12:15PM or feel free to arrive by 1:15PM for the sign restoration ceremony which will be conducted outside on the curb. Again, thank you so very much to everybody for the care and friendship you have shown to our community. We are truly blessed!! God Bless, Mahmood Khadeer MAPS President |