AMV Sacramento Hosts Eid Dinner for Syrian Refugees
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
In the spirit of “Ansar-e-Medina” (The Helpers of Medina), the American Muslim Voice Sacramento chapter hosted an Eid al-Adha dinner for Syrian refugee families. The dinner was held on September 1, 2018 at the Salam Mosque community hall in Sacramento.
Ansar-e-Medina were the local inhabitants of Medina who took into their homes the Muslims who had migrated from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD in the face of persecution.
AMV Sacramento chapter hosted the dinner in collaboration with Refugee Enrichment & Development Association (REDA).
Imam Mumtaz Ahmed Qasmi of the historic Sacramento mosque played an important role in highlighting the spirit of “Ansar-e-Medina” to raise funds to help the Syrian refugees.
The Muslims of Medina (the Ansar) embraced with love and sincerity the Muslim migrants who settled down in Medina, leaving everything they had behind. The Muslims of Medina, came to be called the Ansar (the helpers), because they offered all kinds of help to the Migrants.
In an epoch-making measure, a 50/50 partnership was established between the Ansarsand the migrants. As history books relate, this foundation of brotherhood established by the Prophet was based on mutual economic and psychological support and the principle of being inheritors to each other, which in turn aimed to provide the migrants with all types of support to settle them without any hardships.
According to this foundation of brotherhood established, leaders of each family in Medina would provide a Muslim family from Mecca with accommodation and share their belongings with them, and they would work together.
AMV Sacramento President Asif Sattar and family, Ali Rana and family, AMV National President Khalid Saeed, Javaid Akhtar, Rana Asad Khan, Meer Shams Nazir and other AMV board members played an important role in hosting this event.
The program began with arecitation from the Holy Qur’an by Imam Mumtaz Ahmed Qasi who also delivered a speech (on Muslim fraternity) in Arabic language for the benefit of mainly the Arabic-speaking audience.
Ushna Sattar was MC while Suzan from REDA helped in the translation to Arabic.
Addressing the Syrian guests, Samina Sundas, Executive Director of the American Muslim Voice, said that they should become ambassadors of Islam in the USA.
However, “you should not forget your heritage, from where you came and what values your brought,” Samina said, adding, “You should not forget your heritage but adopt the adopted home whole-heartedly.”
Samina Sundas went on to say that the only way the AMV could change the negative image of Islam to positive is through action in the mainstream.
According to REDA, during the last six years Sacramento has become home to over 5,000 refugees, making it second to Los Angeles and San Diego which have the largest settlement of refugees in California.
It takes years for the people, who have fled war and violence, to be granted refugee status and arrive in the United States, and refugee resettlement agencies are an important part of this process.
When the first Syrian refugee families were resettled in Sacramento a group of community members took on assisting them in beginning their lives here.
They translated in countless medical appointments, helped fill out paperwork and applications, and coordinated clothing/furniture/car/etc. donations. As the number of families increased and the demand for assistance grew, the need for a more centralized effort became clear.
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