SALAM’s Annual Fundraising Banquet Focuses on Unshakeable Faith

By Ras H. Siddiqui

 

 

The Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims (SALAM) held its Annual Banquet at its own community center on Saturday, October 17, 2026. The theme of the event this year was “Unshakeable Faith in Difficult Times” which remained tied to SALAM’s quest to remain a truly American Mosque while it continues to guide the extremely diverse Muslim community in the Sacramento region towards inclusion. It is noteworthy that SALAM has been doing this now for over 30 years. Times may be difficult for many these days for fundraising, but as always, the venue was full. For some here SALAM has continued to be the place to see old friends and for others an opportunity to make new ones.

The focus of the fundraising this time around was not on the usual “bricks and mortar” or buildings (SALAM already has more than one location) but more on operations and programs. What happens inside Mosques is just as important as building them and some would say even more. A Mosque once built is not just a place of worship but also a gathering place for the area Muslim community. Besides making it easier to pray inside according to Islamic customs, it should be able to provide other essential services (weddings, funerals, etc.) which are important elements of practicing our faith. SALAM continues to provide these services and more.

Now to the event. The evening once again started off in the very capable hands of event emcee Br Asif Haq who welcomed everyone and shared the schedule for the program. And to start the formalities he invited SALAM’s Shaykh Achour El-Qaddoury who presented a beautiful recitation from the Holy Qur’an. This was followed by the English translation of the verses by Manizha Safi.

Sister Sarah Bouabibsa, of the SALAM Board of Trustees, next presented her Chairperson’s Address. Sr Sarah officially welcomed everyone and thanked them for taking time from their busy lives to be here this evening. She also thanked the esteemed guests who had traveled quite a distance to join us here and the volunteers who helped to put this evening together, especially Sr Arwa and her staff. Members of the SALAM Board of Trustees present were also asked to stand and be recognized. Also thanked were community members who have been with SALAM since its inception including founder Dr Metwalli Amer.

Chairperson Sarah also went down memory lane and revisited Dr Metwalli Amer’s initial letter dated April 2 nd, 1987, to the Sacramento Muslim community in which he relayed the importance of sharing our faith and to be respectful and proud of it, and how we can balance our professional successes while fulfilling our duty to our faith. Many questions were raised but positive answers were hard to find, she said. And from these questions SALAM was born over 39 years ago. And tonight the aim was to continue the services that programs inside this building complex provide to the community because the reality of our spiritual lives often faces difficulties and cannot be ignored. Come as you are to Islam as it is, she quoted. You are welcome to come as you are, and Islam will take you where you need to be.

A short Devotional Nasheed session presented by the group “Al-Maqam Al-Mahmoud” from the San Francisco Bay Area was well received before the Adhan for Maghrib Prayers ended the first segment of the program. But we were back soon after with Dr Metwalli Amer taking the stage and announcing the SALAM Distinguished Service Award which is presented to a person or persons who have made a positive contribution and contributed immensely to the Sacramento regional community.

This year the recipients of the SALAM Distinguished Service Award were the husband-and-wife team of Kamal Lemseffer and Anne Kjemtrup. They were recognized for their exceptional involvement in SALAM’s activities over many years. Numerous people including this writer can vouch for their contributions to the Muslim narrative in the Sacramento region and Sr Anne while accepting the award was being too humble during her short acceptance speech. Br Kamal (file picture) could not attend and was missed on the occasion but one was glad to see their children present while this award was being presented.   

SALAM’s Executive Director Sr Arwa Houry next presented her remarks. She described  the path that SALAM provides towards community building and how it continues to provide young people in the community to develop mutual connections while retaining their Islamic roots. Starting as outsiders’ children later come to SALAM because they want to. Sr Arwa added that we can guide our kids but at some point, our faith has to become theirs. And as they grow older, faith accompanies them and evolves as they evolve.

Giving the example of a young Ahmed growing up, she added that faith around him gives him a beginning, faith that becomes his gives him something to stand on. She said that Ahmed can ask his challenging questions here at SALAM without people judging him. Ahmed carries his relationship with the Qur’an throughout his life, a relationship that SALAM helped to form in the environment that this center provides. When someone leaves this community, will the relationship be strong enough to bring them back? Sr Arwa also expressed her appreciation for all volunteers, teachers, and community members at SALAM. She closed her speech by sharing that faith is not lost in one dramatic moment and it isn’t built in one either. It takes root week after week in a community that keeps showing up till it stands unshakeable in difficult times.

The keynote address was given by Shaykh Rami Nsour, a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area and co-founder of the Tayba Foundation, the first organization in the United States to offer a distance-learning program in Islamic Education to incarcerated men and women. He is a powerful speaker and passionate about the subject of faith. Wherever we are and whatever we do, we are serving Allah (SWT), he said. The Shaykh also revisited the beginnings of Islam and the sense of community built at the first Mosque of the time and the example which the Prophet (SWW) set during that time. He was not only serving but he was also teaching us how to serve, he added.

Shaykh Rami also stressed the need to focus on programs inside Mosques for the spiritual enrichment and betterment of the community. Infrastructure is important but we also need to support the operations of the program inside the Masjid. He ended his talk with a story about a Shaykh and a Rabbi meeting at an airport waiting for a flight and they start talking about fundraising and the amounts raised. The Rabbi’s amount raised was almost forty times higher with a focus on programs and operations spending, something that we need to duplicate. What would our community look like if we had those kinds of budgets?

Imam Tahir Anwar conducted the fundraising for the event. He is also from the Bay Area and a welcome addition to such efforts in the Sacramento region. But in the end, it is the generosity of the community that matters and once again the friends and supporters of SALAM came through, because they retain their unshakable faith in  difficult times.