California: All that remains of Masjid Al-Taqwa is a signal that bears its name.
In one of the deadliest fires in the Los Angeles area in January, the mosque in Altadena, which had served a close-knit Muslim society for 42 years, burned to the ground, leaving the church heartbroken and without a spot to pray and observe their upcoming Ramzan hard together.
About 20 dome members and a few related families met on a new Saturday at a nearby Muslim school to pray and promote a dinner, their first meal together since the fire, with that in their minds. After losing their properties in the Eaton flames, which killed 17 citizens and scorched thousands of homes and over 14, 000 acre across Los Angeles county, many of the residents who came are now residing in resorts or with their families.
With Ramzan only time a way, their voluntary sheikh, Junaid Aasi, had great news to share. He placed a tiny karaoke equipment in the middle of the versatile space at New Horizon Islamic School while flaunting a white robe, a black coat, and a prayer cap.
Aasi announced that the university would provide this space for four times during Ramzan. There were gasps of pleasure, and words of” Alhamdulillah”, an Persian phrase that means “praise remain to God”.
Aasi claimed that many in the area have been concerned about Ramzan and that having this room, even if only for a few days each year, is a blessing.
” Ramzan is not only a moment when we pray and have together, but we also help and support each other and others in the community”, he said. ” This time, with so many who have lost so little, it’s going to be more significant than ever”.
The sheikh, with a liberal work as an IT specialist, has volunteered at the dome for the past 25 years. Since the hearth, he has visited the home again. Maybe, he says, he can still see all the way it was when he closes his eyes.
the location of the ceremony wash of the arms, legs, and faces before entering prayer known as wudu. The dense rugs where they prayed. Files of the sacred Quran. A pear tree inside.
” I also didn’t consider it’s all gone”, Aasi said.
He claimed that many of the family members are also internally displaced and feeling pain.
One user texted me to say that they were on their approach to their burned-out home, but they stopped. They were thus overcome, he added, that they don’t deliver themselves to the gathering.
Aaron Abdus-Shakoor, one of the temple’s founders and present committee chairman, lost his house, the tower that housed his real estate business and some investment properties around Altadena. He said the dome, which began in the 1970s as a gathering place for nation of Islam people, evolved into a major, diverse Muslim community. It was called the Pasadena-Altadena Daawa Center until people in 1997 renamed it Masjid Al-Taqwa, which means “pious and god-conscious”.
” All these years, we’ve been good people”, Abdus-Shakoor said. We’ve always tried to be beneficial in the community and have always kept our windows open.
In the earlier times, the social Ramzan party only happened on Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the divine quarter, he said. But for many years nowadays, people have hosted a regular group iftar, the evening meals during Ramzan, which breaks the day-long fast.
For some, the shrine has been a second home.
Salah Eddine Benatia, an Algerian refugee, has only been in the region three times. He had been taking a vehicle from Pasadena to pray before finding Al-Taqwa online.
” I felt so cordially welcomed by this community”, he said. ” I miss my home a lot, especially in Ramzan,” she says. When I learned that the mosque had been destroyed, I was therefore devastated. Being in this place gives me the impression of being with relatives.
Farzana Asaduzzaman, who has lived in the area since 2016, said Ramzan at the mosque has always been” a community event”.
” All brings food, we quickly, we break our quick up”, she said. ” The children may enjoy Uno, make arts and crafts, and arrange Eid present bags. We would set up boilers in the outside place, sit down, swallow warm tea and talk for hours”.
Asaduzzaman, her father and their three children, age 14, 10 and 3, lost their home in the flames as effectively. Before it burned down, they spent two and a half years renovating the house.
” Our temple may be gone and our community may be gone, but our society is strong”, she said. ” This is our support system. We’ll get up for Ramzan, no matter where it is. We’ll locate a place where our children can move around and get up once more.
For Mohammed AlDajani, a second-year health scholar, the shrine was a five-minute wander from his apartments, which was also lost in the fire. For AlDajani, who had no family or friends outside, the mosque fulfilled the need for social and spiritual sustenance.
He claimed that the temple was really a good motivating factor for his move here. ” It’s a place that has helped ground me in this society”.
AlDajani said, unlike numerous mosques he has attended, Masjid Al-Taqwa’s people represent some nationalities and ethnicities- Egyptian, African American, Afghan, Indian, Bangladeshi, Turkish and North American among them.
” I found that quite unique”, he said.
Last year was his second Ramzan in Southern California. The temple’s children painted a fresco of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a disputed divine page that has become a battleground in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. AlDajani, a Palestinian American, said the community project had a profound impact on him at a time when the suffering of those in Gaza had broken his heart.
He claimed that he had been unaware that his home had been destroyed before he knew about the destruction of the Altadena mosque.
” It’s just like my chest sank when I saw the images”, AlDajani said. ” I was in trouble because I was there every day for morning and night prayers. It was my little haven. It doesn’t feel right, having that empty space there”.
AlDajani claims that the mosque community has been “keeping him afloat” as he searches for a rental property.
” Our prayer group still meets on the weekends”, he said. ” I was anxious about Ramzan. It’s nice to know we’ll still be able to gather and pray, and this haven will still exist”.
Sakeenah Ali’s children, who attended Elliott Magnet Middle School across the street from the mosque, lost their school in the fire.
She continued,” They would hear their school’s afternoon call to prayer, which was very special,” adding that when she went outside, the parking lot was covered in ash and the mosque burned.
” Cars were on fire, trees were smoldering”, Ali recalled. ” You could hear explosions everywhere- boom, boom”.
But she believes that her community is resilient.
” The key is to keep showing up”, Ali said. ” Make sure we have our prayer time, stay connected and be consistent. We are going to rebuild”.
