On a recent Friday afternoon, just days after a man who threw a Molotov cocktail into Coachella Valley's only mosque in California, the US, was sentenced to six years in prison, about 100 Muslims gathered to worship.
Because of the damage from the arson, worshipers entered through the back and side doors.
As they prayed, people near the front door could smell the scent of smoke, which still lingered from the Dec. 11 firebombing. After prayers, acting Imam Reymundo Nour told the worshipers about a "Resilience Award" the mosque received from a regional group of Islamic leaders for its reaction to the hate crime.
"They gave us this award to show that we are a community, that we don't stay down," he told gathering. "These things happen and we get together. We decide that we are going to bounce back and we are working on fixing the damage as well as working towards building the new masjid (mosque)."
The December attack was not the first time The Islamic Society of Palm Springs was the victim of a hate crime. In 2014, somebody driving by opened fire at the mosque at 84650 Ave. 49 in Coachella.
But despite the violent episodes, the mosque is growing.
The Islamic Society of Palm Springs recently bought the vacant lot next door. The group plans to build a mosque and community center that will have classrooms, a social hall, and enough room to fit twice as many worshipers as its current space, according to the imam.
"When we have our end of Ramadan prayers we have them outside, if we were to have the same prayers inside, we wouldn’t fit,” Nour said. "We have outgrown the space so we need a larger facility.”
The Islamic Society acquired the current mosque – a former church – 17 years ago. Before then, small groups of Muslims gathered at office buildings for prayer.
In the last decade, the group has grown into a vibrant community of doctors, lawyers, teachers, and entrepreneurs who open businesses, buy homes, and send their children to local schools. As many as 450 attend end of Ramadan prayers twice a year, Nour said.
As with mosques around the country, growth has been marked by sporadic episodes of Islamophobic violence, particularly after high-profile terrorist attacks.
source : abna24
