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Sunday’s Mosque Open Day in La Mirada invites community to learn about Islam – Whittier Daily News

Sunday’s Mosque Open Day in La Mirada invites community to learn about Islam – Whittier Daily News

Interfaith groups are invited to an “Open Mosque Day” in La Mirada this Sunday, October 20th.

The annual event, which has been held since 2011, is held at the La Mirada Masjid. The mosque’s leader, Mohammed R. Rahman, president of the nonprofit Muslim Community Service, Inc., said the gathering serves to promote understanding of Islam – inviting peace and harmony among neighbors in the hope of curbing Islamophobia in the San Gabriel Valley and surrounding communities.

“There’s a lot of talk about ‘Muslims are this, Muslims are that,'” Rahman said, “so we’re hosting this event and asking surrounding communities to come together to learn what the Muslim faith and Islam is really about.”

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Muslim mosque members pray at La Mirada Masjid on Friday, January 8, 2016. (File photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)

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Attitudes toward Muslims and Jews have suffered — among other things — in California and across the country as a result of the ongoing Middle East war between Israel and Hamas, according to the state’s Department of Justice’s latest report examining hate crimes over the past year, including the start of the year .

According to the report, attacks against Muslim groups increased from 25 in 2022 to 40 in 2023, while anti-Jewish bias increased by 52.9%, from 189 in 2022 to 289 in 2023. Religiously motivated hate crimes also increased by 30% , from 303 in 2022 to 394 in 2023.

Rahman expressed the need for the annual Mosque Open Day and invited people of all faiths to come and learn about Islam.

Shortly before the event, on the night of October 16, Rahman said he found graffiti with the letters “AFS” written in black spray paint under a banner outside the mosque. He said it didn’t appear to be any form of Islamophobic graffiti but couldn’t be sure. No police report was filed and the city transferred it the next day.

At Sunday’s open event, leaders will discuss the pillars of the Muslim faith, including wearing hijabs and how hair coverings are used in other religions such as Judaism and Christianity, Rahman said. The event will highlight why the local mosque is actively involved in government, volunteering, and more to show its visible presence in the community.

Rahman said other religious groups came to the mosque open day to support her, and vice versa – including leaders of Christian and Catholic churches in Whittier, La Miradas Temple Beth Ohr, Biola University and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

La Mirada Mosque and Muslim Community Service, Inc. also hosted a “Peace Walk,” bringing together community leaders and interfaith groups for a half-mile walk near the mosque to condemn Islamophobia.

“We want to maintain a very good relationship with the community,” Rahman said. “We thought that with this type of communication we could reduce Islamophobia – through education.”

The La Mirada Masjid is located at 14225 Imperial Highway in La Mirada. Further information: www.masjidlamirada.org