Jodhpur Muslims help temple stampede victims

Salam/Peace:

From ferrying victims to hospitals, to spontaneously queuing up for blood donation, the Muslim community in the city was one with its Hindu friends after Tuesday’s stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple.

At least 186 devotees died in the stampede tragedy at Mehrangarh Fort on the first day of the Navratra festival.

[...]

Muslim youth were seen attending to patients prior to the arrival of family members and queuing up for blood donation. Close to 3.5 lakh of Jodhpur’s 13 lakh population are Muslim.

“We are all creations of Allah who doesn’t differentiate between Hindus and Muslims,’’ said 22-year-old college student Arif Mohammad, one of the first to reach the site with his classmates Raju Khan and Sadiq Khan.

Read the whole article at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/
StoryPage.aspx?id=0bbee88b-fff7-424e-be94-479a78b51c5b

Madrassa stands out as symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity

Salam/Peace:

When 14-year-old Asma, a Muslim girl studying in eighth standard, writes on the black board in Sanskrit "Aham pustakam pathami," the tiny class room of this madrassa reverberates with the collective sound of the boys and girls, who pronounce the sentence in chaste Sanskrit.

Similarly, when 11-year-old Seema, a Hindu girl studying in fifth standard, writes in Urdu “Allah is the greatest”, all Hindu and Muslim boys and girls recite the line. This is a usual scene at the Madrassa Anwarul Salafia at Chanwara Bazar in Eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district, very close to Azamgarh, about 200 kilometres from here. At a time when the secular fabric of the country has come under strain following series of terrorist attacks and violence against Christians, this madrassa stands out as a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity.

A majority of of the students are Hindus,” Saikat told Deccan Herald from Jaunpur.

Read the whole article at:
http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Sep292008/national2008092892607.asp

Muslim community comes through for foodbank

Salam/Peace:

(Blogger's note: This is actually a letter to the editor published in The Windsor Star)

To our Muslim friends: On behalf of Drouillard Place, the Downtown Mission, the Salvation Army, the Windsor Homes Coalition and the Welcome Home Shelter, we extend our sincere thanks and appreciation for your wonderful donation of food boxes collected over this past month during your Ramadan fast.

I was overwhelmed with the number of volunteers you had at the mall to assist in filling the boxes, greeting people with flowers, face painting for the children and the cards you distributed explaining why you do what you do.

It was particularly inspiring to see so many young people giving up their Saturday to help with this endeavour. I was told that you filled over 950 boxes, and I know that this will certainly help us fill our cupboards for the next few months.

Read the whole letter at:
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/letters/story.html?id=
2d734107-0820-432d-8d84-b4424b9b158f