Mosque to Play More Active Role in Community Affairs
December 15, 2009
FAMILY DAY AT MASJID ADAM, INCLUDING SAIDA PERKIN AND FAJR INNIS (BACK ROW). (PHOTO: R. THOMAS)
By REBECCA THOMAS
The window to the right of the prayer niche in the eastern corner of Masjid Adam, the one-room mosque at 2263 Crotona Ave., is punctured by two bullet holes.
It has been this way for two years, since stray bullets from a gunfight hit the second floor mosque. The members of the mosque will not replace it until they have helped address the causes of violence in the area.
“The imam has left these as a reminder of the time when we were not getting involved in the community,” said Abdul Malik Talib, one of the leaders of the mosque. “They are there to show that it is our obligation as members of this community to get involved. The time has come to help ourselves and help our community.”
Violent crime in the community has been falling, but problems remain.
“The guns are evident, the violence is evident, but what about the groups that are here that can help make a change? The churches, the masjids, the schools, the synagogues? If we don’t step forward, we are not going to be effective at changing the community,” Talib said.
One of the first steps the mosque has taken to effect change is to become more involved in local events. It will host the next Community Board 6 meeting in January and the monthly 48th Police Precinct meeting in March. It has applied to be one of the training and testing centers for the 2010 Census.
In October, the Masjid Adam also began offering new, family-oriented, outreach programs to combat poverty, crime and violence. One of these is a Saturday mentoring class for 12- to 15-year-old boys in which the boys are taught non-violence and fitness.
Another is Sunday “family days,” when the mosque offers food and board games to both its members and its neighbors from the surrounding community. On Dec. 6, about 25 people gathered to eat a meal that included salmon, lasagna, dirty rice and chocolate brownies. The families present that day were all members of the mosque, but non-members have come on past occasions, mosque leaders said.
The family day is held in the one-room mosque that takes up the top floor of 2263 Crotona Ave. Aside from the prayer niche and tables set up with childrens’ games, the room is clear for members to pray and play in the open space.
The family day is the forerunner for the food pantry the mosque intends to open. After running the food program for four to six months — it has been going for two and a half, — the mosque can apply for official funding and donations for the pantry. An after-school program, movie nights and a meal delivery program for senior citizens are also planned.
Other organizations working in the area encourage the mosque’s initiatives.
“The mentoring program is great and very important because men are working in the community. They have men as mentors for the boys and that is rare,” said Ivine Galarza, district manager of Community Board 6.
Leslie Block, who works for the Thorpe Family residence across the road from the mosque, said: “I welcome [the mosque] into the neighborhood to reach out to whomever.”
The mosque emphasizes that the programs will bring social services to the area, regardless of the faith of those it is serving.
MASJID ADAM HAS OCCUPIED 2263 CROTONA AVE. SINCE 2002. (PHOTO: R. THOMAS)
“There is this image: ‘Muslims are isolated, they don’t want to get involved.’ Our Islam is very progressive,” Talib said.
“Our objective is to establish an example of what a real community should be,” said Imam Farooq Abdul-Wali. “When we say an Islamic community, we mean a community that serves those around it: non-Muslims, Christians, Jews. That is our objective.”
The Masjid Adam has been at 2263 Crotona Ave. since 2002. “One reason for the name is that it is universal,” said Abdul-Wali. “Most people: Christians, Jews, would be able to identify with it. Adam is the father of us all.” As well as resonating with those of other faiths, the name also recognizes a pioneering member of the mosque, Walter Adam.
While the mosque has been active in non-violence initiatives since 2002 – such as a protest march against gun violence in 2004 – these came to a standstill when a member who had been particularly active in them, died in 2006. The renewed efforts signal the end of this lull and a new beginning for the mosque.
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