A call for solidarity week with American Muslim communities

by Global Ministries | published on Jan 30, 2017

January 28 – February 3, 2017

The Executive Orders signed yesterday are already hitting refugee, immigrant and Muslim communities hard. You can learn more about the content here, and here are updated, urgent action alerts from our partners at the Arab American Institute and the Interfaith Immigration Coalition on what you can do to make sure elected officials are hearing your voice in this moment.

Additionally, we’re calling on people of faith to take three steps in the next week to live out your commitment to solidarity with our Muslim neighbors:

Lift up American Muslims in your own worship services or gatherings this weekend (January 28-29). Seek out their voices and highlight stories of how the current political environment is impacting individuals and families (you might invite a Muslim partner to share at your service or in a community group). Talk about why people of your own faith tradition should be living into solidarity with your Muslim neighbors at this time.
Send a note of encouragement to your local Islamic Center. You can mail them or hand deliver (Google will help you find a local Islamic Center if you don’t already have a relationship). There have been numerous beautiful examples of this sort of outreach over the last several months, from notes and flowers delivered to mosques in Washington state, Chicago, Georgia and elsewhere, to messages of love written in chalk outside Islamic Centers in Nashville, Virginia, and numerous other locations.
Reach out and show up at Friday prayers on February 3. Reach out in advance to make sure that the community would be prepared to have numerous visitors- if you don’t already have a relationship with someone with whom you can have this conversation, call up a local Islamic Center and just ask (again, Google will help you find one!). If cleared with the community, gather people from your congregation or community to show up. Here are some tips to know before you go, especially if you have never visited a mosque before.

Please share your experiences through social media, using the hashtags #NoBanNoWall and #RevolutionaryLove. These gestures are, of course, not meant to be an endpoint, but part of the solidarity journey that lies ahead of us.

THANK YOU for your continued work of love and solidarity in these challenging times.