Sacramento
2012 Director’s Community Leadership Awards
| Sacramento |
Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims |
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Director Farrukh Saeed accepts the award on behalf of the Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims. |
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The Sacramento Division is pleased to honor the Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims (SALAM) as a recipient of the 2012 Director’s Community Leadership Award. For more than 25 years, SALAM has helped to establish and maintain relationships between the Muslim community and non-Muslims. SALAM was founded in 1987 to promote Islamic teaching, understanding, and unity among Muslims in the greater Sacramento community and to help dispel myths about Islam in the non-Muslim community. On Sunday, April 8, 2012, SALAM made headlines when it opened its auditorium for use by a Christian church for Easter services. The church lost its facility a week prior, leaving 500 congregants without a place to celebrate Easter. SALAM graciously agreed to host services at the center. Despite initial negative attention, two worship services were scheduled at the auditorium. This was not the first time that SALAM has addressed the needs of non-Muslims. In 1989, SALAM led a team of organizers to create a fundraiser for Bosnian war victims. In 1999, SALAM issued a statement and led 300 interfaith clergy at United We Stand, an event at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento in response to the burning of three synagogues in Sacramento. |