Look At Muslim Student Who Raised $30,000 To Help Fix Black Churches Destroyed By Fire
When Faatimah Knight reached out to her Muslim friends and acquaintances
to try and help black churches that had been destroyed by fire, she had
no idea how much they could collect.
Today they have managed to raise over
$30,000 – money that will be used to help up to seven churches that were
destroyed in the American south in the aftermath of the Charleston
shooting and the campaign against the Confederate flag.
"We have been overwhelmed by how
generous people have been," Ms Knight, 23, told The Independent. "We
will stop it today…We will figure out how to distribute the money."
Ms Knight's campaign – carried out as
Muslims around the world marked the festival of Ramadan – followed a
smaller, more modest enterprise she had set in motion in the days after
the shooting dead of nine people at Charleston's Emanuel African
Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17. She and some friends wanted to
gather $500 to send flowers; they ended up raising $900.
And when she and the same friends read
about the series ofchurches that were burned down and the probe by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, they similarly wanted to act. At least
three of the fires were said to have been arson – with fears they may
have been destroyed by people disgruntled by moves against the
Confederate flag.
A number of Muslim organisations have
responded to her call, including the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative,
the Arab American Association of New York and Ummah Wide, but she said
people of other faiths had also donated.
"It's Ramadan and we are experiencing
firsthand the beauty and sanctity of our mosques during this holy
month," says a message posted on thelaunchgood.com website.
A church in South Carolina burns after a fire breaks out on June 30, 2015.
"ALL houses of worship are sanctuaries, a
place where all should feel safe, a place we can seek refuge when the
world is too much to bear."
Ms Knight, a Masters student at the
Chicago Theological Seminary, said of her acquaintances some people had
questioned the campaign and asked why she was raising money for
Christian houses of worship, as opposed to a Muslim cause. But most were
supportive.
She Islam taught of the need to protect
the weak and vulnerable. She said while the black Christian communities
of the South might not be weak, they were vulnerable.
"I'm a black person and I do identify
with the wider black community at that level," she said. "Historically,
the black community has been vulnerable."
She added: "Traditionally, when we have
been on our best behaviour, we have created space for other faiths, and
let people worship as they see fit."
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