194 Long Plain Road, Leverett, MA 01054-9507- (413) 548-9188 http://MountToby.quaker.org
Imam Abdul Baki
Dr. Mahammad S. Bajwa
Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts
377 Amostown Rd.
W. Springfield, MA 01089
Dear Imam Baki and Dr. Bajwa,
Mount Toby Monthly Meeting of Friends, at its Monthly Meetings for Worship
with a Concern for Business in November and December, 2010, undertook consideration and discernment on support of our Muslim neighbors.
We came to unity on the following statement:
Increasingly aware of fears about Islam within the United States, we of Mt. Toby FriendsMeeting (Quakers) voice our support for Muslims within our community and beyond. We stand with those who live in fear because of their religion. We deplore anti-Islamic harassment and welcome the opportunity to grow in the understanding of each other’s faiths.
As Clerk of Mount Toby Meeting, I have been instructed to forward this statement to media, politicians and faith communities in this region.
This statement is a deeply felt response to recent actions and events around the local Islamic community which leave us distressed and sad. The history of Quakers includes many periods of harassment and suffering for our beliefs. In this we see unity with the situation of Muslims in the United States today.
We also see this statement as one step in an ongoing process of reaching out to our Muslim neighbors, both as individuals and as a corporate body, and to learning from them ways that we can be supportive of their community. We seek opportunities to educate ourselves and to become better acquainted with our Muslim neighbors so that we grow in our understanding of the Muslim faith.
Individuals from our meeting have already begun this work in various ways, such as attending recent interfaith events hosted by local Muslim communities,
becoming involved with the Interfaith Opportunities Network and helping to raise funds for Pakistani flood relief.
We look forward to learning more about and further supporting Muslims in our area.
With the light of truth and love,
Margaret Cooley, Clerk
Mount Toby Friends Meeting
ISWM Letter to Mount Toby Friends Meeting
Dear Friends at Mount Toby Monthly Meeting .
Yor statement of support for the muslim community is greatly appreciated. On behalf oftheIslamic Society , ImamWissam Abdul Baki and I thank you sincerely.
If ,in all parts of united States , Friends like you start expressing concern and support like, you have expressed and sent to Media, then with the help of God ” the Almighty”,
the agents of Islamo-phobia will calm down . We will need even more support , when in the near future , the new congress ,under the leadership of Rep. Peter King, start a
smear campaign, at the Capitol Hills . We have full trust in God the Almighty, and can count on the friends like you and people of understanding in the other faith communities.
With Best Regards and Many Thanks to all the Friends and Brothers .
Sincerely,
M.Saleem Bajwa , Islamic Society of western Mass.
Mount Toby Monthly Meeting
theIslamic Society , ImamWissam Abdul Baki and I thank you sincerely.