Washington Report, March 2006, page 65

Muslim-American Activism

Muslim Volunteers Feed the Homeless

ON JAN. 9, the day before Eid Al-Adha, Islam’s holiest day, Washington, DC area Muslim volunteers were busy feeding more than 80 women and children at the First Congregational Church. Nine volunteers, including two 11-year-olds, gathered around the church kitchen, cutting onions, washing food utensils, and preparing dinner, just as they have done since Ramadan 2001.

Kari Kirwin, executive director of the Dinner Program for the Homeless Women at 9th and G Sts., NW, told the Washington Report, “This program depends on the help of volunteers. This is an interfaith program. I rely on Muslim volunteers and their daily donations of food.” Kirwin said the success of the program is dependent on the daily food deliveries made possible by Mohammad Abdeiloh, director of social services of Dar al-Hijra, the largest mosque in the Washington, DC area, and the countless volunteers who come to help prepare and serve the meals. “They are here every other Monday of every month except during Ramadan,” Kirwan said, “when they are here every day. Our program depends on their donations and commitment.”

While busy coordinating his volunteers, Ali Sadiqui of Dar al-Hijra told the Washington Report that the program first started in coordination with a Presbyterian church in nearby Falls Church, VA. “That experience was a good one,” he said, “and generated interest among the Dar al-Hijra community.” Soon afterward, Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, chaplain at Howard University as well as Dar al-Hijra, challenged Reverend Graylan Hagler, pastor of the District’s Plymouth Congregational Church, to join both the Muslim and the Christian congregations to feed the needy of Washington, DC during the month of Ramadan. According to Reverend Hagler, “This was an opportunity to work hand in hand, instead of the standard dialogue that often characterizes Muslim-Christian relationships“.

Imam Johari reminded Reverend Hagler that he has won the challenge: “Four years later, area Muslims are still volunteering at the Dinner Program for the Homeless Women. I hope we can maintain and support it for many more years to come.”

Ali Sadiqui, Dar al-Hijra’s volunteer coordinator, boasted of the many friendships developed and the many “interfaith working opportunities enjoyed by all.” He proceeded to list the many different groups that have participated in the program, including Muslim student associations, local mosques, local high school students and other individuals who have come from across the United States to take part in this effort.

One of the women waiting for her meal told the Washington Report, “We like it when the Muslims work in the kitchen. Ali is a good cook. We are hungry and they don’t waste time talking. They come to work.“

As if on cue, Sadiqui, Aisha Bates, her son, Cory Watkins, and six other volunteers formed an assembly line to ladle out the prepared food and carefully carry the hot plates into the church cafeteria to serve the 80 women and children waiting patiently for their hot meal of the day.

As soon as diners had eaten, the volunteers cleaned the kitchen, wished each other a Happy Eid, and promised Ali they would be back soon.

—Mai Abdul Rahman

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