Ciudad Juárez Mosque Repairs
Assalam Alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu dear brothers and sisters.
Earlier this month, a sister and I traveled to visit family in the border city of El Paso, Texas. While in El Paso I decided to go across the border to Ciudad Juárez where I met a sister by the name of Aisha who invited us over to see their mosque. She told us how she had reverted to Islam about 13 years ago and had had to travel to the country’s capital with her young son in order to learn more about her newfound faith as there were no Qurans, literature or other Muslims in the city.
Sister Aisha eventually returned to Ciudad Juárez and made it her mission with the help and blessings of Allah, to spread the word of Islam in her hometown. Subhan’Allah, currently there are about 50 Muslims in the city, most of which are single mothers with limited resources. Allah has continued to bless this small ummah and they were able to purchase a property to turn into a mosque. The property needs a lot of work and our sisters struggle to find modest, Islamic clothing, hijabs, or even prayer mats. The minimum wage in that city is about $90/week and a prayer mat costs at least $30. The mosque was broken into and most of their mats were stolen leaving them with only 4. Mash’Allah, despite all the hardship these sisters are very welcoming and giving. They collect groceries to take to orphanages and elderly homes. Sister Aisha told me how when a new sister converts to Islam, the other sisters or herself share their abayas or hijabs with the new sister.
Having seen this firsthand made first, thank Allah for how generous he has been with me and my family. We have a beautiful, clean and safe mosque to attend prayers and events. I have access to modest clothing, some of which is just sitting in my closet and has not been worn in a while. I prayed to Allah and asked him to make me a source of help to these hard-working sisters in any way, as I could not just come back to the comfort of my home and forget about what my sisters were going through. The sister accompanying me and I decided we would start by going through our closets and gathering clothing and hijabs that are in good condition to take to our sisters on my next trip, Insha’Allah.
I also couldn’t stop thinking of the conditions of the mosque and how every Muslim deserves a good place to gather, pray and worship Allah. I would like to ask for your help in order to make the necessary repairs to this mosque. Remembering that those who give for the sake of Allah will receive it back multiplied. Anything you give,no matter how small will make a difference to our Muslim brothers and sisters and they will be incredibly grateful.
The photos show the state of the mosque. The sisters are currently worried about the carpet they just purchased as the roof has started leaking. They just had their first snow this past Tuesday and once the snow starts to melt it will most likely seep into the mosque. If you are unable to donate anything at this time, I ask that you keep this young Muslim community in your du’as. JazakAllah khairan katheeran.
