The First Masjid in Boston...

Last Saturday June 9th, we went to the first ever 'big' Masjid to be built in Boston! It is located on Malcolm X Avenue, Roxbury - tempat yang mostly inhabited by ramai African-Americans di Boston! I heard (if it's true..), Governor Deval Patrick wants improvement to that area & he believes it can also be done through Islam. Of course the building of the masjid is not without problems, issues, hindrances & slanders from the enemies of Islam - I believe it took 7 years to get this masjid approved and be erected, and even now it's not completely built yet! Construction is halted due to insufficient funds - the contractor needs an additional of US500k just to continue on with the development. It seems that the committee had to resort to internal/private contributions ( which is kind of slow ) as funds from outside is stopped and cannot be channeled in. Too many negative speculations! Anyway, everyone was there for the placement of the minaret and for the first athan to be heard. Can you imagine the athan 'berkumandang' di udara mat salleh!? You have to be here to experience the feeling.. perasaan macam kat Mekah pulak! Syahduuuu... We were told that the minaret could not have been built, if not for an old lady who 'sedeqah' all of her inheritance & belongings - may Allah shower her with all of his blessings. There were quite a few 'sobs' and 'sniffles' I heard coming from those around me (including yours truly!), amidst the 'ameens' during the do'a done by the Imam. Well, it was in English and everyone understood the message. Actually, there were also talks of 'trouble' likely to happen, instigated by people who tak suka tengok orang Islam hidup senang! We were a bit apprehensive at first of going, especially my husband, who doesn't want us to be caught up in any conflicts - but, upon seeing throngs of Muslims coming from all walks of life, berbagai bentuk dan rupa..the young and the old, with children & babies...walking like one mile away towards the masjid...we were pulled along! Tak ku sangka macam Hari Raya pulak! Fortunately nothing major occured..except for the incident when the tow truck wanting to pull our car away for having the boot a few inches beyond the 'yellow line'!. Alhamdulillah, if not for a few 'brothers' who not knowing the owner of the targeted car, quickly donated US5 each to make up for the 50 dollars requested by the tow-ers, our car would have been compounded. Now that would be another story to tell! They turned down my husband's request to re-pay them and gladly, I witnessed one of the teachings of Islam being practiced here. We are gratified by their sincerity and willingness to help - semoga Allah kurnia lebih banyak rezeki kepada mereka!