Interfaith groups are invited this Sunday, Oct. 20 for an “Open Mosque Day” in La Mirada.
The annual event — going strong since 2011 — is hosted at the La Mirada Masjid. Mosque leader Mohammed R. Rahman, the president of nonprofit Muslim Community Service, Inc., said the gathering is to promote understanding of Islam — to invite peace and harmony between neighbors in hopes of reducing Islamophobia in the San Gabriel Valley and surrounding communities.
“There’s a lot of talk about ‘Muslims are this, Muslims are that’,” Rahman said, “so we do this event and ask the surrounding communities to come together to learn about what Muslim faith and Islam is really about.”
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Over the last year, attitudes toward both Muslim and Jewish people — among others — have suffered in California and nationwide, according to the latest report from the state Department of Justice, which looks at hate crimes over the last year, including the start of the ongoing Mideast war between Israel and Hamas.
Attacks against Muslim groups rose from 25 in 2022 to 40 in 2023, the report said, while anti-Jewish bias rose 52.9%, from 189 in 2022 to 289 in 2023. Also, religiously motivated hate crimes rose 30%, from 303 in 2022 to 394 in 2023.
Rahman expressed the need for the annual Open Mosque Day, inviting people of all faiths to come and learn about Islam.
Just before the event, on the night of Oct. 16, Rahman said he found graffiti under a banner outside the mosque, with the letters “AFS” in black spray paint. He said it did not appear to be a form of Islamophobic graffiti but couldn’t be sure. No police report was filed, and the city painted over it the next day.
At Sunday’s open event, leaders will discuss pillars of the Muslim faith, including the wearing of hijabs, and how hair coverings are used in other religions such as Judaism and Christianity, Rahman said. The event will highlight why the local mosque is actively involved in government, volunteering opportunities and more, to show their visible presence in the community.
Rahman said that other religious groups have come to Open Mosque Day to support, and vice versa — including leaders from Christian and Catholic churches in Whittier, La Mirada’s Temple Beth Ohr, Biola University, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The La Mirada Mosque and Muslim Community Service, Inc. has also hosted a “peace walk,” where community leaders and interfaith groups come together for a half-mile walk near the mosque to condemn Islamophobia.
“We want to keep a very good relationship with the community,” Rahman said. “We thought that if we have this kind of communication, that is how we can lessen Islamophobia — through education.”
The La Mirada Masjid is located at 14225 Imperial Hwy. in La Mirada. For more information: www.masjidlamirada.org