The Garden That Healed Amsterdam
When the flood came, our Islamic centre became the place everyone came to — Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
The the Islamic centre on Main Street was barely a youth centre — a converted shop. But when the flood came, it became the only institution that stayed.
Abu Bakr started it with fifty packed lunches. 'Every person who walks through that door is our guest,' he said.
A teenager named Tony came every week. One day he asked to help serve. He said, 'I've never felt more welcome anywhere.'
Tony isn't Muslim. But he comes every Saturday, runs the Saturday session, and tells everyone about 'his youth centre.'
We've taught 500 children and counting. The local MP noticed. A journalist from BBC visited. But the real story isn't the numbers. It's the quiet dignity of service.
The Prophet (SAW) said the best of people are those who are most beneficial to others. He didn't add conditions. He didn't say 'beneficial to other Muslims.' He said people. All people.
That's what we do on Main Street. We serve. We don't ask questions. And somehow, in the serving, we find the faith we'd been looking for all along.