California fires have destroyed at least a dozen houses of worship

by | Jan 11, 2025 | Religion

(RNS) — Last Friday, Najeeba Syeed attended Jumma prayers at the Masjid Al-Taqwa, a congregation she’d prayed for years at while living in Southern California.
Less than a week later, Syeed, a theology professor and interfaith leader, learned that Al-Taqwa, a historically African American mosque in Altadena, California, had burned to the ground — one of more than a dozen houses of worship damaged or destroyed in the wildfires that have raged in and around Los Angeles this past week.
Even as local faith leaders mourned the loss of their sacred spaces, they’ve been banding together, offering words of comfort and practical help to those affected by the wildfires.

Syeed, the El Hibri endowed chair of interfaith studies at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, said Altadena has a long history of interfaith cooperation and local faith leaders have been calling one another, offering support and looking for ways to work together.
“They’re helping their own communities, but they’re also stepping up and stepping beyond and helping each other,” said Syeed, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Minnesota. “That’s part of the story — faith communities, even when they are damaged, still show up for the broader community.”
She said a number of Muslim-owned and Black-owned businesses that had long s …

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