Day of Prayer and Action for Palestine

Assalamu Alaikum dear brothers and sisters,

We hope this message finds you in good health and steadfast faith. We write to you today with heavy hearts, deeply saddened by the ongoing atrocities in Palestine. Over the past many days and nights, we have been in constant reflection and deliberation on how best to meaningfully support our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are enduring ruthless, inhumane, and barbaric oppression at the hands of Israel and its secular, Zionist regime. We have worked behind the scenes and Alhmadulillah much has been accomplished.

First, we would like to thank Governor Green for ordering today that the United States flag and the Hawai‘i State flag be flown at half-staff at the Hawai‘i State Capitol and at all state offices and agencies, as well as at Hawai‘i National Guard facilities in the State of Hawai‘i, effective immediately to “honor the lives being lost in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and with the hope that peace can be achieved”. We thank him for being the first governor in the nation to do so and we appreciate his statement, “we are praying that the conflict in Gaza ends quickly, that all of the hostages are returned safely to their families, and that no more civilians are hurt or killed.”

Similarly, we would like to also thank both our Senators, Hirono and Schatz for issuing and convincing 31 other senators to endorse their joint statement stating, “We urge the swift implementation of sustained access for humanitarian aid, including water and medical supplies, to save civilian lives in Gaza.”

After several discussions with many of you before and after Jumuaa prayer today, the MAH is organizing a Day of Prayer and Action for Palestine on Sunday, October 22. The theme of the day will be “Stand Up for Truth, Justice and Peace”. Allah SWT said, “Oh you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.” Quran 2:153

Therefore, in keeping with the spirit of our Islamic teachings, keeping the unity of our small community, and honoring our shared values, we have put together a program of prayer, reflection, Dua’a and action. The program will, Insha’Allah, be as follows:

Saturday 10/21/2023:

If you’d like to participate in Sundays’ Khatem of the Quran, please contact the Imam who will assign you a juzuaa so that we, as a community, can complete multiple Khatem’s of the Holy Quran.

Sunday 10/22/2023:

11:00 am - Meet at the Masjid to make signs/posters.

1:00 pm - Dohr Prayer.

3:30 to 5:00 pm - Sign waving to stop the atrocities, stop the bombing of civilian targets including hospitals, churches, schools, mosques and residential neighborhoods that results in the murdering of innocent civilians; and demanding access to water, food and medicine and humanitarian supplies. The location will be at the Waikiki entrance of Ala Moana Beach Park, on the corner of Ala Moana Blvd. and Atkinson Drive. Opposite side of Ala Moana mall.

5:30 pm - Return to Masjid for Asr Prayer and continuation of the program.

5:45 pm - Personal reflection and dua’a.

6:15 pm - Maghreb Prayer.

6:30 pm - Catered dinner will be served.

7:45 pm - Signing a letter/petition addressed to President Biden and to both House and Senate leadership imploring them to leverage their substantial influence to halt the ongoing massacre and genocide of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We will also provide you sample drafted letters for those who wish to personally correspond with lawmakers.

8:00 pm - Isha Prayer, followed by Imam recitation and Khatem Dua’a.

Additional information: 

Given our situation in Hawaii and the consideration, sympathy and care shown by our politicians and the overwhelming majority of Hawaii citizens, we feel that a purposeful sign waving event that is motivated by unity and peace will benefit the people in Gaza in a meaningful and impactful way.

We implore each of you, along with your families, to join us for this Day of Prayer, reflection, Dua’a and action both at the sign waving event and at the masjid Insha’Allah. This is a first step for many in our community to show our unwavering, steadfast, and faithful support of Palestine and its innocent men, women, and children.

Unfortunately, large, organized, and well-resourced Zionist groups worldwide, including here in Hawaii, have launched an aggressive, truth-bereft campaign aimed at suppressing any opposing viewpoints and may be at the sign waving event for the sole purpose of instigating angry reactions, inciting negative emotional responses, goading us all into an emotional reply that supports their view that we are not capable of clear, rational, level-headed responses. They will come prepared with their flags and desire to disrupt our peaceful event. They will, as they did in the protest last week, say evil and hurtful things in hopes of getting negative and angry reactions from the Muslims. Therefore, if any of us falls into this trap we will not achieve our intended outcome. In fact, if we react to their insults or taunting it will be harmful to our community and damage relationships that took decades to build.

Keep in mind that where protests nationwide are meant to convince and pressure politicians to take action against killing of the innocent, here in Hawaii our politicians have already spoken out without this external pressure. As such, we strongly recommend that we do not engage with any from the opposing side. Specific individuals from our community will be tasked with addressing these people if needed.

For any brothers or sisters who are concerned about their safety or retaliation by the apartheid Israeli government when they return to Palestine, we recommend that you only attend the event at the masjid. For the rest of us, please show up and bring with you friends who share our values and intent of this day.

If you are willing to help us make this event successful, please email us at hawaiimosque@gmail.com and provide us with your phone number. For any media interactions, please refer them to brother Hakim who will be leading these efforts.

We look forward to seeing all of you and we pray that Allah SWT grant us strength and guide us in our efforts. Let’s work together to make this day meaningful, to honor our brothers and sisters who continue to suffer at the hands of their oppressor. 

In solidarity and faith,

MAH Executive Committee