TARIQ AMJED

After a year filled with Islamophobia and anti-Muslim acts, it was heartening to see a campaign with a very different mission. Messages of love, compassion and support turned up on the sidewalk of a mosque in Virginia in November. Members of the Mubarak Mosque in Chantilly, Virginia were delighted to read, “You are loved,” “We are your brothers and sisters” and “We are with you” written in sidewalk chalk on the paths leading up to the building.We believe it was someone in our neighboring community,” said Tariq Amjed, president of the Central Virginia Chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who first discovered the messages. “We have been here for about four or five years now and we have a beautiful community of people around us. This proves it once more, and we hope they come visit our mosque.”