In the mornings at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury, 67-year-old Azim Abu Hassam, an immigrant from Singapore, warmly greets visitors to the ISBCC’s first-floor cafe with a smile broadened by his joy at being in America where, he says, he is free to worship and be part of what he calls his “community.”

In the four years that he has worked at the cafe, which — note to students of American cultural diversity — highlights its offering of bagels for breakfast, Hassam has become a beloved figure. Addressed by worshippers and visitors as “Baba,” a term of tender respect and endearment, he addresses others the same way.

After 28 years working in his native Singapore as a shipbuilder, Baba arrived in Boston in 2006, promptly falling in love with the city and with the ISBCC. Both welcomed him; both made his family feel free to practice Islam, the faith to which they are devoted.

It is now 10 years since the bitter defamation lawsuit between the Islamic Society of Boston and some of its critics came mercifully to an end. The charges and counter-charges of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia let loose by the litigation caused scarring that has not yet fully healed.

Those of us directly involved in the case, who were passionate advocates for our respective sides, know that there were enough legitimate grievances on both sides to go around, but that the obligations to dilute and ultimately eliminate those grievances go around as well.

The ISBCC serves worshippers from 64 different nations, many of whom are relatively recent immigrants like Baba, seeking a place that provides solace and sustenance in a historically difficult time. It provides health care, counseling and support to those who need and deserve it, doing so in a tradition which, at its core, reflects American values at their best.

David Harris, the wise, indefatigable national head of the American Jewish Committee, noted recently that “hate is contagious.”

Fortunately, so are acts of humanity. On the 10th anniversary of the lawsuit’s end, the recent convergence of Easter, Passover and Patriots’ Day was nothing if not the appropriate time to put the acrimony that spawned the lawsuit and that was spawned by it to rest. Among other things, it would be a fitting way to let Baba know that he and his family have come to the right place.

Jeffrey Robbins, an attorney in Boston, represented the defendants in a defamation lawsuit brought by the Islamic Society of Boston in 2005.