Community News (V13-I48)

Imam Abu Bakr Salahuddin receives social justice award

Imam Abu Bakr Salahuddin of the Islamic Centre of Redding received the Peace and Social Justice Award from the Shasta County Citizens Against Racism, the Redding News reported.

He’s consistently served the community since moving to Redding, said Eddie McAllister, a community organizer with Shasta County Public Health. McAllister nominated Salahuddin for the award.

“I’m very honored to be chosen for this award because as hard as a person works, it’s getting awards like this that you know you have touched someone in the community somewhere,” Salahuddin said.

Muslims distribute meat to soup kitchens

Muslims across North America reached out to the needy by organizing meat drives for the soup kitchens. These are part of the larger celebrations of Eid ul Adha.

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Turkish Cultural Center Brooklyn and other supporting organizations at Brooklyn Borough Hall to distribute more than 700 pounds of packaged beef to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the borough.

In New Brunswick, Canada, too the small Muslim community donated  more than 350 pounds of ground beef and stew beef to the  Fredericton Community Kitchen.

“We’re just overwhelmed by the generosity of this community to help us,” said Cheryl Mercer, who’s the bookkeeper for the kitchen.

“It means that we’re going to be able to put food on the table, good quality beef that arrived,” she said, estimating it will produce about 600 meals.

Newburgh Muslims hold free clinic

NEWBURGH,NY–Free flu shots, cholesterol and blood-pressure checks, and diabetes tests were among services offered at a no-cost health clinic Sunday at the Masjid Al-Ikhlas mosque in the City of Newburgh.

Doctors with different specialties were also on hand to talk one-on-one with participants and answer questions.

The mosque members say that the clinic might become a weekly service in the future.

Fraudsters use “Muslim” sounding names for mortgage scheme

SACRAMENTO,CA–United States Attorney Benjamin B Wagner announced that Glenn Watkins, 31; Kevin Watkins, 26; and Frederick Davis, 41, all of Elk Grove, pleaded guilty today to mail fraud for a mortgage fraud scheme.

According to court documents, co-defendant Jake Weathers, 35, of Elk Grove, orchestrated a scheme where the defendants changed their names to Muslim-sounding names in order to obtain new credit and to conceal poor credit histories and other liabilities. For instance, Glenn Watkins legally changed his name to “Rasheed Khaleb” to fraudulently purchase two homes. Once those homes fell into foreclosure, he legally changed his name to “Jason Johnson.”

Likewise, Kevin Watkins changed his name to “Jamal Ali,” then to “Calvin Carter.” Their uncle, Frederick Davis, changed his name to “Ammar Rashad,” to purchase a home, then to “Corey Green” once that home fell into foreclosure. According to the plea agreements, the defendants admitted that their income and employment histories were falsified on loan applications.

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