Community Spotlight: Masjid as-Sabur

Masjid as-Sabur, Las Vegas, NV (2009)

Photos by Bir Azam

By Afsha Bawany

            For Imam Fateen Seifullah, the role of an Imam is much more than just a leader of five daily prayers. The Imam is a spiritual leader, a guidance counselor and sometimes a father figure - all roles Imam Seifullah finds himself in everyday. They are roles he embraces with a heavy heart and a smile.

            “The days of an Imam sitting on a platform are gone. He has to be able to relate to the people,” said Seifullah, the Imam for Masjid As-Sabur located at 711 Morgan Ave. in Las Vegas. “It’s a new job description in America, but it’s the only way to be effective in the community.”

            Seifullah’s passion to help others stems from his teenage years, which he calls more challenging than of the youth he sees at the mosque. He says an Imam has to be a problem-solver who helps quell issues in the home, in the mosque and on the street.

            “My concern is based on real experience,” Seifullah said. Often finding himself literally on the “phone-a-friend” hotline giving advice on issues ranging from dating, marital issues and other social concerns, Seifullah says it’s important for him to be the listener - not the judge. “You have to be able to be a friend.” 

            As Imam for Masjid As-Sabur the last 10 years, Seifullah’s role as a spiritual leader has evolved as the mosque has grown. From its humble beginnings in 1986 in a one-story 1,600 foot house to 6,000 square foot two-building with ample room for office space, classes, and prayer facilities for women and men, and a health clinic offering checkups at no cost - Masjid As-Sabur has shaped its identity with a community service mission.

For instance, the mosque has a food pantry stocked by local Muslims and a Las Vegas non-profit food bank that is open to anyone, regardless of religious affiliation. A food distribution program provides families with groceries and free meals.  A fund is set up for individuals who need help paying utility bills and funeral arrangements. Partnerships with local law enforcement have led to an abatement of drug free homes in the mosque’s neighborhood.  

            General Education Development (GED) classes offered at the mosque have an 80 percent competition rate and are predominately attended by non-Muslims students.

             The Al-Maun (Neighborly Needs) wellness clinic, held every second and fourth Saturday of the month is staffed by volunteer doctors, who are non-Muslim and Muslim. On a recent Saturday clinic, close to 20 individuals lined up outside the mosque’s trailer for free blood pressure check-ups and health screenings.  The demand is so great that patients sometimes have to be turned away because there are not enough doctors to see them, Seifullah said.

The mosque’s community service roots dates back to its foundation under the Nation of Islam in 1986, Seifullah said. It was then known as Masjid Muhammad and was later changed to its current name in 1991.  Reconstructed in 2000 with a new portion added in 2005, Masjid As-Sabur has received tremendous help from several local mosques in town, Seifullah said. Yet, costs for the outreach programs run high - the clinic’s basic expenses cost $1,500 a month while the GED classes cost $6,000 a year – and sometimes the mosque is uncertain how it will stay afloat.

“But Allah makes a way,” Seifullah said. “This masjid is in the inner city and there is a lot of need for social and engagement and civic duty.”

Seifullah says the need is even greater as the country’s economic condition worsens. Muslim homelessness is increasing and Muslims who find their way to Las Vegas are finding their way to the mosque for shelter. Seifullah says he hopes local Muslims will invest in property in the mosque’s neighborhood to help revive the neighborhood and improve blighted areas. It would be one way to help Muslims get back on their feet and give them a roof over their heads, he said. 

Charity work that helps for Muslims and non-Muslims is advocated in Islam and important creed Muslims follow. Giving back to the community it serves is a key goal of Masjid As-Sabur, but a major objective in all of these programs is to dispel any misconceptions or stereotypes about the faith and its followers, Seifullah said.

“The thing people should feel when they come here for the first time is that it’s a place you can call home,” Seifullah said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, you are a human being when you come here. Mosques are God’s houses.”

“People who come to the mosque, who when they hear something negative about Muslims, will eventually say, ‘Not the Muslims I know.’ ”

 

www.LVMuslim.com

Comments

[yousef yemeni]

I have attended a couple of Imam Fateem's khuabs and lectures and was impressed by his attractive style of presentation that is based on Kitab and Sunnah as well as on the realities that shapes our life. I applaud his character and the sincere efforts he is making in the cause of Dawa and betterment of muslim community in Vegas.

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