Muslim Americans Raise Almost $100k For San Bernardino Shooting Victims

MiNDS and CelebrateMercy join forces to combat hate with love.

Faisal Qazi, who is a neurologist and co-founder of the family centered development organization MiNDS, and Tarek El-Messidi, co-founder of the Islamic nonprofit CelebrateMercy, are on a mission to raise money for the families of the 14 victims killed during a shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA.

We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us, and send a powerful message of compassion through action. Our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: "Have mercy to those on earth, and the One in the Heavens (God) will have mercy upon you." And the Quran teaches to "Repel evil by that which is better" (41:34).

Also putting their names on the fund are MECASoCal, the Islamic Networks Group, as well as prominent national Muslim leaders.

The money will go to the San Bernardino families in batches, said El-Messidi:

"We're planning within a week to give the first batch of donations to the families so it can help with more short-term immediate expenses," he said. "The idea is to help alleviate the burden on the families, potentially funeral expenses and whatnot. We know no amount of money will bring back their loved ones, but hopefully this will make things a little easier for them."

El-Messidi says he hopes that the fund will help to send a message about the Muslim community:

"I think it sends a clear message that American Muslims are here to build and not destroy," he told HuffPost. "We do not want to be associated at all with extremists who are putting people in harm's way, and we want to show this as just one example of how American Muslims are contributors to society, trying to make our society a better place. ... We are hoping in this time of crises, those who are Muslim and those who are not will get to know each other. Dialogue is the only way to clear up this state of confusion and tension."

As of Tuesday night, the fund raised over $88,000, and it still continues to grow.