deadliest fires in January – leaving the congregation heartbroken and without a place to pray and break their upcoming Ramadan fast together.

With that weighing on their minds, about 20 mosque members and a few connected families met on  Saturday at a local Islamic school to pray and share a meal, their first together since the fire. Many who came are living in motels or with family after losing their homes in the Eaton fire, which killed 17 people and scorched thousands of homes and over 14,000 acres across Los Angeles County.

With Ramadan just days away, their volunteer imam, Junaid Aasi, had good news to share. Clad in a white robe, black jacket and prayer cap, he walked on to the plush blue prayer rugs and placed a small karaoke machine in the middle of the multipurpose room at New Horizon Islamic School.

Aasi announced the school was offering this space for four nights each week during Ramadan. There were gasps of relief, and utterances of “Alhamdulillah” – an Arabic phrase that means “praise be to God”.