Mohamed Bahi is one of the founders and director of Muslims Giving Back, a volunteer effort in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, located at the Muslim Community Center. Bahi began organizing around his Muslim heritage and identity after 9/11. Today, Muslims Giving Back has three student chapters on the CUNY college campuses. They hand out food bags to 75 non-Muslim registered families in the community after every Friday prayer and serve 150 hot meals per week. Muslims Giving Back has also collaborated with Love Trumps Hate and Action Corps of NYC, as well as State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz. It further organizes an annual health clinic day at the Muslim Community Center to serve the diverse local community with fourth-year medical students. “I am not a fan of anyone taking the easy way out and moving to Texas,” Bahi says. “It’s tougher here, and I feel like wherever it is tough is where you should stay. It’s what the Prophet did as well. He could have gone anywhere in the world, but he stayed put and struggled. There is so much work that needs to be done here. In the end, when you go home before you go to sleep, you can feel like there is a purpose here, not feel like a robot.”
