In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, Assalamu’alaikum.

We hope this letter finds you all in good health, high spirits, and peace. We wanted to address some concerns regarding our recent Salaam Ramadan charity competition. Our intention behind this competition was to support charitable organizations and simultaneously provide communities an avenue to give back to causes they are passionate about during Ramadan. After being made aware of potential mistakes associated with multiple organizations, we addressed the issues and investigated to the best of our ability, and found no fault by the leadership teams of any respective organizations. The hours leading up to and on the day of Eid-ul-Fitr, we received a number of hateful public and private comments, messages and content, and several members of leadership from other organizations also contacted us regarding hateful messages directed towards them and their efforts. 

This type of behavior is unacceptable. We understand that the competition may have caused some frustration and disappointment, but it’s important to hold onto the habits built during Ramadan and refrain from any harmful actions; this is a reminder for ourselves, first and foremost, to uplift and support our Muslim brothers and sisters. We hope we all can treat one another with the utmost care, kindness, and Divine Light in our hearts so we can continue to bring different communities together and raise awareness for the outstanding individuals amongst us. This was only the beginning, and InshaAllah with your backing, we hope to reach a point where every cause and project receives the attention and support it deserves. We acknowledge that our actions may have caused confusion and sincerely apologize, asking Allah and you all to forgive any mistakes on our part, along with anyone else involved. This was a learning opportunity for us all - we are extremely grateful for all the support and encouragement we’ve received, and welcome any feedback on how to improve. 

As always, email hello@salaamfoundation.org with any questions or feedback. JazakAllah khair, and may Allah (SWT) unite our communities, accept all of our efforts and forgive our shortcomings.