MAS Press - Richmond, Virginia March 11, 2010 - Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center outreach director Imam Johari Abdul-Malik opened the floor at the Virginia House of delegates today with a prayer for unity. He was invited by Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Arlington County), who later called the invocation a “great prayer.” During his prayer, the Imam called for harmony saying “Give us the strength to go beyond tolerance to understanding…where there is fear, let us find faith."

A major call by Islamophobic groups to protest the invocation only garnered four protestors outside the capital. Imam Johari said of the protesters, “my hope is that from this gathering we will all get to know each other and build new bridges of understanding, no matter how much some narrow-minded people dislike it.”

The gallery was standing room only as many gathered to see the historic event. Members of the Muslim community from Northern Virginia to Richmond, along with a troop of boy scouts from Loudon County’s ADAMS Center attended to show their support for Imam’s Johari’s call for a united, harmonious America.

Imam Johari has been a part of the Interfaith Conference of Washington for over ten years, sitting on its board, and reguarly holding interfaith meetings and events which have brought together members of all faiths for more than a decade.