Charity donations stolen from mosque
A thief walked into a southeast Edmonton mosque last week and stole thousands of dollars that members donated to charity during the holy month of Ramadan.
"They wanted to give this money to poor people not to the person like this," said Muhammed Siddiqui from the Markaz Ul Islam Mosque.
Surveillance footage from the mosque shows a man wearing a red t-shirt breaking into the locked donation box, stuffing his pockets with cash and then calmly walking away.
Posters bearing the man's face have been posted all over the community. Police are also investigating.
Community members say they are devastated by the theft. Ramadan is a month of charity when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and donate money to their mosques, said Abeer El-Zany.
"Your feeling of hunger and [thirst], you feel more about the people that are starving. You want to give more for the charity at this time."
Mosque member Eeman Khan is disappointed by the theft. While he likened it to stealing from a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, he also feels some compassion for the thief.
"This is also the month of forgiveness," he said. "So even though this seems like an atrocity to us, maybe God will forgive him and you know, we sincerely wish him the best. We don't know his situation."
