American Muslims raise over $100,000 for California shooting victims

Money will go towards various expenses such as funeral costs and medical bills for victims' households

A group of Muslim Americans have raised over $100,000 to support the families of last week’s California shooting victims.

The money raised through a crowd-funding website, Launchgood, will go towards various expenses such as funeral costs, medical bills, and rent/mortgage payments for households directly affected by the attack at the Inland Regional Medical center.



The campaign launched by Faisal Qazi, a California-based neurologist, and Tarek El-Messidi on December 4 will collect funds till December 31.

In just 5 days the campaign has raised $111,551 with donations from more than a thousand people from across the country.

El-Messidi, one of the campaign founders hopes to challenge the negative perception of Muslims via his campaign.

PHOTO: LAUNCHGOOD

“This united American Muslim campaign aims to reclaim our faith from extremists by responding to evil with good, by rebuilding what they destroy. We know that no amount of money will bring back loved ones of the victims’ families, but we hope that it at least alleviates some financial burdens in the wake of this horrible tragedy,” he said in statement.



"We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us, and send a powerful message of compassion through action," Qazi added.

Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik, a 29-year-old Pakistani national, shot 14 people dead in California last week.