How Salam Scouts of St. Louis Built a National Outdoor Movement

St. Louis residents Nawal Abuhamdeh and Fazila Bobat never planned to create a national organization. But that’s exactly what happened in 2024.

After being reprimanded by Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri for selling friendship bracelets to raise funds for humanitarian causes in Gaza, the pair decided to cut ties with the Girl Scouts and start their own nonprofit, Salam Scouts. (“Salam” means “peace” in Arabic.)

News spread quickly. Soon, former Girl Scout troops from other states wanted to join, and the group began receiving donations from people nationwide.

Today, Salam Scouts operates across seven states with over 520 members and more than 35 troops, focusing on outdoor recreation and community service.

We caught up with the two co-founders to discuss what they’ve created with Salam Scouts — and where they go from here.

What does the rapid growth of Salam Scouts show?
Abuhamdeh: It shows that families were hungry for belonging and for purpose — and for a Muslim-led organization that allowed us to be free in who we were and in what we represented.
Bobat: We didn’t expect the group to grow so fast. But we created an organization that caters to both boys and girls from kindergarten through 12th grade, which I think parents like. Also, parents want their kids to be part of Salam Scouts because of our Muslim identity and our values.

 

What are some of those values?
Bobat: We teach our scouts that we are all stewards of the earth and that it’s our duty to look after the earth. That’s one of our values. Being kind is another value. Teaching these kids to be compassionate leaders is really important to us. Also, we have to look after our bodies. God has given us our bodies as a trust.
Abuhamdeh: I think with all religions, there is sometimes a misconception. They all teach the same universal values: kindness, sincerity, honesty, compassion. We all want to instill these values in our children. We’re not teaching our kids principles that are unusual to other parents or even other religions.

Do you need to be Muslim to join?
Abuhamdeh: We will never discriminate. We’ve actually gotten a couple of requests saying, “Hey, I’m not Muslim, but I really love your organization.” And we were like, “Of course you can join as long as you are OK with our principles.” But currently, all our members are Muslim.

What types of outdoor activities have you done?
Bobat: We’ve kayaked at Simpson Lake with [outdoor educator] Matt Fox. The scouts and troop leaders really enjoyed it, and now Matt is on our team and helping us create an outdoor program. We’ve done fishing, archery, and horseback riding with Missouri Department of Conservation. We also recently partnered with the nonprofit Leave No Trace, which is exciting. And we will be doing a cleanup event with Missouri Stream Team in May.
Abuhamdeh: We want to form these partnerships not only in St. Louis, but nationally. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. We want to expand the lane. We want a seat at the table, per se. And if that means we can partner with these other organizations that have these skills, why not? We’re not trying to compete with anyone. We want to make things better for everyone.

 

What other experiences stick out so far?
Abuhamdeh: We did a guided hike with Matt Fox at Castlewood State Park. That one blew my mind. I grew up only five minutes from Castlewood, and I’ve probably hiked that trail a hundred times. But I learned so much during his hike. It was one of the best experiences. Honestly, I have more fun sometimes at these scouting activities than maybe the scouts themselves.

Why was it so important to start an organization like this?
Abuhamdeh: I’m a first-generation Palestinian-American, and my parents, like other immigrants to this country, were a little skeptical about what programs to put their children in. So even though I was interested in Girl Scouts, I was never allowed to be part of Girl Scouts. It wasn’t necessarily because of an oppression thing. It was because they feared the unknown. And so I always felt one step behind my peers in terms of exposure and doing things. I think that’s still the case to this day, where a lot of these immigrants come and they don’t put their kids in scouting, but then they have this trust in us to put them in this Muslim scouting because they know us and they know that they’re not in harm’s way.

What sorts of service projects do you do?
Abuhamdeh: Every year, we volunteer with Project Downtown St. Louis, where the kids help prepare meals and then distribute them to underserved communities. We also do a toy drive for Eid, our holiday, during Ramadan for refugee children and others in need. I feel like Salam Scouts has different aspects that we’re working towards. It’s about making our youth better and empowering them. That’s really what we’re trying to do.

 

You also raise funds for various causes. Approximately how much have you raised, and where does it go?
Abuhamdeh: We’ve raised over $16,000 for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and over $9,000 for MATW Project. Through our Eid toy drive, we raised over $3,000 and made 500 goodie bags. We also bought supplies and snacks for tornado relief in St. Louis. We encourage our troops that fundraise to donate 10 percent of their proceeds to charities.

Have you faced criticism from St. Louisans or random people on the internet? If so, how do you handle it?
Abuhamdeh: We ignore it. It’s nothing unusual. We are really pretty resilient. I was in middle school in St. Louis when 9-11 happened, so you can imagine the things that I’ve heard. It’s very easy to kind of let it roll off your back. Personally, we don’t receive any threats. But the online community is a little bit more brave because they’re behind a screen. So sometimes if we do post things, we get the racist comments like we’re raising terrorists or things like that.
Bobat: It was more so in the beginning when we started Salam Scouts. Now it’s not too much.
Abuhamdeh: We just ignore it. We hide the comments, and we move on. It’s no big deal.

On a more positive note, what has been the highlight — or one of the highlights — of Salam Scouts so far?
Bobat: The number of members we have and the rapid growth in other states, when we initially thought this would only be in St. Louis, sticks out. Seeing this turn into a national organization, that was a proud moment.
Abuhamdeh: I don’t want to sound cliché, but I almost feel like every week is a highlight. When we get a new member, a new leader, start a new troop, or form a new partnership — those are all exciting to me. It’s a hard question because I feel like it’s all really exciting.

For more information on Salam Scouts, go here.

Author: Shawn Donnelly is the managing editor of Terrain.

Top image: Nawal Abuhamdeh (left) and Fazila Bobat, co-founders of Salam Scouts. (Vasva Omanovic)