E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Harrison Mcclary / Reuters
Friday prayers at the newly opened Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Aug. 10. The center was the subject of protests and court action by groups opposed to the mosque since construction began two years ago. The mosque opened in the final days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
On Sunday and Monday, when Muslims will celebrate the end of Ramadan, even many who are less observant the rest of the year will be at mosques to pray. But many worshippers will celebrate amid heightened security after a recent spike in attacks on mosques and other places of worship.
"We recommend a security guard during prayer hours,” said Abed Ayoub, legal director of the nonprofit American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, or ADC. "Take measures and use common sense. Keep an eye on people who don’t seem to fit in. We ask them to install video cameras at the doors and throughout the mosque. Limit access to areas such as the kitchen, furnace or storage where someone could hide."
This is not the first time that Muslims have been advised to exercise caution. There was a spike in crimes aimed at the religious minority after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by Islamist terrorists, and Ayoub said there has been an increase again since 2010, starting around the time of the bitter dispute over Park 51, the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" in Manhattan.
The latest round of cautionary alerts was set off by the bloody attack on a different religious group. On Aug. 5, six Sikh worshippers were killed and others wounded when Wade Michael Page opened fire at their temple in Oak Creek, Wis., before killing himself.
Because the suspect is dead, his motives remain unknown. But he had white supremacist connections, so many observers concluded that his attack was a hate crime targeting strangers who were minorities.
"What happened in Wisconsin was a tragedy, and it shed light on the bigotry that unfortunately still exists in this country,” said Ayoub.
Muslim groups expressed solidarity with the Sikh community, and fears of their own.
"Within an hour of the Sikh shooting we were on the phone with the Dearborn metro law enforcement, and beefed up security that evening," said Ayoub, who is the legal director for the Washington-based ADC. The group has offices in Dearborn, Mich., which is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country.
In the 12 days since that deadly shooting, at least eight cases of vandalism and attacks on mosques, including a suspected arson, have been documented by the ADC and other civil rights groups.
Investigators have not been able to prove a fire that destroyed a mosque in Joplin, Mo., on Aug. 6 was intentionally set, the FBI said on Thursday, but they have video surveillance of an apparent arson attempt at the mosque one week earlier and have described the second fire as "suspicious."
In Morton Grove, Ill. while 500 were attending evening prayers at a mosque in the Chicago suburb, a man shot at the building with a pellet gun, only slightly damaging the building, but nearly hitting a security guard. The man arrested in connection with the incident turned out to be a neighbor who had a history of complaints and opposition to the mosque, said Rizwan Kadir, who is on the board of the mosque and school.
In Oklahoma City, vandals defaced the Grand Mosque, firing paintball guns at it while it was filled with worshippers. In Lombard, Ill., a "MacGyver bomb" hit the window of an Islamic school that was being used for evening prayer. The soda bottle, filled with chemicals and aluminum foil that react to make an explosion, did not break the window and exploded outside, so worshippers were rattled but not hurt. In Hayward, Calif., four teenagers were arrested after vandalizing a mosque by throwing lemons, oranges, eggs, and firing BB guns.
"If you look at the smaller incidents in isolation you can deal with it, but when you see all these things happening, it does take its emotional toll on people,” said Kadir.
Kadir said many people in the area, local Christian and Jewish groups, as well as the police and Morton Grove mayor and trustees have come forward to show solidarity with the Muslim community since the shooting.
"All these are positive things," he said. "At the same time we are on our guard."
Council on American Islamic relations: Safety and security tips
While no one is saying that the attacks are connected, many Muslim leaders and civil rights advocates see common fuel in the anti-Muslim rhetoric that they say has intensified during the current election cycle.
"When the rhetoric gets bad, the hate crimes and attacks go up,” said Ayoub, of ADC. "Unless the rhetoric changes, I feel there will be more happening before the election.
On the list of politicians he says are fueling bigotry is Michele Bachmann, who recently led the call for a federal investigation of senior State Deparatment official Huma Abedin. Bachmann accused Abedin of using her position to influence policy in favor of Egypt’s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
The charge outraged many Muslims. Even some of Bachman’s fellow Republicans protested the attack, including Sen. John McCain, who defended Abedin as a "true patriot."
Another politician becoming well known for his persistent warnings about the threat of "homegrown radicals" among the Muslim population is Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
"While the overwhelming majority of Muslims are as peace loving as everyone else, there are radical Islamists right here in the United States trying to kill Americans and destroy this country," he told a town hall meeting in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
The ADC draws a direct line between Walsh's comments and the "MacGyver bomb" attack on the worshippers in his district, saying his comments incited fear. In a statement on Wednesday, the group called on "all politicians and elected officials to change the national discourse, distance themselves from xenophobic rhetoric and put an immediate end to the culture of hate and violence."
Walsh's office rejected the idea that the congressman's statements incite or condone violence against ordinary Muslims. Walsh was merely restating what has been said in a series of committee hearings on homegrown radicalization of Muslims, according to spokesman Justin Roth.
"Not one time has Congressman Walsh said that we need to go get those Muslims," said Roth. "He condemns these attacks just as he condemns the more than 1,000 attacks against Jews every year (that take place) simply out of hatred."
Ayoub and others urged Muslims to reach out to police in their areas seeking additional patrols and support, especially for crowded Eid al Fitre prayers on Sunday and Monday.
"It's very important to keep everybody calm, don't let your people be afraid," said Ayoub. "We don't want people not going to the mosque because they are afraid. We want to ensure that people go and leave safely."
More content from NBCNews.com:
- 'No papers, no fear': Illegal immigrants declare themselves on bus tour
- Texas sprayed as West Nile Virus spreads
- Wildfire evacuees return to find homes gone
- Video: 3 people hurt after carriage horse breaks free in NYC
- Ex-butler who injected socialite in extortion attempt faces sentencing
Leave a Comment:
Obama and Hillary's Muslim Brotherhood buddies, who they supported in Egypt, are now crucifying people.
Congratulations to our Muslim President.
MSNBC. You down play as much as possible the shooting in DC, yet highlight this. The liberal media have repeatedly and deliberately turned a blind eye to the violent, hateful culture of liberalism, particularly their vicious attacks against those who advocate traditional conservative principles. Their deceptive, romanticized coverage of Occupy Wall Street comes immediately to mind. You talk of vandalism of mosques, but not of Chick-fil-a stores.
"The liberal media have taken every opportunity imaginable to demonize conservatives, Tea Partiers, and Christians as violent and murderous. Whether it be the Gabriel Giffords shooting, the Aurora massacre, the suicide of a Kentucky census worker, or the IRS plane bomber, they've been wrong every single time. But they go right on lying about conservatives anyway.
In their effort to create a conservative bogeyman, they've created real liberal monsters. Their double standard is as dishonest and it is dangerous. Liberals claim they want to create a culture of tolerance. Instead the liberal media have created a culture that not only tolerates, but validates anti-Christian and anti-conservative violence."
Fortunately, Your ratings are going the same was as CNN's and for the same reasons.
The bottom line is that hardcore social conservatives, which at the present time run conservative politics in the United States, are some of the most intolerant people around. They also happen to be Christians. Conservatives and Christians feel threatened if their beliefs are not the dominant one in society, and therefore try to act as though they are the ones being persecuted.
The persecutors crying "oppression!". Ironic, isn't it?
Initially I thought America's fascination with religion was a good thing, as generally I thought that relgion helps people live good moral lives. However, now I think we are past that point and are getting too caught up in our righteous right wing militaristic religious beliefs to the point where the bad is outweighing the good. This creates a lot of hate, as it becomes a "them" against us situation, which ends up dehumanizing "them" and makes it a lot easier to kill them for "moral" reasons.
We used to be a pretty tolerant nation, perhaps too tolerant at times. But now we've become to stuck in how right "our" religion is. This is what leads to religious wars, not only between different religions, but even between different sects.
We Americans need to be very careful we are not drawn into a religious war, as that is not something we would survive. China would sit on the sidelines and watch us get worn down and then gobble us up.
Thus, we need to back off on our obscession with religion as we are now reaching the point where politicians are pushing blatant religious beliefs and trying to make them secular laws. Initially this will only be against non-Christian religions, but if it continues, soon we will see different Christian sects fighting it out to get their particular religious beliefs set into law. America: we can't afford this! Let's get back to the principles that made America great and one of those was religious freedom and not emphasizing particular religious beliefs in order to get elected.
It is statistically insignificant. It is being blown out of proportion by the press for a story.
I am a Hindu/Muslim hybrid who grew up in a Catholic community and I went to a Catholic school in India where a Father Francis was a confirmed child-molestor. One case as such was reported in the American media. I cannot see why there is so much hate, in india by the Hindus such as fire-bombings. I know the Bible more than the Koran. After 9/11, I did peruse through the Koran ( English version ) for the first time and nowhere does it say to hate other religions. It recognizes Jesus Christ, Abraham and Moses as being holy saints. Mohamed descended from Abraham. It also says a follower cannot kill women and children. Killing is only allowed in battle.
I am also a U.S. Army veteran who proudly served under President Reagan due to the Cold War, ( remember, because it is coming back.)
There are many different faiths in Islam, just like Christianity, different levels of interpretation, cross-relate to levels of fundamentalisam. Most of 9/11 terrorists came from Saudi Arabia which also has the highest level of fundamentalism i.e. women have to do all that crazy bull@!$%# like wear a veil. However, our president bows to their king and we drive our cars with their oil. if you really hate the Muslims that much and hate everything about them, ( based on ignorance due the one-sided media slanted reporting), and then you should not fill up at the gas pump next time.
Next time it may just be a Muslim boss you should proclaim your hatred of. Refuse to get treated by a Muslim doctor in an emergency alongside your reason why.
Anyways, any of you d--kh--ds, know that the vendor who motioned the Police Officer on the horse about the van that was smoking that could have blown up Times square, was a Muslim.
For all of you f--kups, I worked in this country, paid my taxes, never bothered anyone while being American by doing drugs, booze tc., th same as some Christians. Do any of you actually follow the Bible on which you are thumping while standing on your soapbox which was probably made in China. a more formidable enemy because they hate Americans, well really, all Westerners and we owe them trillions of dollars.
Anyway, " hatred begets hatred." this is sounding like kids: " he started it. no she started."
We all, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs are cut from the same cloth. We all believe there is only one God. We have much more to worry abou America if this hatred continues.
By the way, I am a totally, disabled U.S. army veteran . I did more than you pieces of garbage that proclaim to be patriots.
Well said, F.U. Bigots! Well said!
so ackmed is pissed too bad. Take a look at the mid-east. Muslims are killing christians all the time. you people of peace sure know how to make a non story into something I don't care about. Try not killing those who don't follow your dirty religion then maybe someone will give a damn.
I want to welcome these people and open my hearts to them, but I also want to see the same from them. I want to see them join community service organizations like Kiwanis and Rotary and Lions Clubs. I want to see them at school meetings and in the PTA, in short I want to see them demonstrate they want to belong then I will feel better about them. As long as they remain suspicious in their ways and stay out of the mainstream they are just fueling the flames of what they complain about. If there is a fire of discrimination, they need to be part of the group that brings the flames under control.
Would you show up at a community meeting knowing the ignorance, racism, prejudice, and bigotry that exists against you within that community?
Good. Let these muslims feel what it's like to be on the other side of terrorism for a change.
The problem with this is that we now have a true Muslim in the White House doing his very best to destroy the fabric of our once great Nation. Islam is a violent religion that worships a false prophet who was in fact nothing more than a murdering scumbag who claimed to be something he wasn't....There is no prophet named Mohammed he's a farce....Vote for some real change in 2012 and lets get this Country back on it's feet.....Take your dirty fake religion and head on back to your dirt sand castles in the Middle East...I won't shed a tear trust me
wayback,
This could have been an intelligent conversation then you come along with your stupidity and ruin it.
Wayback, please learn something about Islam from other than TV. You only make other look ignorant.
HELL yeah- thats putting it the right way! don't like it here, get the hell out and stay out- There will always be some crazy white boy armed to the teeth ready to go. and guess what-he won't be Christian. he will be a skin-head nazi. so sand walkers put that in your pipe. Beef up your security-
wayback, this is supposed to be an adult conversation. Go back to the childrens' table and take your frined SeewhatImean188 with you.
MikeVL,
You know I love you and your hopes that there is not a God and we will all begin living as the Good people we were born to be, but as long as one sky pilot remains on earth people will always reach for him. In the case of the Muslims, we see a hateful religion that was born from a person Validating the hateful Ancient Jewish and Hebrew Writings and the Laws of Moses (The Old Testament). If people would seriously read history to ask where these writings came from and who and why they were written. The Greeks culture traveled to the lands of the Persians and to India via a combination of early trade and Alexander the Great in about 400 BC.
Egypt though enslaved the know world 4000 years before Christ and the story of Moses and Hebrews came to being. Moses came from Egypt with his tribes and wondered 40 years, but the people rebelled at times and needed to be kept in check, so his laws were written to do just that. when Moses said God's laws, he really meant his laws. When he said the wrath of sin is death, he meant you WERE going to die if you broke a law. He wrote the laws so the true believers could enforce his laws so crowds of people could feel free to stone someone to death for a sin.
Fast forward to today and we see the Muslims still enforcing the laws of Moses, which I find Ironic since the Muslims hate the Jews.
Then Came Jesus with another way to worship without the fear of Blood sacrifice because he paid the price demanded for sin with his own blood. However, the Jews and Muslims do not accept that currency today. This is also true with nonbelievers such as Mike because all he has to judge from is the example set forth by the Romans who hijacked the teaching of Jesus and created the Roman Catholic Church, which history is written in corruption and the blood of perceived pagans, and sinners throughout history. Jesus was a rebel who went against the powerful Hebrew military religion. The lessons the Catholics learned from the Hebrews was to demand adherence to the faith. This is also the lesson the Muslims learned from the Hebrews.
Jesus was killed in the most brutal way complete with torture and the shame of having screaming crowds beat and stone him as he walked to his death. These were the people he wanted to save.
I have one question for all of you true believers in your faiths, "are we DOOMED to relive the horrors of the past and the one promised to us in the same hateful writings from three Milena ago?" America managed to keep the European Zealots at bay with the Constitution because the demand is to be loyal to America or leave. Will Muslims do the same?
Lazarus
What's the big deal. They are lucky. We got white dudes killing other whites. We got black dudes killing other blacks. We got mexican americans killing mexicans. This is America, it's just the way it is. These Muslims must be new here,not knowing it's just another day. A few rocks or paint on a building is nothing compared to America ways. So calm down and relax just like us. Media, quit trying to create news.
Are these mosque dwellers addressing the fact that one of their clerics in Saudi Arabia states that Jews drink the blood of children?
Are they addressing the murder of Christians in the ME by Muslims?
Don't think so. So f them.
Muslims in the United States are generally nothing like Muslims in Saudi Arabia, please go to school and learn something.
They probably do teach Muslim propaganda in public schools today, labeled "tolerance." Yet they don't allow the name of Christ to be mentioned.
Jakejumpman, what kids are learning in school is to tolerate Islam, even visiting the local mosque to practice kneeling to pray. Imagine if a church did that to Muslim students! And Muslims here are different only because they're a small minority--give them time! Though the attacks on Christians in Dearborn MI show they're not that different.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/09/17/school-apologizes-students-pray-allah-field-trip-mosque/
Yes, it's on fox but you can find it elsewhere and you can find videos. The parents should SUE!!!
Hmmm...I know a couple of Muslims that attended a Catholic school. Guess what, they had to practice "kneeling to pray" in chapel every morning.
Get real and stop showing your ignorance.
DOCIDJT: that wasn't a PUBLIC school. If their parents had not wanted to allow that, they shouldn't have sent them to CATHOLIC (i.e. non-public, or private, or RELIGIOUS) school.
What a wad you are. My capital letters are to point you toward understanding the OBVIOUS!!!
If Muslims in the free world held demonstrations condemning Iran, Syria, the Taliban, al Qaeda there would be no problem. All the people of the world hear and see is barbaric Muslims killing everyone and promising to kill anyone they missed. If Muslims demanded that Obama assassinate Assad, the people would respect them. Sure there are a few Muslims who speak out against the barbarians ... but not enough.
Jamie,
Good Point. However, a march by Muslims will be looked at with a highest level of suspicion by many and because of the comments written by some , I actually would fear for my physical safety as well as arrest for something, something just like the others that have peacefully marched before. Does Occupy Wall Street come to mind, the Sixties etc.
There must be a way, like put every representative of race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. in a confined situation where each person depends on another or all as a whole. No "fight to the death" issues because the loser will be eaten,. Man is known to be cannabilistic.
Its stupid but then again it represents how we live our lives everyday.
If everybody
Not only what you said, but in many countries with large radical
Islamic populations, if someone were to come out and condemn the actions of Muslims, then they would be in serious danger from their fellow
Muslims. It's the same as any society, the minority opinion is afraid to voice it for fear of being persecuted.
There are more attacks on Jews and synagogues--often by Muslims. And half if not more of the attacks on Muslims are faked for sympathy and enforced PCness.
they are slowly taking over, putting mosques up here and there a little at a time, another 50 years and they will wage a holy war, right under our noses. people wake up. we are letting this happen right before our eyes. They can't fly planes over here and attack us on our soil, but they are doing it a little at a time, then when we least expect it all hell will break loose.
Wow! You two really should go get evaluated. That paranoia is reaching disturbing proportions.
They're working on the Obama Hope and Pray campaign.
Note that Obama made fun of people who value their guns and their Bibles but not their guns and their Korans!
Could you please direct me to where I can find that speech by Obama? I must have missed that one.
Never thought I'd say this about a Kari Huus article related to Islam, but I was astonished that the front group CAIR was not mentioned. This is a big positive step. Instead, there was reference to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which appears to be a legitimate group. Progress!
On this subject, it's a good time to reiterate the distinction between Islam and Muslims. Even the anti-Islam site "thereligionofpeace dot com" makes that distinction, and it's an important one. See this link for more info.
World War III will be fought against the Muslim world when Romney attacks Iran in defense of Israel, just a matter of time. And Romney will have no problem nuking Mecca so you Muslims better have a look at that black meteorite before it is vaporized.
By the way, I am Muslim by birth but do not practice any faiths. My wife is Jewish (non-observant.
My daughters are HALF Muslim an HALF Jewish. Their left side is Jewish and the right side Muslim. Hmmnn. No wait, shucks, Right side is Jewish and the left side Muslim. They face prejudice from some " true believers" from both religions.
Many Muslims are very proactive in " weeding out" possible persons who may commit acts of terrorism. These cockaroaches ruined lives for all other Muslims. Personally. I would not waste a moment's breath in wasting them for what they did. FBI informants and Agents ( Muslims) have very good relationships with Mosque leaders and are permitted graciously in the mosques for obvious reasons.
You kids can't be half of a religion that you don't even practice. Muslim and Jewish are not nationalities. They are just parts of your life and views that you should keep to yourselves behind closed doors.
Obviously, others are expressing views that are best served to keep to themselves, just like you advised. Of course, they are not nationalities. But thank you for the mention. My kids are labeled as such even though we don't practice. Somehow conversations always lead to .Where are you from ? They are from my wife's womb. Are you Jewish ?
Thanks
how can someone look at your skin and ask if you are Jewish? Weird
F.U., why is it that in most Muslim majority countries the other religions are attacked and/or driven out? Happened in Saudi Arabia, happened in Jordan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia (hence East Timor), Most of N. Africa with lots of problems for the Copts, etc.
It's nice for you to blame other people and call them bigots, but if those people look around the world, don't you think they have the right to be cautious if not downright scared?
(and they say Israel, the only Jewish country in the world, practices apartheid when about 20% of the population is non-Jewish. And the population is only a bit over 7 million. Less probably that Karachi.)
Quite obviously, BobLeeSwagger has no understanding of the way in which the Jewish people determine heritage through matrilineal lines.
"Let me be clear that Floyd Corkins was responsible for firing the shot yesterday," said council president Tony Perkins. "But Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center that have been reckless in labeling organizations hate groups because they disagree with them on public policy.".....
The koran states that all non muslims must be killed if they fail to convert.
Everyone needs to read the koran to understand the violance and hatred of islam!!!!
Only when this terrorism disguised as a religion is eliminated for the face of the earth will "peace and tolerance" be achieved.
Just "Google" koran and read it for yourself!!!
The Quran states nothing of the kind.
And how can you possibly be a teacher of anything with that atrocious spelling and grammar?
Poopus.
Get your "head out of your ass." WWWIII will be with Russia. Already preparing with the Bombers excusion into U.S. airspace and the recent nuke missiles armed stealth submarine being parked for quite some time off the Gulf coast. China wants an Empire in Asia. As much as it sounds self-deprecatory, Muslims are very minute part and do not have the power to " nuke us" unlike the countries mentioned above.
Most Muslims here dont even care to acede to the hypocrisies of the fundamentalists. Osama's computers had porno. They just want to live the American Dream; get a house, buy a Japanese or German car, ( remember the Axis Powers, and get adequate health insurance.
jesus,just nuke the world.start fresh.u fkrs give me a headache.
He will, soon. Read Revelation.
Muslims in Nashvilee. What a disgrace and slap in the face to all American soldiers.
You realize there are Muslims in the military right?
Yeah, and they like to shoot their fellow soldiers.
and good ole southern boys, of course there is some crazy white boy armed to the teeth ready to go at the drop of a dime. guess what folks he is not going to be a Christian. He will be a nazi skin-head protecting his race and beliefs.
The people you're referring to shooting fellow soldiers are NOT part of the U.S. Military. They are part of the Afghan National, or Local, Police Force.
This is why I'm Atheist
No irony there! /s