Muslim Americans on edge
Attacks renew discussions on safety, tolerance,
Muslim Americans are reeling after two tragic incidents at their places of worship abroad and at home, renewing discussions on tolerance and safety.
“It’s been a really difficult time in terms of our community,” said Faiyaz Jaffer, the associate chaplain at the Islamic Center at New York University. “There’s a lot of grief and lot of anxiety.”
Sunday, a van ran into a crowd of worshipers leaving evening prayers at Finsbury Park Mosque in North London, injuring at least nine people. Officials are treating the incident as a terror attack. British media identified the suspect as Darren Osborne, 47, a father of four from Cardiff, Wales.
On the same day on U.S. soil, police found the remains of a 17year-old Nabra Hassanen of Reston, Va., whom they believe was assaulted and killed after she left a mosque in Sterling. Authorities have charged 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres with murder and attributed the incident to “road rage.”
The incidents come at a time of heightened tension for the Muslim community, said Muhammad Farooq, the president of the Fairfax-based Islamic Center of Northern Virginia Trust. He is being careful about his personal safety and is urging his fellow worshipers to do the same.
“If I am walking now after midnight prayers and my car is parked outside, I have to look left and right,” he said.
Attacks on the Muslim community have been on the rise worldwide, Jaffer said. In January, the Islamic Center of Lake Travis in Austin was destroyed in a fire authorities have called a hate crime. Nearly 100 mosques were attacked in Germany last year and dozens more have been targeted this year by arsonists, according to the Associated Press.
Jaffer said tensions have been around for a long time — since Sept. 11, 2001. “This isn’t new. I’ve been called every name I can possibly hear about me and my family being terrorists.”
He and Farooq said mosques are taking active steps to keep worshipers safe, including recruiting volunteers to walk women and children to their cars and holding self-defense courses.
Since the London incident, the New York Police Department has deployed police units to several mosques, the department said. The Fairfax and Loudoun police departments, which are responsible for investigating Hassanen’s death, said they were patrolling with heightened awareness.
There are challenges in increasing security at places of worship, Farooq said. “Mosques are open. Anyone can come.”