A Texas howdy for Muslims
Photo of man outside mosque with poster of acceptance made waves on social media
As some Muslims — and the mosques they worship in — have been subjected to racism, bigotry and hate, a man in Texas has been standing outside an Islamic centre near Dallas, spreading a positive and powerful message.
It’s not clear who the man is or what sparked his sympathy, but a photo of him has swept social media. It shows the man, with a white beard and wearing a white cowboy hat, holding up a sign outside the Islamic Center of Irving: “You Belong. Stay Strong,” the sign reads. “Be Blessed. We Are One America.”
An Islamic Center of Irving representative said the man had been outside the mosque the past several days, sympathizing with the Muslim community during a time of fear over what a Trump presidency will mean for followers of the faith. During the campaign, Donald Trump proposed a “total and complete” ban on Muslims entering the United States; he later backtracked, calling instead for a suspension on immigration from countries “compromised by terrorism.”
But since Trump’s election, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported 100 anti-Muslim incidents across the United States.
Numerous mosques in California and one in Georgia were recently targeted with letters threatening that Trump will do to Muslims what Adolf Hitler “did to the Jews,” according to CAIR.
Irving, Texas, and its Islamic centre have struggled with their own antiIslam incidents.
The city, about 24 kilometres from Dallas, has a small but growing Muslim population of thousands among the city’s 232,000 residents.
As the Washington Post reported in 2015, Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne criticized a Muslim mediation panel rumoured to be set up in an Irving mosque to settle civil disputes using sharia law, which opponents said would lead to the practices and punishments seen in some Muslim countries, as well as clash with U.S. constitutional rights.
The photo of the man outside the mosque was posted last weekend on Reddit and Twitter, and has since been shared widely on social media.
Although the response turned largely political, some commenters said the image gave them hope.
“That picture made me burst into tears. So much power in hope, inclusion, community,” one of them wrote on Twitter.
One added: “It made me feel hopeful, which hasn’t been easy to do lately.”
“What I needed. A candle in the dark,” another person wrote. “Bless him.”