At Houston’s Medical Middle Islamic Society, males, ladies and kids left their footwear on the entrance as they gathered for noon prayers.
This week’s Friday service was the primary because the horrific New Yr’s Day assault in New Orleans. Basem Hamid, one of many imams on the mosque, had a robust message in his sermon.
“As Muslims, we condemn this incident, this horrific act with probably the most extreme and clearest assertion,” he mentioned. “This act has no place in Islam and has no place amongst Muslims and it isn’t accepted by any commonplace. There isn’t any excuse and there’s no justification for it.”
Within the wake of the truck assault and the revelation that the motive force lived in Houston and had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS, some Muslim residents fear in regards to the influence it will have on their group. Will they be singled out? Ought to they be involved about their security? A lot of these attending Friday prayers had been fast to level out that the alleged perpetrator didn’t symbolize them or their religion.
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About 200,000 Muslims reside within the larger Houston space, the most important inhabitants of Muslims in Texas. It is a numerous, rising group that features immigrants in addition to folks born within the U.S. Only recently, a brand new Islamic Middle for Spanish-speaking Muslims opened and early final 12 months, George Bush Intercontinental Airport added a devoted space the place Muslims can wash and pray.
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On the Medical Middle Islamic Society mosque, there are indicators of that progress. Building is underway for a brand new, bigger middle. Throughout Friday’s service, feminine members in colourful hijabs packed the ladies’s prayer space. The room included younger women and boys. Now and again, a child would cry out or babble.
Amongst these within the room was Umme Kulsum, who’s initially from India however has lived in Texas for a lot of years. She’s married and elevating 4 kids. She follows the information intently and mentioned she had two fears when she heard in regards to the assault in New Orleans.
“The primary concern in my thoughts was I hope it isn’t somebody from our group — that was the primary concern,” she mentioned. “Then it is like, now what is going to occur? What subsequent? What would be the Islamophobic reactions we’d face in our group?”
As a father or mother, she worries about her kids and the questions they’re going to ask her. She mentioned mother and father must be ready to speak to their youngsters about these points.
Echoes from 2001
Some congregants of the mosque mentioned there’s an uncomfortable feeling that echoes what they felt greater than 20 years in the past. Mohamed Salama, an IT employee who splits his time between Houston and Dallas, talked about this after Friday prayers.
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“I lived via September 11 and I’ve, to today, have very vivid reminiscence of each how unhappy it was after which afterwards, how tough it was to be a Muslim within the U.S. and the way involved I used to be about working towards, merely simply going to mosque.”
The FBI says the person liable for the assault in New Orleans that killed 14 folks was Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Military veteran from Houston. He was killed in an change of gunfire with police following the assault.
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The Islamic Society of Higher Houston mentioned Jabbar was not a proper member at any of its 21 mosques in Houston.
In the course of the service on the Medical Middle Islamic Society, Imam Hamid did not simply denounce the assault. He singled out social media, which he believes is fueling lots of hate, anger and misinformation. Many people, he mentioned, declare to be specialists on Islam or leaders of the religion however find yourself main others astray.
“That is how folks get radicalized – by getting uncovered to unreliable sources of Islam,” he mentioned.
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Hamid and different imams in Houston say they have been speaking to one another about tips on how to fight this downside.
Waleed Basyouni, the imam of Clear Lake Islamic Middle, says he is challenged his congregants to consider how finest to deal with their considerations. After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault in Israel and Israel’s bombardment in Gaza, for instance, he requested them a number of questions.
“We have been speaking about, how will you channel your anger, your opinion, your political place, no matter you’re feeling in the suitable approach and the simplest approach?” he mentioned.
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After the assault in New Orleans, a number of Houston Muslim organizations issued statements. The Islamic Society of Higher Houston mentioned it was “horrified by the mindless crime concentrating on civilians” and prolonged its condolences to the households of these killed.
“ISGH has a longstanding absolute zero-tolerance coverage in opposition to extremism and suspicious actions,” mentioned the assertion, which requested anybody with related info to contact legislation enforcement. “The assault on civilians, no matter their nationality, ethnicity or faith, is an atrocity that no ideology or trigger can justify.”
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Shariq Ghani, the manager director of The Minaret Basis, a multi-faith group in Houston, mentioned it is vital to construct and keep bridges with different communities.
His group hosts a lot of occasions all year long. A current one was known as “Competing in Goodness” and included 30 religion organizations from the Higher Houston space. The teams competed in opposition to one another to lift meals for native meals pantries.
“The clergy I’ve spoken to aren’t very involved about retaliation or secondary assaults,” he mentioned. “What they’re most involved about is how this impacts us, our neighborliness, our social cohesion. Will it result in Islamophobia or othering communities right here in our metropolis?”
