May Allah be pleased with them all. I know it’s not a big deal, but I thought it was pretty interesting that he did this in Iran which is led by a Shia-majoirty government who do not accept the leadership or authority of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman. May Allah be pleased with them.
Muslim Graves Defaced With Words of Hate
From CAIR Chicago:
On August 16, 2012, a Palestinian American man went to pay respects to his deceased father at Evergreen Cemetery and was horrified to see anti-Muslim hate graffiti on a number of Muslim graves. Evergreen Cemetery is home to at least 500 Muslim graves. Cemetery officials and the police have been notified. The cemetery is located at 3401 West 87th Street, Evergreen Park, IL 60805.
Spike in Mosque attacks in Ramadan? (Updated as more incidents occur, sadly)
Of all the attributes of Ramadan, patience is one of them. We are patient during the day when we have no food. We are patient in night when we sleep less and pray more. Now we have to be patient with the onslaught of hate crimes and the increase in Islamophobia by our ignorant American neighbors.
Dates are when the incident occurred:
Day after Sikh Temple Shooting in Wisconsin, Mosque in Missouri burned to the ground
Click here to donate to the help rebuild the mosque.
A mosque in southwest Missouri burned to the ground early Monday in the second fire to hit the Islamic center in little more than a month, officials said.
The fire at the Islamic Society of Joplin was reported about 3:30 a.m. Monday, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said. The sheriff’s department said the building was a total loss. No injuries were reported and no charges have been filed.
Imam Lahmuddin, who leads the mosque and was in the building until late Sunday, said he was “sad and shocked” by the fire.
“I’m still in front of the building looking at the damage and nothing can be saved,” Lahmuddin said in a telephone interview Monday. “But since we are people of faith we just can remember that this is a thing that happened because God let it happen, and we have to be patient, particularly in the month of Ramadan, control our emotions, our anger.”
A blaze at the same building July 4 caused minor damage and was determined arson. No arrests were made and the FBI has offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to charges in that fire. The agency released video footage of what appeared to be a man starting the July blaze that did not cause extensive damage.
FBI spokeswoman Bridgett Patton said the agency is investigating the cause of the latest fire and whether or not it was also the result of arson.
Sharon Rhine, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said the center’s security cameras were burned in the Monday fire.
About 50 families belong to the Islamic Society of Joplin, which opened in 2007 as a mosque and community center. The FBI led an investigation in 2008 when the mosque’s sign was torched. That crime also remained unsolved.
Lahmuddin, who has lived in Joplin for about four years, said several people were at the center late Sunday. He said despite the attacks, the center’s members have good relationships with residents and other churches. He said many are doctors at area hospitals.
The latest fire came a day after a gunman killed six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. The imam said it was a cause of great concern that both faiths had seemingly come under attack.
“I heard that yesterday, and this morning we see this happen in our place,” he said. “We are more fortunate that no one here got hurt in this incident.”
SPLC: Alleged Sikh temple shooter former member of Skinhead band
The man who allegedly murdered six people at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee yesterday, identified in media reports as Wade Michael Page, was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band.
In 2010, Page, then the leader of the band End Apathy, gave an interview to the white supremacist website Label 56. He said that when he started the band in 2005, its name reflected his wish to “figure out how to end people’s apathetic ways” and start “moving forward.” “I was willing to point out some of my faults on how I was holding myself back,” Page said. Later, he added, “The inspiration was based on frustration that we have the potential to accomplish so much more as individuals and a society in whole.” He did not discuss violence in the interview.
Page told the website that he had been a part of the white power music scene since 2000, when he left his native Colorado on a motorcycle. He attended white power concerts in Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Colorado. At various times, he said, he also played in the hate rock bands Youngland (2001-2003), Celtic Warrior, Radikahl, Max Resist, Intimidation One, Aggressive Force and Blue Eyed Devils. End Apathy, he said, included “Brent” on bass and “Ozzie” on drums; the men were former members of Definite Hate and another band, 13 Knots.
In 2000, the Southern Poverty Law Center has found that Page also attempted to purchase goods from the neo-Nazi National Alliance, then America’s most important hate group.
Source: Southern Poverty Law Center
Dar-us-Salaam Community in Maryland planning to buy a former Catholic school
Dar-us-Salaam is a Muslim community in College Park, Maryland featuring the al-Huda Islamic school. It is well known in the Muslim American community especially on the East coast. Recently they had a special Iftar Dinner event at their College Park, MD location to announce that they have made plans to purchase a 66-acre property which was home to a former Catholic School, Woodmont Academy (According to their website, it was closed as of June 2011). More