One constant in my life as a Muslim-American is the Friday congregational prayers, a constant I share with many of my coreligionists. I organize my work and travel schedules around it so as not to miss this weekly spiritual experience. Known by the Arabic word Jumah (to gather together), the prayer is important for Muslims because of its emphasis in the Quran and because it brings the community together, from babies in strollers to the aged in wheelchairs. At our Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, an average of about 500 Muslims attend the Friday prayers.
In the last
few years, with Islamophobia on the rise, I often found myself imagining my
worst nightmare: One or more gunmen walk into the congregation and start mowing
down worshipers. They could do this with impunity because most mosques have
flimsy security, with one or two surveillance cameras at best.
My worst
nightmare has just been realized, not in San Jose, CA, but in Christchurch, New
Zealand, 7000 miles away. But it could just as easily have happened here.
I am thinking
of Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white supremacist who murdered nine African
Americans in June, 2015, at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston,
SC. “I did what I thought would make the biggest wave,” he wrote, “and now
the fate of our race is in the hands of my brothers who continue to live
freely.” I am thinking of Robert Bowers who killed 11 worshipers in October,
2018, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. While receiving medical
care from a Jewish physician, he said he wanted all Jews to die.
Now we have
the 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, killer of at least 49 worshipers at
two mosques in Christchurch this past Friday. He too is a white supremacist who
wrote of his need to defend “our land” from “invaders” to ensure “a future for
white children.” His online manifesto was starker: kill Muslim immigrants.
During the carnage that he was streaming live, he was heard sayings: “There
wasn’t even time to aim, there were so many targets.” He was shooting fish in a
barrel, much like the white supremacist Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77
people in a bomb and gun rampage in July 2011 in Norway. For such fascists and
fanatics, no school is too secular and no sanctuary too sacred.
What does
this mean for Muslim-Americans? Do we believe Islamophobia and anti-Semitism is
on the rise, with encouragement from on high? Yes, we do.
Do we see white
supremacy as an ideology that poses an existential threat for us? Yes, we do.
But will we
let our fear and concern overwhelm our striving for a more inclusive society in
America? No, we won’t.
At the same
time, we have decided that lax security in our mosques is an invitation for
disaster. At EIC, for instance, the board of directors is urgently laying plans
for posting armed guards during every Friday prayers. With Ramadan less than
two months away, security will also likely be beefed-up throughout the holy
month.
In San Jose, CA, we are heartened by the support from Mayor Sam Liccardo’s office and from
police chief Edgardo Garcia who have promised more frequent patrol of our
mosque. We hope this will become the norm throughout America until threats from
terrorists of all persuasions are neutralized.
Muslim-Americans
cannot afford the luxury of psycho-analyzing fascists like Brenton Tarrant or
debating the finer points of the second amendment and gun rights. It’s a clear
case of cause-and effect for us: More anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism,
more killing of Jews, Muslims, African-Americans and minorities. We, therefore,
resolve to strengthen our alliances even more with people of all faiths and no
faith for a more inclusive and largehearted society in America.
