Posted on 10/08/2005 4:03:10 AM PDT by LibertyRocks
Muslim communities fear association with bomber
The Norman Transcript
Invites public to mosque for Ramadan
By Carol Cole
Transcript Staff Writer
Distorted media stories have city and student Muslim communities on edge, after it was revealed that bomber Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs roomed with a Muslim student at the Parkview apartments near the University of Oklahoma campus.
However, the FBI has found no connection between the 21-year-old engineering major, who died from an explosion at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday about 100 yards outside OU's Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium packed with more than 84,000 fans, and the Muslim community, other than other than Hinrichs' rooming with OU finance major Fazal M. Cheema from Pakistan.
And Hinrichs apparently never visited the Masjid An-Nur Islamic mosque that has served the Muslim community at 1304 George Avenue since 1978.
"He had never been to our mosque and he's not associated with our mosque in any way, shape or form," said 44-year-old Mohamed Farid Elyazgi, who has lived in Norman with his family since 1985. "We had never seen him until we saw his picture in the media."
Elyazgi emphasized that Islam forbids suicide and Muslims condemn all acts of violence.
He said many area Muslims have become concerned about television stations filming stories about the bombing in front of the mosque and its sign, fearing it could fan fear and perhaps violence against Muslims or associate the incident with the Islamic Society of Norman.
The community is mindful of what happened after the 1995 Murrah Building bombing, when it was thought there could be Middle Eastern involvement, spurred on by some Oklahoma City stations.
"(There were) a lot of Muslims who got harassed and some hate crimes against them," Elyazgi said, remembering that Stillwater's mosque was shot at.
The Oklahoma City bomb- ers turned out to be homegrown in the form of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.
OU President David Boren warned against jumping to conclusions in an e-mail that went out to students, faculty and staff Thursday.
"To rush to judge others or make assumptions about them on that basis is nothing short of prejudice," wrote Boren, emphasizing the campus' low crime rate. "It has no place in America and it certainly has no place at the University of Oklahoma."
Elyazgi is especially concerned because two of his six children attend the University of Oklahoma.
"I think the concern right now is because some of the Muslim women, they wear their scarfs and they become a target for everyone to identify them," he said.
When he first heard the news about the bomb, it sent chills and a silent prayer through him.
"To be honest, when I heard about the bombing and that it was a suicide bomb, I just prayed to God that no one was hurt and I hoped that no Muslims were connected to that because we don't need that here," Elyazgi said.
After 9/11, emotions were high and Elyazgi kept his children at home for several days.
"Because you never know how people are going to react," he said. "We're just asking people to be understanding as usual. There was a big difference in how Oklahomans reacted to 9/11 than the way they reacted to the 1995 bombing.
"We are part of society here and we know that one of the things great about America is the diversity in America and the acceptance of different people from different places. They come together and they live in peace. We'd like to see our country prosper."
Elyazgi said they want to invite people to the mosque to see Muslim culture for themselves, with today being the third day of their holy month Ramadan.
"Anybody is welcome to come and eat with us and we welcome them to the mosque," he said.
There are special night prayers and dinners as Muslims break their all-day fast from dawn to sunset.
"So anybody who would like to see what we are all about and how we live and how we try to uplift our souls in this holy month of ours and try to share the hunger and the thirst of others," Elyazgi said. "It's just a beautiful atmosphere. I wish you would come and join us and how we are very peaceful and caring about each other."
Carol Cole 366-3538 ccole@normantranscript.com
I just re-read Texasbluebell's post. I don't see her calling you a liar anywhere in the post. She did call the guy being interviewed in the article a liar, but not you.
For someone who is such a stickler for the facts, maybe you should tend to your own blind spots.
See if this is the right video, LR, I haven't watched it myself. Just located this.
http://www.kfor.com/Global/category.asp?C=65857
I haven't seen these guys before on any of the OUBOMBING threads, not a single post, and they suddenly show up now and accuse us of rushing to judgment. We've been going over every little detail that's come out concerning this case for a week, and they show up now as if we don't know what we're talking about. I view debating with them as a pointless mental exercise I might engage in to occupy my time if I were bored, but since I'm devoting my time to following this case, I'm afraid I can't stop to play with them. I hope they don't take it too badly.
Neither is the Hindu extremist that burns his wife, or the white trash American that knocks his girlfriends teeth out; or the african tribes that enslave children for labor. Lotsa shit out there Teeny
See, the thing that I have noticed is that Hindu's have not spent decades kidnapping Americans. And African tribes and abusive white trash dudes have not been murdering Americans by the thousands since the seventies.
There is a difference, to me. I do understand that there is bad shit.
But as a whole, Muslim men between the ages of 17 and 40 have caused more damage, death and destruction to this country than any other single group. And for the U.S. to embrace Islam as some sort of wonderfully loving, peaceful religion may very well be a good strategy, but I do not have to play that card. I think it sucks, whether they are actively cutting tongues out and heads off at the moment or not.
I am not slamming Bush, the administration, or the WOT efforts, which you seem to think I am doing.
My point is that I do not trust any of them as far as I can throw them, and I cannot tell the good guys from the bad guys. If you can, then good for you.
I appreciate the assistance of the Iraqi soldiers, of Musharraf, and all of the others who have helped in this deal. But from most of them, it is far to little, and too duplicitous.
If I were to get on a plane with my children, and there was a ME guy who was supposed to board as well, I would not take the chance. Their track record since the year I was born has shown me that I am justified in suspecting them all. And that is their fault, not mine.
If muslims truly wanted to show the world that they mean well, they would get rid of the madrassas, they would get rid of the burkas, they would turn over the sympathizers in their midst, and they would do these things as a whole, not every now and then as individuals.
The religion teaches hatred and violence. That is all I need to know.
The terrorists like TATP BECAUSE it is highly unstable. That means it always explodes. If you aren't concerned for the safety of the person carrying the bomb, exploding early is not really a problem.
In the time it took you to compose that reply, you could easily summarize the evidence that suggests that the roomate is a conspirator. I'd prefer something that's non-circumstantial, but if that's all you have, fine.
Okay, you claim to be here for news so I am going to give you some. The Feds found so much explosives in Hinricks/Cheema's apartment that it almost took them a day to clear them all. You claim that Cheema cannot be implicated because of this. What do you mean?
I've said it before and I'll say it again: If I were a Paki student and my roomie was making bombs, I would run to DHS/ICE/FBI/ATF just to keep out of trouble. He did nothing and infact fled his apartment right after the bombing. Why?
I agree with Laz and MizSterious: you are just trying to disrupt the thread with your inane and ridiculous statements.
Everything I need to know about Islam I learned on September 11, 2001.
Haha! I'm not on anything but you must be.
I was posting to someone else who was talking about lies coming from moslems, and I commented on "taqiyyah" -- it had nothing to do with you.
But I guess in all your years here, you still haven't learned how to backtrack on the posts.
My mistake. There were so many insults flying-around I lost track. Sorry.
Which implies he came back because he was no longer depressed. Boren would like us to believe Hinrichs was depressed recently, which led him to suicide... but the depression was some time ago. Certainly over a year ago, because he was away for a year.
Well, you can also do your own legwork--that is, if you're not too lazy. Click on the OUBOMBING link on the index page, and read some threads. Don't expect us to recap it all for every latecomer to the story.
Please see my reply above. I suspect that I was responding to some other insult of yours.
Thanks, Miz, yes, he seems to have a little trouble figuring out who is talking to whom.
So in other words, you've got nothing. Small wonder I avoided these threads for a week.
I've got plenty, and you could too, if you weren't so lazy. Go do some reading. Or do you need the books with pictures and real, small words?
Who can argue with that logic? You are the Supreme Muslim Expert of Free Republic. All bow before the Great and Powerfu.....(I can't do it, it's too easy)
Ignore him. You're giving him what he wants, which is to tie you up in an endless debate. He's not looking for answers or to learn something. He's just trying to antagonize. Reminds me of hoboken109.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.