Posted on 07/08/2005 12:59:23 PM PDT by phoenix_004
Thousands of Muslims crowded London mosques for Friday prayers, condemning the bombings, but also wary they could be made scapegoats and fearful of reprisals against their growing and vibrant community. At the East London Mosque, near the site of one of Thursday's attacks, an imam told the 8,000 worshippers to be "confident in our identity" as part of London's multicultural fabric.
The mosque said it had received hate e-mails and a telephone threat to disrupt Friday prayers. A few police officers stood outside during the prayers, which ended peacefully.
Outside, some Muslims said the attacks had made them more cautious on the streets, but others said they were secure in their identity as Londoners - confident of the city's tolerant traditions.
"It will have some impact on people. But this is London, a cosmopolitan city," said student Ali Ayubi. "Maybe after one or two months it will go back to normal."
At the huge brick mosque in an East End neighborhood that's home to many with roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh, imam Sheikh Abdul Qayyum told worshippers that Muslims were "part of the rich diversity of British life."
"At this difficult time, some people in our community may feel insecure purely because they are Muslims, but these terrible events have nothing to do with us. The Muslims of London are victims as much as their fellow citizens," he said.
All of Britain's major Muslim groups condemned the bombings, which killed dozens and wounded more than 700. But some feared they would be blamed for the bombings, which police said bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.
"This morning I was driving to work and a woman on the radio said she'd had her headscarf pulled. I was shocked, to be honest," said Ahmed Shafi, 31, a grocery store manager. "In this day and age you don't expect that."
Almost 1 million of London's 8 million people are Muslims. They're inseparable from the fabric of the city's society and its history. From the opulent glitz of Harrods department store - owned by Egyptian-born Mohammed al Fayed - to the kebab shops that dot the city's streets, Muslims have long been part of London's glamour and its grit.
Prime Minister Tony Blair stressed that Islam was not the culprit in the bombings.
"We know that these people act in the name of Islam, but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims, here and abroad, are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do," he said Thursday.
That message was underscored by Muslims on the streets.
"Many Muslims are British. They have lived here for years. What happens to London happens to them," said Suraiya Zammath, a Bangladeshi woman visiting relatives in London. "This should not be singled out as 'Islamic terrorists.' That destabilizes the community."
Abdul Mukith, a 37-year-old supermarket worker in Brick Lane, the heart of London's Bangladeshi community, agreed.
"What's religion got to do with it?" he asked. "I'm bloody Muslim, and I'm afraid to go into the city" just like anyone else in the aftermath of the attacks.
Still, some feared a backlash. The Muslim Council of Britain said it had been deluged with hate e-mails, which caused its server to crash late Thursday. Though it was up and running Friday, the council said it was still getting a steady stream of vitriolic missives.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said Friday that police were aware of one or two "very minor incidents" involving backlash against Muslims, but he didn't elaborate.
He said that so far, "Britain with its liberal and welcoming approach to people is taking this in its stride. I'm very proud of that."
Representatives of several religious faiths held a silent prayer vigil Friday in a street near Aldgate subway station, where seven people died.
"There is a worry, but I think we can overcome this because we have been working with all the communities together," said Muhammad Abdul Bari, chairman of the East London Mosque.
"As Muslims, as British citizens, as Londoners, we are confident nothing will happen to us. We have to face it with resilience and with confidence."
But Shafi feared he and other Muslims would endure animosity in the coming days and weeks.
"I'm a practicing Muslim, I've got a beard. After 9/11 people called me bin Laden," he said. "But I was born and brought up here, and I don't consider myself anything but British."
"'Muslims should be marching in protest' or 'rooting out the terrorists' but they can never tell me where they marched when Christian terrorists were attacking London or what they did to root them out."
You're lack of reasoning makes you look like a complete idiot. I'll help you.
#1 - The "Christian" terrorism was definately terrorism. But, the Protestant Church didn't preach that blowing up women and children was the right thing to do. The Bible doesn't outline terrorism.
#2 - The focus is more along the lines of a "traditional" war. I am not itimate with the details of the Protestant/Catholic problems in Ireland, but the Irish don't blow up Germans to get their point across.
#3 - Whatever the problems in Ireland, world domination with a common theocracy is not their goal. That is the goal of islam, which makes it a threat to everyone who is not islamic.
Either you are islamic, or your a troll, which makes you an idiot. Either way, we are at war with islam, so this makes you my enemy.
Have you ever read the Koran?
In it you will see a clarion call for Muslims to destroy the infidels. It's not a vague reference, either. It's clearly stated.
Most Muslims don't know Arabic--they read translations. In England, the sign would have to be in English and Urdu. Like our "immigrants" from south of the border, many Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who live in England don't bother to learn the language.
"I am sure there actually are many Muslim immigrants who do think of themselves as Brits first and who are not sympathetic to the terrorists."
I wouldn't be so sure if I were you.
That is, except for the possibility of being blown up by suicide bombs... I'm sure he meant to add that. /sarc
American Christians, united, condemned these abuses and forced a change. Christians dedicated themselves to hunting down these criminals, and the people were arrested and convicted.
I expect nothing less from the Islamic world. Police your own trash, or we will do it for you!
"I think you'll find that there is no such thing as a "Christian terrorist", not in the same sense as there are Muslim terrorists. The IRA terrorists were not looking to impose a religious state upon the UK."
When people are blowing up things in your capital city, I'm not sure that whatever distinction you are trying to make here has any practical value.
Strawman arguement. If you know ANYTHING about the IRA you know they are Socialists first who comit their attacks for POLITICAL, not religious purposes. When was the last time you heard of an IRA operative shouting the Pope's name during his attack? The Islamo-terrorists do what they do IN THE NAME OF THEIR RELIGION whereas the IRA do them in the name of their politics. And if you REALLY want to get down to brass tacks, when was the last time a Muslim terrorist phoned in a warning telling people to get out 30 minutes before their bombs went off?
"there is no such thing as a "Christian terrorist"
When that evangelical Christian shot up the abortion clinic in Pensacola, Fl., was that not an act of terrorism in the name of Christianity?
Yeah - let's beat up someone innocent because she is the same as the group that did it. Feel the patriotism!
This reminds me of when there's a "gun crime" and the gun grabbers want to punish me.
Which Christian terrorists are you talking about?
IIRC the IRA always used to call the police and tell them where the bombs were before they went off, so that people would not be killed by them. Makes a big difference to the people who weren't killed, I'd wager.
For years they (Arab Street and the MSM) have been asking: Why do they (West, civilized world) hate us?
Time for a new question: Why do we (West, civilized world) hate them?
[The pix from the London bombing, the pix from 9-11, the pix from the Russian school, the pix from the Bali bombing, the pix from the Madrid bombing, etc, etc, provide a visual clue to the answer.]
"Either you are islamic, or your a troll, which makes you an idiot. Either way, we are at war with islam, so this makes you my enemy."
I'm a London-born Brit. Define yourself as my enemy if you wish. At the moment, the only enemy I have is the Islamist scum who attacked my home city yesterday, so I don't much like the company you're keeping.
Terrorism targets the innocent. Abortionists are hardly innocent, they end human lives as a career. A crime, yes, but no, not terrorism.
I sympathize with Mr. Bari. I sent him some advice at info@eastlondonmosque.org.uk, under a title similar to "How To Deflect Harassment Regarding the Recent Bombings":
*****
Expressions of sympathy are nice, but I would suggest that you issue the following statement:
It is the religous duty of all Moslems to assist the authorities, in any way possible, in the apprehension and prosecution of the perpetrators of the London bombings and any other terrorist act.
A sign up in front of the mosque, so that passers-by and the media could see it would likely be quite effective. I would recommend that you also say this in English and Arabic in the Friday sermons.
*******
Let's see if my advice gets passed on and acted on.
The death toll is really mounting in the Muslim community.
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