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."
I don't know much about that IRA, so thank you for that description. I guess the folks who label the IRA a "Christian terrorist group" are the same who would label the Nazis a "Christian terrorist group".
Sadly, I have seen this very thing happen on FR. And from established "old-timers" to boot..
"They don't have to be vigilantes, but *could* at least drop a dime on people they might know to be mass murders. If they really care, then they should do *something*."
I would hope that anyone who had any information would come forward with it, as Muslim leaders have already urged. But the vast majority of course have no more information to give than I do.
What would you have them do other than join with their fellow Londoners in continuing to live their lives in defiance of those who have attacked us?
Oh, is that what they call it...?
I deny that Christ is my savior.
That being said, even I know one cannot be a Christian and a terrorist.
However, one can be a muslim and a terrorist.
I suppose supporters of Islam would argue (and have argued) that Muslims can say something similar: "These terrorists are not Muslims."
Maybe someone can explain what makes these terrorists "not Muslim".
Why don't these Muslims stand up and take back their religion from these terrorists instead of cowering in the corner of a Mosque?
Oh no...the liberals will blame it on Bush and Hillary Clintoon will come out and say publicly how it's our fault that the terrorists bombed us. We should be more nicer in the future.
My opinion, start looking for traitors to the country. the liberals love to give aid and support to our enemies.
"That's the first time I've heard this... where does this come from?"
Really? I am surprised. Don't have time to quote the Koran right now but the koran advises death to those who betray their muslim brothers.
"Why don't these Muslims stand up and take back their religion from these terrorists instead of cowering in the corner of a Mosque?"
Where else would they go to 'take back' their religion?
Fair enough. I cannot force you to see it, or even make you admit to acknowledging how it could easily be interpreted that way.
That doesn't change the fact that others can, and have done so.
I actually agree with that statement.
Just as I am aware that most Muslim sects regard the 'satanic verses' of the Koran to be outmoded, or at least mean that 'infidels' will be dealt with in the fiery pits of hell and not through terrorist bombings.
Victimize, then claim victimhood. How true! Those who demonstrated on May 23 in favor of killing Bush and Blair, nuking D.C., bombing the Pentagon, etc., should be rounded up and incarcerated, and remain incarcerated until the war is over, by which time they'll either be very old or dead. We should have NO MERCY on the Islamo-terrorists and those who rally to their support. The coddling of these sub-humans, which is too kind a word, must end.
Those 250 people are probably more useful left free. I imagine they've already been under pretty heavy surveilance and, on the off chance that any actual terrorists are foolish enough to associate with people who have so brazenly identified themselves to the security services, this could provide some useful information in the future.
If you recall, the "fanatical right wing" ministers came out and condemned those actions. But, that apparently doesn't fit your model of the world.
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