Muslims in the Inland Empire spoke with outrage, sorrow and a sense of betrayal Friday in the wake of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that left 13 dead in what is believed to be the worst mass murder in history at a U.S. military base.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old Army psychiatrist identified by authorities as the suspected gunman, lay in a coma on Friday, shot four times.
“As a former soldier, for me, this is the utmost level of betrayal,” said Omar Zaki of Riverside, an Army veteran who frequents the mosques in Pomona and Rancho Cucamonga. “And heartbreaking.”
Muslims in the armed forces will now have to endure their patriotism coming under scrutiny, especially in the post-Sept. 11 era, Zaki said.
“Whenever something bad like this happens, we pray that the person does not have a Muslim-sounding name,” he said.
Indeed, fears of a backlash against the Muslim community were addressed in a variety of ways Friday, with some leaders discussing the killings during prayer services, while others said the mosque is a sacred space and such conversations should take place outside places of worship.
“We’re definitely going to speak about it,” said Imam Faiz Shah of the Ar-Rahman Islamic Center in Fontana. “The topic will be that we will strongly condemn this cowardly act. He should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
At the same time, Shah also feared some in the public would extend blame from Hasan to the Islamic community at large.
It was a sentiment shared by Imam Mohammad Hossain of the Islamic Center of Redlands.
“The ignorant people are going to comment on anything - that is to be expected,” Hossain said. “Because it happened by a Muslim, (because) somebody killed people, anything that is Muslim is wrong.”
Hossain said he would not address the shootings during worship services because it would stir up more confusion and frustration.
“All we can do is pray,” Hossain said. “We don’t want to bring the worldly affairs into the mosque.”
Dany Doueiri, the coordinator of the Arabic language program and a member of the Center for Islamic and Middle East Studies at Cal State San Bernardino, said he will address the murders in his classes.
Doueiri teaches a class on the cultural aspects of Islam in relation to global events. He believes students today are more educated about Islam and so is the public.
“We do have an educated community that will not draw a quick connection between the Arab/Islamic community on one hand and the shooter on the other hand,” Doueiri said. “Maybe six years ago I’d be more uncomfortable. The awareness of the general public is something to be proud of.”
Doueiri said his students will be interested to see if the Islamic and Arab communities will issue public condolences to the families and public condemnations of the crime.
Some echoed Doueiri’s views about public awareness of Islam, including Doug Burpee, a former board member at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a public policy and advocacy group. A retired reserve colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, Burpee converted to Islam 30 years ago.
“This country really represents what Islam is about - justice, freedom, democracy,” he said.
Burpee was deployed to Afghanistan in 2004. Being a Muslim never got in the way of serving his country, he said.
“Everyone that knows me in the Marine Corps knows that I am Muslim,” Burpee said. “I have never had any real backlash. Mostly just joking, guy-type stuff. My military pilot call sign is ‘Hadji.’”
