A place of worship, in all religions, is a respected and sacred area where believers can come together to pray in peace. It’s a place where a religious group can feel free to practice their beliefs and most importantly feel safe while doing it.
A place of worship, in all religions, is a respected and sacred area where believers can come together to pray in peace. It’s a place where a religious group can feel free to practice their beliefs and most importantly feel safe while doing it.
On March 15, dozens of Muslims in New Zealand attended their mosques for afternoon prayer. It was a regular day for most attendees until Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, showed up. Police say the Australia native drove to two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand where he proceeded to shoot and kill a total of fifty Muslims and injuring fifty more. A little before the attacks, a link to an 87-page manifesto on Twitter and 8chan was posted to an account in the gunman’s name. The manifesto remains unsigned however the author includes a general description that fits the shooter. This publication was entirely filled with both anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant thoughts along with a description of the attack.
All over the world people of all religions are coming together to mourn over this heinous attack; even right here in Bloomington. Since the massacre, individuals and groups have reached out to the Muslim community in Bloomington to show their support.
“When I heard about what happened I was obviously very saddened because having a brutal terrorist attack amongst my religion is really impactful since people often vilify the Muslim religion, so it really effected me,” said Raneen Onallah a Muslim IU senior.
On March 21 the IU Muslim Student Association held a remembrance for those murdered and on March 24 the Islamic Center of Bloomington is leading a memorial service.
One of the many letters sent from organizations to the Islamic Center of Bloomington.
Unfortunately, many Muslims are still worried for their safety. Several weeks before the NZ attack Mustafa Ayoubi, an IU graduate, was shot and killed in Indiana during a road rage incident. The death of Ayoubi is being labeled a hate crime. These are only two of the many attacks on the Muslim community that have been done over the years out of religious discrimination.
Muslim’s have generally been worried about their reputation since the 9/11 attacks, but this recent one has mosques all over the world have implementing new security percussions. For example, police offers are being sent to stand guard outside the mosques during prayer times. One Muslim in Bloomington said there is always a police officer in an unmarked car in the parking lot on Fridays and that there are surveillance cameras within the mosque that are on 24 hours a day.
Onallah says she is now even more nervous when letting people know that she’s Muslim because she’s afraid that may judge her or do something worse.
Muslim IU senior Raneen Onallah.
“It’s really just a religion of love and peace and that’s what Muslims do want in retrospect,” she said.
