One constant in my life as a Muslim-American is the Friday congregational prayers, a constant I share with many of my coreligionists. I organize my work and travel schedules around it so as not to miss this weekly spiritual experience.
Known by the Arabic word Jumah (to gather together), the prayer is important for Muslims because of its emphasis in the Quran and because it brings the community together, from babies in strollers to the aged in wheelchairs. At our Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, an average of about 500 Muslims attend the Friday prayers.
In the last few years, with Islamophobia on the rise, I often found myself imagining my worst nightmare: One or more gunmen walk into the congregation and start mowing down worshipers. My worst nightmare has just been realized, not in San Jose, California, but in Christchurch, New Zealand, 7,000 miles away. But it could just as easily have happened here.
I am thinking of Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white supremacist who murdered nine African Americans in June 2015 at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. “I did what I thought would make the biggest wave,” he wrote, “and now the fate of our race is in the hands of my brothers who continue to live freely.”
I am thinking of Robert Bowers, charged with killing 11 worshipers in October 2018 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa. While receiving medical care from a Jewish physician, he said he wanted all Jews to die.
Now we have the 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, accused of killing at least 50 worshipers at two mosques in Christchurch on Friday. He too is a white supremacist who wrote of his need to defend “our land” from “invaders” to ensure “a future for white children.” His online manifesto was starker: Kill Muslim immigrants.
During the carnage that he was streaming live, he was heard saying: “There wasn’t even time to aim, there were so many targets.” He was shooting fish in a barrel, much like the white supremacist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in July 2011 in Norway.
What does this mean for Muslim-Americans? Do we believe Islamophobia and anti-Semitism is on the rise, with encouragement from on high? Yes, we do. Do we see white supremacy as an ideology that poses an existential threat for us? Yes, we do.
But will we let our fear and concern overwhelm our striving for a more inclusive society in America? No, we won’t.
At the same time, we have decided that lax security in our mosques is an invitation for disaster. At Evergreen Islamic Center, for instance, the board of directors is urgently laying plans for posting armed guards during Friday prayers. With Ramadan less than two months away, security will also likely be beefed-up throughout the holy month.
We are heartened by the support from Mayor Sam Liccardo’s office and from Police Chief Edgardo Garcia, who have promised more frequent patrol of our mosque. We hope this will become the norm throughout America until threats from terrorists of all persuasions are neutralized.
Muslim-Americans cannot afford the luxury of psychoanalyzing fascists like Tarrant or debating the finer points of the Second Amendment and gun rights. It’s a clear case of cause-and-effect for us: More anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism leads to more killing of Jews, Muslims, African-Americans and other minorities. We resolve to strengthen our alliances with people of all faiths and no faith for a more inclusive and largehearted society in America.
Hasan Zillur Rahim is a professor of mathematics at San Jose City College and the Outreach Director of the Evergreen Islamic Center (www.eicsanjose.org) in San Jose.
