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Mosque Vandalised in the US

BY Linda Rush

The Southern Illinoisan
28 April, 2003

CARBONDALE -- "We respect all religions and expect them to respect ours as well," said Dr. Muhammad Kamran, a Carbondale physician and member of the Islamic congregation in Carbondale. His 6-year-old son, Moosa, stood at his side.

Kamran and other Muslims were standing in the parking lot of the
Islamic Center on Poplar Street, just north of College Street,
Monday. Sometime late Sunday night or early Monday, vandals had sprayed messages in black paint on the pale yellow siding and light-colored doors of the center.

Police were contacted at 11:25 a.m. by a passerby who saw the damage. Construction workers nearby said the damage was evident when they arrived at work at around 6:30 a.m. Sgt. Mark Diedrick of the Carbondale Police Department said the graffiti was photographed, but no evidence was collected at the scene, nor are there any suspects.

"Free Kashmir," read the only English message on the building.
Kashmir is a disputed area, with India and Pakistan both claiming
jurisdiction to the land that lies between them.

Also sprayed on the building was a phrase that praises a non-Muslim Hindu god. It translates as "Long live Shri Rama," said one young man. "These are Hindu religious symbols, like a cross for Christianity. These symbols are seen in their temples."

The Islamic Center has been in Carbondale for 18 years, serving a congregation of Southern Illinois University students and faculty,
and numerous professional families in Southern Illinois. Between 30 and 50 people will be gathered there for evening prayers. On Fridays, about 200 gather to pray at the mosque on North Wall and Chestnut streets.

And until Monday, the Islamic Center's only problems had been
occasional beer bottles or trash strewn on the parking lot, damage the congregation believes is just a byproduct of student parties.

The painted slogans, though, are hard to ignore.

"It's good it didn't happen Saturday night," said Rizwan Hashmi, "or the children would have seen it when they came to Sunday school." Hashmi, a doctoral student at SIUC, heads the board of directors for the center. He said about 60 children ages 5 to 12 attend Sunday the school.

"People come here for morning prayer at 5 a.m., but it was still dark then," Hashmi said. "Nobody saw the damage." The vandalism was on the sides of the building away from Poplar Street.

Hashmi also left a phone message for the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Special agent Rick Stonecipher had earlier met with the board, asking its member to contract him if they had any
problems, he said.

Congregation member Iqbal Mohammed said, "We have many friends who are Hindus." Others, too, said it would be wrong to characterize the vandalism as an act by any one group. "It can be anybody," Hashmi added. "Everybody knows Carbondale is a peaceful place."

As Moosa played quietly nearby in the gravel, Kamran was asked what he will tell his son and 8-year-old daughter, Haani, about the
incident.

"I don't know what to tell him," he admitted quietly. "I do not know
how to explain it to anybody. I don't want to tell him it was done by
Hindus. Our neighbors and friends are Hindus."

Hashmi said he would tell his children they will have to cope with
those who disagree with them. "It's a good lesson to them -- each
religion teaches its adherents to tolerate," he added.

Anaz Zubair, too, cautioned against placing blame -- even with the reference to Kashmir. Pointing to his friend Hashmi, Zubair said, "I'm an Indian; he's a Pakistani. It's not as simplistic as they
portray. It's a moot point." He believes one or two people simply
committed a crime. "It's not the whole Hindu community."

Zubair, an SIUC student, said Islam provides a lesson on tolerance, with a story about a nomad who went inside a mosque and urinated. When angry Muslims attempted to drive him out or punish him, Muhammad told them to let him be and not disturb him.

"The lesson," Zubair said, "is not to lash out in anger when someone wrongs you."

The writer can be contacted [email protected]