After New Zealand massacre, local Muslims grieved and prayed
Published 1:30 am Monday, March 18, 2019
EVERETT — Friday is the day to come together for prayer in Islam, like Sunday for Christians.
It was Friday in New Zealand when a self-professed white nationalist marched into Al Noor Mosque to gun down dozens of worshipers. The slaughter was live-streamed by the gunman on the internet.
At least 50 people were killed at two mosques.
On the other side of the world, many Muslims did not learn the death toll until it was Friday in America.
Mosques around Puget Sound brimmed with people, just like the mosques in Christchurch, said Aziz Junejo, of Seattle. Parents brought kids. They shared food and talked for an hour or two. Security watched the doors. People were on edge. So imams tried to comfort them with sermons about why humans have faith.
Junejo has friends from Fiji who lost relatives. He has other friends who moved here from New Zealand.
“While they weren’t hurt, it has definitely shaken their community,” Junejo said.
As he left the mosque, non-Muslims came up to them and told them they cared about their Muslim neighbors. It was reassuring, he said, on a day like Friday.
Junejo, 59, grew up in one of very few Muslim families in the state in the 1960s.
He has hosted a TV show, Focus on Islam, about the religion, its scriptures and culture. He has written about the faith for The Seattle Times and Mukilteo Beacon. Often the themes of Junejo’s columns are the things people hold common across faiths.
He has used his voice to denounce Islamophobia — recently, when a far-right group spewed insults at Muslims in Kent in 2017, or when fliers reading, “Ban Islam from America,” were posted at the site of a proposed mosque in Mukilteo in 2016.
“Even though we thought we were in a safe place, these hate groups are definitely here, too,” he said.
In the past decades, few places have been safer from violence than New Zealand. In a nation of more than 4 million people, there have been a dozen or fewer murders with guns per year since 2007. In both that country and the United States, about 1 percent of the population identifies as Muslim.
Jeff Siddiqui, 67, moved to the United States from Pakistan in the 1970s. He’s a real estate broker in Lynnwood. Asked how often he has faced intolerance here, he laughed and replied, “How much space do you have in your newspaper?”
Many times he has been told to go back to where he came from. He has been threatened at gunpoint for being Muslim, he said. A heart condition kept him home from prayers Friday. He spoke with friends about the tragedy.
“We all grieved together,” he said. “We all are concerned about where this trend is going. We all understand that, by ourselves, there’s little to nothing we can do about it.”
Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he has seen hatred of Muslims become a mark of supposed patriotism.
“All these people have started crawling out from under their rocks,” Siddiqui said. “They’ve grown exponentially in the past 20 years. … Then we get results like this.”
The massacre in New Zealand would’ve never happened, he said, if the politics of the United States didn’t stir up a fear of Muslims worldwide.
“If you talk to Muslims, they will not be talking about the fear that some Rambo will come with a gun into our mosque,” he said. “They’re scared of our own government and our agencies. They’re scared of what the FBI might do. They’re scared of the politicians who promote anti-Muslim bigotry.”
Massacres like this, Siddiqui said, “bring home a realization, that we try to push away all the time.”
Sacred places have been targeted time and time again by radicalized white gunmen in this country.
An African-American church in South Carolina.
Media reports say the alleged New Zealand shooter, 28, is an Australian fluent in memes and internet trolling. He called himself an ethno-nationalist. Just before the shooting, a post showed up on a message board about his plan to “carry out an attack against the invaders,” as well as a reference to the synagogue shooting.
Locally, police have been trying to build constructive connections with leaders of all faiths at meetings for two years in Lynnwood.
“To our Muslim community,” Lynnwood police posted on social media, “We stand with you always, and we will remain vigilant in our efforts to keep you safe, and in making sure you feel safe too.”
Lynnwood Police Chief Tom Davis delivered words of support at a mosque Friday.
Meanwhile in Mukilteo, plans for a Muslim house of worship are still moving forward on Harbour Pointe Boulevard, in spite of the controversy.
“We’re getting very close,” said Riaz Khan, a Boeing engineer sprearheading the project.
He said he has been praying hard for the families in Christchurch.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
Vigil planned
An interfaith vigil for New Zealand will be held in Redmond at 7 p.m. Monday, at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, 17550 NE 67th Court. It’s organized by CAIR, the Council for American-Islamic Relations.
The Islamic Center of Mukilteo plans to host its third annual peace rally at 10 a.m. April 6, starting at Endeavour Elementary.
