OHIO FAITHS SUPPORT MUSLIMS VS ISLAMOPHOBES

Ohio, 20 Jumadal Awwal 1436/11 March 2015 (MINA) – Showing support to their Muslim neighbors, representatives from several faith groups have gathered at an Ohioan mosque to support the Muslim congregation against increasing Islamophobic threats.

“An attack on Muslims of the Noor Center is an affront to all of our faith traditions and the entire faith community here in central Ohio,” Christina Butler, president of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, which represents nine religions, was quoted by The Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday (11/3), On Islamquoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“We all have shared values, and these threats definitely violate all of our shared values.”

Butler is one of the religious leaders who gathered on Tuesday at Noor Islamic Cultural Center in Dublin, Ohio.

Visitors assured their support for the Muslim congregation against increasing threats which the mosque received over the past few weeks.

Coming between Jan. 9 and Feb. 17, the mosque received about a half-dozen harassing phone calls, some of them containing threats, according to Imran Malik the chairman of the board that oversees the center.

He said the center also received blasphemous postal mail that mocked the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

“That has definitely scarred and scared the community here,” he said.

“These recent concerns of safety and security has definitely taken a toll.”

The threats forced the center to increase security to protect more than 6,000 members who attends at worship services.

“Our plea to all is that let’s not allow our misguided hate and anger to consume our communities,” Malik said.

“We need to reach out and learn from each other.” (T/P006/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

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