agreement that those who commit acts of terror in the name of Islam are corrupting their religion
Muslims living in Westchester and Rockland are in agreement that those who commit acts of terror in the name of Islam are corrupting their religion.
The terror attacks in Brussels sand the anti-Muslim backlash that followed — have intensified fear and anxiety among Muslims in the Lower Hudson Valley, who say they struggle to explain to their children the suspicion and anger directed at their community.
“I’m worried about the children as to what they’re trying to figure out by themselves, and are they afraid,” said Azeem Farooki of Pomona, a trustee at the Islamic Center of Rockland.
Eesha Uddin, 13, a student at Chestnut Ridge Middle School, said that following the Paris attacks in November, she has been called a terrorist by boys on the school bus. “They tease me a lot. Sometimes it gets to the point where it hurts me, but I don’t sit there silently,” she said. “I talk back to them and say that they shouldn’t talk to me that way.”
Mohammad Ziaullah of Congers, a trustee at Islamic Center of Rockland, said better communication with non-Muslims is not only imperative, but religiously mandated. “On the day of judgment,” he said, “God will ask if we reached out to those who don’t know about Islam,” not to convert, but to foster understanding. “We have to make an effort to know each other.”
