No injuries- But "Who is going to be the next victim? What about our..
children? Our wives?
Jacksonville, Florida - Monday 9:30 PM Muslims at Islamic Center heard an explosion just outside the mosque - right before Esha salat -
When they came out - they found fire and smoke everywhere - even all over the emergency exit.
NOTE: We must get the message out to the Muslims everywhere:
Please email this ink, post it on Facebook, Twitter - forums :
http://www.islamnewsroom.com/news-we-need/1215-mosque-fire-bombed-last-night
http://www.islamnewsroom.com/news-we-need/1215-mosque-fire-bombed-last-night
"It is time for us, as Muslims to step up and join together to present our true message in the media, on TV on our own station - as soon as possible", says Yusuf Estes, director for Share Islam Project in Washington, D.C. "If we don't do it now, then when?"
Sheikh Yusuf Estes has been constantly on the road since February to raise the awareness of Muslims everywhere to the current situation facing Muslims in the west and in particular the U.S. He is joined by Mohamed Saleh, with HUDA TV and Dr. Zakir Naik with Peace TV, all working together to start the first 24 hour all Islamic TV channel on Satellite and Cable TV in the U.S. >> www.GuideUS.tv (see the sample broadcasts)
The fire-bomb attack on the mosque in Florida represents the attitude many Americans feel toward Muslims and Islam. The explosion and small fire are being investigated as a possible hate crime.
A surveillance recording of a man walking across the lawn at a Southside Jacksonville mosque where a fire broke out Monday night is being released this afternoon by the FBI.
FBI spokesman Jeff Westcott said the agency is releasing a recording taken Monday of a man walking across the lawn at the center.
"It looks as if he is carrying a gas can," Westcott said. A can was found at the site of the explosion.
Samer Tayrah, 44, was unloading cabinets from his van when he heard the explosion. At first the cabinetmaker thought the noise was caused by a rooftop air-conditioning unit giving out, then saw heavy smoke come around into the front yard.
He said it reminded him of being on a mountain where heavy clouds obscured visibility. Behind the mosque, the remains of a red gas can were found at the steel emergency exit door. Tayrah said only the bottom of the can was left.
He put his hand on the blackened brick wall, he said.
"It was still hot," he said.
"I think it is an arson or someone who really meant harm," he said. Tayrah and three sons were at the mosque for the final prayers of the day, he said.
The rear entrance opens to a large fenced backyard that backs up to Florida 9A, he said,
Atef Zahra, chairman of the center's board of directors, said he was told the fire and explosion erupted at the southeast corner of the mosque.
Spokesman Tom Francis of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said damage was minimal.
Zahra said the FBI and other members of the task force that includes local and state fire investigators as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were investigating. A noon meeting of officials with the mosque the arson task force investigating the incident did not take place but will happen tomorrow.
Westcott said an explosion at a house of worship qualifies the case for a hate crime investigation. Several agents were evaluating the crime scene with forensic experts, he said.
Zahra said the center has been in Jacksonville more than 20 years and has not experienced a similar event.
He said he doesn't believe the incident had any relation to the recent appointment of UNF Professor Parvez Ahmed to Jacksonville's Human Rights Commission, but was not ruling anything out. Ahmed's nomination raised opposition because of his past affiliation with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"It's really hard to guess anything," Zahra said.
In a release this morning, the CAIR said mosque officials reported a man in his 40s entered the Islamic center on April 4 and shouted, "Stop this blaspheming!" The man said he'd be back as people chased him away from the center.
"A possible bias-motivated attack on a house of worship should be of great concern to Americans of all faiths, and particularly to our nation's religions and political leaders," said CAIR national executive director, Nihad Awad. "Those who shape public opinion must begin to speak out against the rising level of anti-Muslim sentiment in our society."
