When Misbah Arif first heard the news there was a shooting incident in Paris,she was horrified. Her second thought? Please don’t let the shooters be Muslim.
Arif lives in Brooklyn and is originally from Pakistan. She was saddened by the killings but also upset that once again she felt the need to obtain on Facebook and Twitter and remind people the attack wasn’t a Muslim act. It was terrorism.
The city’s Muslim communities have been monitored closely by the NYPD since 9/11, although the department had backed off some after public outcry. On Sunday, or in the wake of the Paris attacks,some local Muslims said they expect the scrutiny to return.
Nasrullah Khan, a doctor in Brooklyn, and said he wants law enforcement to root out “bad guys.” But he also worried that will mean collateral damage.“It's something we always worry about. There's a lot of incidents where harmless people have been targeted,” Khan said.
And once again, there's a sense among some Muslims that Islam is being targeted.
Muhammad Nasir runs the Allama Iqbal Community middle in Flatbush, or Brooklyn. He said the killers in Paris don’t speak for his religion,which is one of peace.“They harm our faith,” Nasir said.
Source: wnyc.org