Burned Quran pages found outside East Lansing Islamic center
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A charred cover of the Quran was found outside the front door of the Islamic Center of Greater Lansing early Saturday morning, according to an official from the East Lansing Police Department, or the ELPD. Feces-smeared pages torn out of the book also were found strewn throughout nearby streets.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-MI, said in a press release that an unidentified substance was found on the floor of the mosque and the FBI has been contacted regarding the case to investigate on the basis of a hate crime.
The incident coincided with the celebration of the Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, as well as Florida pastor Terry Jones’s planned “International Burn a Koran Day”. Jones eventually suspended his plans.
Lt. Kevin Daley of the ELPD confirmed that a police report had been filed about the incident and a charred copy of the Quran had been found at the front door of the center. There was no breaking and entering, Daley said. The center is open at all times for prayer.
“It is my understanding that the incident occurred sometime between 11 p.m. on (Friday) and 1:30 a.m. on (Saturday),” Daley said. “There are no witnesses or suspects at this time. We’ve been assisting (the Islamic Center) in any kind of security issues they may need help with.”
Daley said the ELPD also made a call to the Islamic Center at about 5:07 a.m. Saturday to, he believes, check the security of the building.
FBI spokesperson Sandra Berchtold said the Detroit FBI office is currently looking into the incident.
“We are aware of the situation and we are currently working with mosque leaders on (the case),” Berchtold said.
Thasin Sardar, a volunteer for the Islamic Center, said at least 20 youth could have been present in the building’s gymnasium when the incident occurred. Sardar said he was disappointed in the incident, especially after the support the East Lansing community has shown in the past and during this weekend.
“We don’t want this one event to overshadow the larger support of the community,” Sardar said.
Premedical freshman Abdelaziz Adawe was present when the burned Quran was found and helped find and pick up the various torn pages from East Lansing streets.
“I was surprised because I’ve been going to this mosque since I was seven years old,” Adawe said. “This was like my second home. I felt like I was a part of the East Lansing community but now I don’t feel as safe as I used to feel.”
East Lansing Mayor Vic Loomis visited the Islamic Center Sunday afternoon to express the city’s support.
“It’s a deplorable act and the city condemns it,” Loomis said. “This is not at all what the city of East Lansing is about and when I heard about it, I immediately went to the Islamic Center to meet with their leadership team and lend our support to them.”
Commentary
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Martin Barillas
(09/12/10 5:19pm)Report
Very sad. Lots of religious leaders of condemned the buring of the Koran, if only because it contains components of the Scriptures held sacred by Jews and Christians. Will CAIR be equally incensed about the killing of Christians, and the desecration of churches, in Iraq and elsewhere in the Mideast? Everybody needs to cool off. Muslims needs to reassess how they present their religion, and where they choose to build mosques, if indeed they indeed to promote understanding and goodwill among non-Muslims. And non-Muslims need to cease from causing needless offense to Muslims.
God not this shit again
(09/12/10 6:27pm)Report
“Muslims needs to reassess how they present their religion, and where they choose to build mosques”
Sir, you are a fucking idiot.
Michael D. Webber
(09/12/10 8:12pm)Report
This person deserved the punishment in the full measure of the law! we cannot stand by and let this happen!
Chrissy to Martin Barillas
(09/12/10 8:47pm)Report
I I agree with your post, my sentiments exactly! To: God not this shit again…please stop acting like such a darko, thank you.
Capt. Fantastic
(09/12/10 9:24pm)Report
I don’t think that a crime beyond littering was committed here. Burning a Koran has got to be protected speech, just as burning a flag is.
It’s childish, but it’s protected speech.
On the other hand, I can’t help feeling that this was in very poor taste.
Protected speech?
(09/12/10 10:32pm)Report
So how about hanging nooses in a black neighborhood? Should that be protected under free speech? No, because it is a blatant attempt at intimidation. Look at the context.
This was a pretty pathetic and cowardly act.
Tiffany
(09/13/10 12:17am)Report
That is horrible. If someone did that to the christian churches, with a bible people would be making a much bigger deal. The US was founded on freedom of religion. It is only fair that people can practice their religion in our country.
Appalled
(09/13/10 3:52am)Report
I cannot believe that people at State would do this. I have been at the Islamic center with friends volunteering and this community is nothing but amazing. Wow…horrible.
I hope that the necessary actions are taken to get the person.
Capt. Fantastic
(09/13/10 6:35am)Report
I think this is different from putting nooses in a black neighborhood, since that’s tantamount to threatening to lynch someone and burning a Koran isn’t.
Still, it embarrasses me that someone from MSU would do this. At least they could have more consideration for their Muslim colleagues.
Tiffany, you might be interested to know that when PZ Myers from UMM put a nail through a Catholic Eucharist host, several pages of the Koran and of the God Delusion, he got death threats (not from the Dawkins fans). You can read about it here
Interestingly enough, it seems that a common tactic of catholics during the middle ages was to accuse jews of desecrating the host in order to have an excuse to kill them. I think the lesson is that people will always use religion as an excuse to be nasty to one another. Freud was right – the narcissism of the small difference is a very destructive impulse.
doesnt matter
(09/13/10 9:08am)Report
you’ve got to be kidding me….
Just a Muslim
(09/15/10 7:04pm)Report
A major problem in the western countries, that they can’t discriminate between Islam as a religion and Muslims as a mixture of people: as any one can be a Muslim. The real fact also about the dominance of the Jewish media and their exaggeration of news about the Islamic world. Islam should NOT and should NEVER be analyzed by behavior of Muslims or people who claim this. People should read about reliable references about Islam before doing fool things.
Raz
(09/15/10 10:05pm)Report
That’s the problem exactly. If someone crashed a car, do you blame the car or the driver? Obviously the driver. In the same way there are some Muslims who are committing horrible acts in the world, but it’s not their religion that should be blamed and put on trail but the individuals committing the act!