Muslims, Arabs worry about reprisals
Sat 07 Nov 2009
Imam Awni Qudah gestures while he talks about the Quran at the Islamic Society of Annapolis in the wake of the shootings at Fort Hood.
When he saw the name of the Army officer accused in Thursday's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Imam Awni Qudah got that sick feeling again.
"I feel nervous when I see a Muslim name or an Arab name," Qudah, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Society of Annapolis, said Friday at the Makkah Learning Center in Gambrills.
"What worries me is our neighbors, our reputation," he said. "Whenever something happens, everybody looks at us, and we do not want that barrier."
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old Army psychiatrist at the Army base in Texas, is accused of launching the attack Thursday that left 13 dead and 38 wounded. News reports have described him as a Muslim who was critical of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and who was harassed by fellow soldiers for his faith.
"I feel nervous when I see a Muslim name or an Arab name," Qudah, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Society of Annapolis, said Friday at the Makkah Learning Center in Gambrills.
"What worries me is our neighbors, our reputation," he said. "Whenever something happens, everybody looks at us, and we do not want that barrier."
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old Army psychiatrist at the Army base in Texas, is accused of launching the attack Thursday that left 13 dead and 38 wounded. News reports have described him as a Muslim who was critical of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and who was harassed by fellow soldiers for his faith.
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