The September 11th attack
Hawai'i Muslims on guard
By Yasmin Anwar
Advertiser Staff Writer
Security guards stood sentinel at the Honolulu Masjid gates yesterday, three days after the bloodiest terrorist attack on American soil.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
More than 70 Muslims gathered at the modest Manoa mosque for Islamic congregational prayer honoring victims of the terrorist attack. The leader of the mosque reported that four families still had not heard from relatives in New York, but declined to identify them to protect their privacy.
Hakim Ouansafi, president of the Muslim Association of Hawai'i, led a prayer service at the Honolulu Masjid in Manoa Valley in memor of the victims of the terrorist attacks.
Hakim Ouansafi, president of the Muslim Association of Hawai'i, strongly condemned Tuesday's attack on the World Trade Center, and emphasized the peaceful teachings of the Quran.
In doing so, he joined thousands of Muslim leaders across the country who feel compelled to defend their faith against charges that Islam fosters terrorism.
"The people that perpetrated this act, they have no heart," said Ouansafi, a Moroccan native and hotel manager.
The Sept. 11 massacre has spotlighted the religion founded by the prophet Muhammad in Arabia more than 1,350 years ago. Islam's tenets include a declaration of faith, daily prayers, fasting, charity and a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
As Americans wave flags and talk about war, Muslims around the nation are girding for the worst. On the Mainland, mosques and Islamic schools have closed their doors or hired security guards. Muslim shopkeepers live with the threat of vandalism.
In Hawai'i, barely any incidents of anti-Islamic bigotry have been reported. The mosque's telephone answering machine was jammed with calls of support from Hawai'i residents, particularly Japanese Americans who faced bigotry after the Pearl Harbor attack.
But that doesn't mean Muslims here aren't worried. Some Afghans yesterday wondered how their war-ravaged homeland would be affected.
"I worry about innocent people getting killed," said Raufa Ahrary, 59, an Afghan native who left her country in 1983.
The United States backed Afghanistan's mujahedeen when the Soviets invaded the country in 1979. Now, as authorities zero in on Osama bin Laden, who has been given asylum by Afghanis-tan's Taliban and is a prime suspect in Tuesday's attacks, Afghanistan is vulnerable to U.S. military strikes.
"We don't like war. We like peace," said Junaid Dawud, 21, a United States citizen and University of Hawai'i-Manoa athlete and geology student.
Karim Khan, an assistant history professor and chair of the international education committee at Leeward Community College, said punishing Afghanistan is not the solution.
"Afghans are the poorest people in Asia," said Khan, a native of Pakistan. "They've been suffering since the war with the Soviets 20 years ago. The best thing is to help these people. Convince them the U.S. is not against them but against this monster, terrorism."
Correction: Junaid Dawud is a University of Hawai'i student and United States citizen. He was incorrectly identified yesterday in a previous version of this story.
