- Atecia Robinson
- Hassan Shibly, CAIR-Tampa’s executive director speaks at the Islamic Community of Tampa mosque
Some Christians and Muslims viewed each other as enemies after the “War on Terror” and the September 11 attacks that preceded it. But on Saturday two of these two world religions gathered at the Islamic Community of Tampa’s mosque in Temple Terrace to pay tribute to the lives lost during the 9/11 attacks.
The Islamic Community of Tampa is headed by a community of Muslims that welcomes other faiths. After 9/11 Mulsims did not feel as welcomed in America- their leaders and faith were criticized and they endured other acts of discrimination. Nineteen hijackers were reported to have carried out the attack on the Twin Towers and The Pentagon – only a small percentage of the Muslim population. Hassan Shibly, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, said it was wrong to blame the entire Muslim faith.
“We don’t do that for other faiths for example in Norway when Christian terrorists killed people in the name of Christianity. No one blamed the Christian faith for that,” said Hassan Shibly, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
This article appears in Sep 15-21, 2011.
