Methodist Church Rallies For Roseville Mosque Targeted By Vandals
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — Its been a difficult past few days for yet another group of local Muslims. For the second time in as many weeks, a local mosque has been vandalized in the Sacramento area. This week it was the Tarbiya House in Roseville.
Outraged at the vandalism and increase in hate crimes against American Muslims, Bishop Minerva Carcano, who heads more than 370 United Methodist churches in Northern California and Northern Nevada, lead a group of her congregants to joined their Muslim counterparts at the Tarbiya House for their weekly congregational prayer.
The mosque was vandalized this past week with anti-Muslim slurs and profanity sprayed on it's walls and doors.
Bishop Carcano says Presidents Trump's recent travel ban and rhetoric against immigrants has put a lot of communities on alert. But united, she says, they can fight back.
"It says there is a lot of deep rooted hate and fear. And that this is not acceptable. And we need to stop this. Stand up and say this is not who we are," said Cancano.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, reports of anti-Muslim crimes have increased almost 10 percentage points from 2010 to 2015. According to the most recent FBI data, 22% of religious hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2015 was related to Islam and Muslims.
Their show of solidarity was a welcomed message for those attending Friday's midday prayer, the weekly congregational prayer for Muslims.
"Initially, the response was fear. And then we thought, is it going to get worse? Is someone going to come with a gun?" explained Imam Azeez, who founded Tarbiya House.
In addition to daily prayers, Tarbiya House hosts over 150 kids for various after school programs. That raised concerns, not knowing if the vandalism would escalate to violence. But he says the tremendous outpouring from the community has eased that sense of fear.
"The magnitude of love dwarfed any negativity," he said emphatically.
Some who attend the mosque say the greater community support sends a message that Roseville Muslims aren't alone.
"It shows unity. It shows that different races, religions and cultures can absolutely unite for a louder voice and better presence in our country," said Rod Hazer, who attends Friday prayer at Tarbiya House.
In his sermon, Imam Azeez, who lead the Friday prayer, said that these aren't times for Muslims to back down or be victims.
"Now is not the time to hide your Muslim Identity. Don't go to Starbucks and given them a non-Muslim name," he remarked. Instead, he encouraged Sacramento area Muslims to be more engaged and active in the community.
"There is one lesson we learn in America, and that is communities have to earn respect. They have to earn inclusiveness by being out there and positively participating in meaningful ways," said Imam Azeez.
Roseville police say their investigation is still on-going and that they don't have any leads at this time. They are still sorting through surveillance footage, including video from nearby businesses. They have, however, increased patrols to all Roseville area mosques and Islamic centers.