USCMO Extends Condolences to Families of
San Diego Mosque Attack Victims,
Including Martyred Hero Amin Abdullah
Islamic Center of San Diego · Hate Crime
The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), America’s umbrella group of Muslim associations, today extended its condolences and prayers to the entire community at the Islamic Center of San Diego, including the families of the three victims killed by two gunmen in a hate crime earlier today.
USCMO praised the mosque’s security guard, Amin Abdullah, as a martyred hero for sacrificing his life to protect the worshipers and school children inside from the shooters.
USCMO also strongly condemned the attack, as well as the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric that endangers the American Muslim community by priming people to commit acts of hate. Over the past few years, elected officials resurrected an anti-Muslim campaign, leading to the introduction of at least eight bills targeting American Muslims and the establishment of a 62-member anti-Muslim congressional caucus in just thirteen months, according to the Manufacturing the Muslim Threat report, released on April 21.
“We denounce this horrific terror attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego, a widely respected and beloved house of worship that has contributed to its neighbors and community for decades. We extend our sincere condolences to the families of the victims of this attack, and we pray that God grants them the highest rank of Paradise. To Allah we belong, and to Allah we return.
“Thanks to the heroic efforts of Amin Abdullah, the Islamic Center of San Diego security guard who gave his life to protect the worshippers, staff, and children in the center during the terror assault, an untold number of people were saved by the grace of God.
“We thank local law enforcement and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria for the massive police presence securing the area and protecting the Muslim community. We also recognize Mayor Gloria for stating unequivocally that ‘no one in the city should live in fear because of their faith’ and that ‘hate has no home in San Diego, Islamophobia has no home in San Diego.’
“No religious community in America should ever suffer from violent hate and bigotry. The politicians and media personalities who have spent years either downplaying anti-Muslim hate or actively fomenting anti-Muslim hate must stop. Now. Islamophobia must no longer be considered an acceptable form of hate, but a bigotry just as condemned as racism and antisemitism.
“We pray for those slain by hate and terror today, and we ask God for His protection of the American Muslim community and all communities from the violence that such bigoted political and public hatemongering brings. Words have consequences.”
— Oussama Jammal, USCMO Secretary General
Continue to the USCMO website