Valley’s Muslim residents wary of attack anniversary

Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

As Sept. 11 approaches again, the Las Vegas Valley's Muslims are a knot of emotions, ranging from grief that for some is as specific as mourning a lost loved one, to frustration over a war against terrorism they see as reeling out of control.

They also seem beset with a weary resolve to endure being a target of suspicion since the World Trade Center attacks, and to set the rest of America straight about their vision of Islam, which they say doesn't include violence.

After praying Wednesday evening at the Jamia Masjid mosque on East Desert Inn Road, east of Boulder Highway, Parveez Syed spoke of fate's twist three years ago.

"I nearly took a job at the World Trade Center right before (the attacks)," said the information technology project manager. As it was, he lost friends from his native country of India that day, he said.

Syed, 32, has been in Las Vegas only a month -- joining the valley's growing Muslim community, estimated at 10,000 -- and is working for MGM Mirage on its merger with Mandalay Resort Group.

Though he was on a trip to Los Angeles this week, Aslam Abdullah was preparing himself for a sermon he would deliver tomorrow morning at 5:30 to hundreds of followers at the same mosque.

"That (9/11) was a tragedy ... we will never forget, and we must do everything possible to see it is never repeated," he said.

At the same time, he said his sermon will make clear that "those who have hijacked the religion and used it for political purposes must be fought and defeated ... and the principles of peace that Islam advocates must be highlighted."

Syed, raised in the United States since the age of 8, said he sometimes feels bad about his religion while at the same time drawing on it for patience with those who would paint him with a broad brush.

"Sometimes ... at a meeting, someone will say, 'I wish they would just blow up the Middle East.' I try to understand them and the way they think," he said.

"I feel ashamed ... it kind of points the finger at the Muslim community. But I am always trying to bridge the gap ... and show people that's not what Islam represents."

Sakeena Mirza, born in a suburb of Los Angeles to a "Caucasian" mother and a Pakistani father, is also a newcomer to the Las Vegas area Muslim community, having arrived only three months ago.

The Los Angeles Times profiled that community in a recent five-part series.

Visits by a British Broadcasting Corporation television crew and other international media followed.

"I feel more under the microscope," said Mirza, who was the only woman at the mosque's post-sunset prayers that day.

"People stare a lot," she said, pointing to her habit of covering herself from head to toe.

"Everything we do is examined ... there's a lot of speculation," she said, balancing her 2-year-old son, Bilal, on one hip.

Apparently, Muslims in the U.S. are also closely examining the presidential campaign, and the administration's handling of the ongoing war in Iraq and response to terrorism.

"We believe the terrorism issue has been used for political gain," Las Vegan Khalid Khan said. "We have spent $200 billion on the Iraqi war and all the while we're facing the biggest deficit in history.

"With 1,000 Americans dead and 7,000 wounded ... what do we get out of it?"

Additionally, he said, "the environment (Bush) has created is against Muslims in America."

Khan said he thinks Muslims who supported Bush in the 2000 elections will vote Democratic this time around.

A weekly e-mail summary of news about Muslims, gathered by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and sent out Thursday, suggested others around the nation shared the views of local followers of Islam.

One heading over several stories read, "For Muslim Voters, GOP Loses Allure."

As for Sept. 11, another heading read simply, "Criminals, Not Muslims."

Khan said he will remember "the horrific tragedy" Saturday.

But he also took pains to say, "It was not Islam. It was their agenda. Unluckily, they were Muslims."