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LIMA: A mosque within the Brazilian metropolis of Ponta Grossa was invaded and desecrated by vandals on Nov. 26.
The unknown criminals broke into the constructing’s hussainiya earlier than the primary morning prayer and dirtied the partitions and a few chairs, destroyed masbahas, and set fireplace to 5 volumes of the Holy Qur’an.
When the Iran-born Sheikh Mahmoud Shamsi left his home — which is in the identical improvement because the mosque — for the primary prayer, he smelled smoke, however thought it got here from the road.
“Two hours later, once I received into my automobile, I noticed that somebody had stolen its radio participant. That’s once I went to the hussainiya and noticed that every part was tousled,” Shamsi informed Arab Information.
In accordance with Sleiman Zabad, the president of the Imam Ali Mosque, the criminals set fireplace to a central desk within the hussainiya, on high of which there was a quantity of the Qur’an and a portray with a sacred verse.
“He definitely noticed it as a sort of (Christian) altar and determined to destroy it. That’s why I believe his intention was to desecrate the mosque, and his motivation was non secular intolerance,” Zabad affirmed.
The mosque’s kitchen was additionally damaged into, with the partitions dirtied by the unknown assailants. Sheikh Shamsi stated that one other 4 volumes of the Qur’an had been taken out of a wardrobe and burned.
“I believe the particular person needed to burn extra issues however heard once I went to the mosque for the morning prayer and ran away,” the sheikh added.
The mosque was based greater than 40 years in the past by members of the Lebanese neighborhood in Ponta Grossa, a metropolis within the Southern Brazilian State of Paraná. Now, more moderen immigrants and refugees from Pakistan, Tunisia, Syria, and sub-Saharan nations additionally attend the mosque for prayers. It congregates about 400 folks, each Sunni and Shi’a.
A number of years in the past, unknown invaders broke into the mosque and destroyed a number of chandeliers. No person was arrested after the break-in.
In accordance with Zabad, there isn’t a ambiance of non secular intolerance within the metropolis, and Muslims are completely built-in into the native society.
“On social media, nevertheless, folks generally assault us,” he stated.
The vandals haven’t but been recognized. The mosque’s safety cameras weren’t working so the police nonetheless should not have photos of the suspects.
Zabad stated that there’s costly digital gear within the hussainiya however nothing was taken. Sheikh Shamsi stated there was cash inside his automobile, which additionally was not stolen.
Quite a few civic and spiritual organizations have manifested their repudiation of the assault and expressed assist to the Muslim neighborhood.
Rio de Janeiro’s Fee to Fight Spiritual Intolerance issued a press release on Saturday affirming that the invaders “not solely needed to assault the mosque’s constructing and the sacred symbols of our Muslim brothers however they needed to assault primarily the Muslim neighborhood’s morals and psychology, provided that the assault was carried out on Friday (the Muslim sacred day) and attained Islam’s holy guide.”
Ivanir dos Santos, one of many committee’s founding members, informed Arab Information: “It’s a shameful episode of non secular intolerance and disrespect to the Muslims. We hope that the police authorities will examine and uncover who the perpetrators are. And we hope that they are going to be held legally accountable for that vile act of intolerance and Islamophobia.”
In accordance with Carlos Menezes, who heads Rio de Janeiro’s Islamic middle and can be a member of the committee, the rise in circumstances of non secular intolerance in Brazil over the previous few years was a sign that eventually one thing just like the current mosque invasion would occur to the Muslim neighborhood.
“Brazil has at all times been a tolerant nation, however we’ve got been noticing a rising variety of occurrences of that sort recently, particularly in opposition to African Brazilian religions,” Menezes informed Arab Information.
He added that hate speech on the Web has turn out to be extra widespread in Brazilian cities the place there are bigger Islamic communities. The assault in Ponta Grossa one way or the other materialized that menace.
“Sadly, the present Brazilian president has been stimulating intolerance in society. Illiberal folks be happy now to manifest their opinions,” he added.
For the reason that presidential marketing campaign in 2018, President Jair Bolsonaro has been backed by massive evangelical protestant segments. Members of his administration on a number of events have emphasised that Brazil is a Christian nation, inflicting embarrassment amongst non-Christians.
Menezes stated that because the Taliban resumed management in Afghanistan, Islamophobic verbal aggressions on social media have been rising.
“Now that the primary bodily assault occurred, different folks might really feel stimulated to do the identical,” stated Menezes, who additionally directs the Shi’a Human Rights Observatory, which displays hate speech.
However the robust response of a number of Brazilian non secular organizations to the aggression brings hope that the nation is not going to tolerate new acts of hate, Menezes added.
One of many first non secular establishments to precise its repudiation of the assault was the Israeli Federation of Paraná State. The group manifested its “deep solidarity to Sheikh Mahmoud Shamsi and his congregation” and stated that such acts are “inadmissible.”
“My dad and mom are Lebanese and I used to be born right here in Brazil. It’s a rustic which welcomes everyone,” Sleiman Zabad stated.
“That sort of factor can by no means occur once more. Not solely to Muslims however to no one. I will likely be equally unhappy if somebody assaults the Bible,” he concluded.
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