American Muslims urge communities to defeat hatred with tolerance

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Sunday 21 Jun 2015 - 13:04 Makkah mean time-4-9-1436 Baltimore, Maryland (IINA) - Leaders of Baltimore Muslim community have called for a Ramadan 'Day of Prayer' for healing, after Charleston Church massacre, according to OnIslam. The attack came last Wednesday on Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Caroline, in which suspected gunmen, Dylan Roof, killed six women and three men during a Bible Study. "As Muslims across America observe the month of Ramadan, we urge communities to reflect on the need to defeat hatred with tolerance, to seek justice for those murdered and to pray for peace and healing for grieving families and communities," Zainab Chaudry, outreach manager of Maryland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement. "We need heavy, united prayer for an end to racism," said Imam Hassan Amim, who is chaplain for Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Baltimore City Police Department, as well as the resident Imam at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "The best time to make supplication is when we are fasting and in sujood (prostration). I ask Muslims across America to pray for healing for our nation, to make collective supplication that racist attitudes will cease and desist." The vehement attack was condemned by leading Muslim groups in the US, including CAIR and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). The Wednesday shooting at the Black Church is the deadliest attack on an American house of worship since 1991. “We call upon all faith communities to resoundingly denounce hateful, violent attacks of terror,” said Naeem Baig, president of ICNA. “Regardless of their race, ethnicity, or national origin, our houses of worship in America should be places of peace and security.” CAIR and Baltimore Muslims leaders extended condolences to the families of those who were killed in Charleston. SM/IINA