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Monday 26 Oct 2015 - 14:08 Makkah mean time-13-1-1437
(Image from google)
Irving, Texas, (IINA) - The decision by the family of a Texas teenager to move to Qatar is not surprising in light of lingering anti- Muslim sentiment that makes many U.S. followers of Islam feel as if they are “under siege,” Journal Tribune (JT) reported quoting a spokesman for a national Muslim- American group.
The teen, Ahmed Mohammed, shot to national prominence last month after he was arrested for bringing a homemade digital clock to school that a teacher mistook for a possible bomb.
On Tuesday, the family announced that they would soon leave their modest home in the Dallas suburb of Irving and move to Qatar.
There, a foundation has offered to pay for Ahmed’s high school and college education in Doha.
Yaser Birjas, imam of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving, said he wishes the 14-year-old well but worries about the stress that can come with celebrity.
“I hope that he does not get overwhelmed and consumed with that because now the expectation of him is so high,” Birjas said. “And he’s just a kid.”
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said the U.S. has seen a significant rise in the level of anti-Muslim sentiment – feelings he said were reflected by the political attacks of GOP presidential candidates such as Donald Trump and Ben Carson.
“The Muslim-American community feels under siege by all this,” Hooper said.
Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohammed, told The Dallas Morning News that the family was moving “to a place where my kids can study and learn and all of them being accepted by that country.”
The family said in a statement that Ahmed will enroll in a program offered by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. He received a full scholarship for his secondary and undergraduate education.
Ahmed recently visited Qatar as part of a whirlwind month that included a stop Monday at the White House and an appearance on Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol.
The family said in their statement that they’ve been “overwhelmed by the many offers of support” since Ahmed’s arrest Sept. 14.
SM/IINA
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