North Palm Beach mosque leaders condemn terror attacks

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Wednesday 16 Dec 2015 - 12:28 Makkah mean time-5-3-1437 Muslim leader Sharif Elhosseiny outside the North Palm Beach mosque in Florida. Image from The Palm Beach Post North Palm Beach, Florida (IINA) - The leader of a North Palm Beach mosque in Florida, US condemned terrorists who kill in the name of Islam and described education as the cure for hate, MyPalmBeachPost online news reported. Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, Sharif El Hosseiny, the Islamic Center of Palm Beach president, said Muslims have been “painted with a broad brush” as people see reports of terrorists such as ISIS and Boko Haram killing in the name of Islam. “Islam completely and utterly condemns” those acts, he said. The doors of the mosque at 101 Castlewood Dr. in North Palm Beach will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday so people can ask questions and come with issues they might have with verses from the Qur’an, El Hosseiny announced. “Unfortunately, there are those out there that are misrepresenting Muslims and the religion of Islam. We want to clear the smoke and erase the ignorance,” by giving everyone an opportunity to come, he said. The center’s event comes after police say Joshua Warren Killets broke into and vandalized the mosque on Dec. 4. Killets who is 27 year-old, faces one charge of burglary of a structure with damage in excess of $1,000 while evidencing prejudice and one charge of criminal mischief to a place of worship, according to court papers. The windows of the prayer hall were broken, and the room was torn apart. The mosque was professionally cleaned of blood, and El Hosseiny hopes to have the windows replaced by the end of this week. Those who worship at the center have already started to move on, Elhosseiny said. “We’re going to continue doing what we’ve been doing, and that’s educating the people, helping the community” he said. “We’re going to continue to be here for the community.” Before the news conference, El Hosseiny said another big misconception they hear is that Islam is oppressive to women. People from both genders are viewed as equal in the sight of God. They remain separate in the mosque so they can focus on prayer, he said. The mosque has separate entrances for men and women, and female reporters were asked to sit in the back of the prayer hall during the press conference, which El Hosseiny said was because of the sanctity of the mosque as a house of worship. SM/IINA