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Security heightened at North Texas mosques 
06:56 PM CST on Friday, November 6, 2009
ARLINGTON — The Islamic Association of North Texas says there are approximately 32 mosques in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Many who pray at those mosques worry about a backlash from the shooting at Fort Hood by suspected gunman Nidal Hasan.
In south Arlington, Muslims answer the Friday call to prayer at a mosque tucked among Presbyterian, Methodist and Catholic church steeples.
They pray and worry.
"Right now, my main fear is just Muslims being targeted," said college student Ahmad al Khadra, who described a fellow Muslim student being taunted after the shootings Thursday.
"I just heard them telling him, 'How do you feel about what your cousin did yesterday?'" Al Khadra did not want to name the campus.
Hasan's words and images have focused so much attention on his Islamic religion that Muslims know some will blame their faith — and maybe even blame them personally.
"We condemn the act that has been committed," shouted Imam Hasan Khalil at the mosque in south Arlington. "This is not Islam; don't think you're going to heaven for that."
Dr. Umer Hafeez agreed. "People need to open up their minds a little more and do some research," he said.
Few are more shocked by the shootings than Dr. Umer Hafeez. He is a former Army doctor at Fort Hood who — like Nidal Hasan — took an oath to do no harm.
After Friday prayers, Hafeez told News 8 he joined the Army after the September 11 attacks. "I am absolutely confidant Islam does not each us anything like this," he said.
Medical student Muneeb Siddiqui stood on the steps outside the south Arlington mosque and summed up his hopes and concerns.
"I don't know what's going to happen," he said, "but I can tell you this: I'm going to be open-hearted and love my fellow Americans. I'm not going to be afraid, and I don't think you should be, either."
Friday's events at North Texas mosques included prayers for victims of the massacre and their families.
E-mail jdouglas@wfaa.com
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