World | USA
Decision to invite FBI to mosques sparks debate
Agents expected to keep anti-Muslim rhetoric in check
- Washington Post
- Published: 00:00 September 2, 2010
- Image Credit: AP
- Hundreds turn out for a candlelight vigil in Tennessee on Monday. A fire that damaged equipment at the site of a future mosque has Muslims worried that their project has been dragged into the national debate surrounding Ground Zero.
Washington: Muslim leaders are debating the wisdom of inviting FBI agents to mosques to provide protection at a time of rising anti-Muslim rhetoric and debate about the proposed Islamic community centre near Ground Zero.
The issue surfaced on Tuesday as word spread of a Nashville mosque's decision to host two FBI agents at a prayer service last Saturday night.
The agents discussed the investigation of a fire, suspected to be arson, at a planned mosque in nearby Murfreesboro, a project that has also triggered vehement opposition. The agents then silently observed prayers from the back row.
"I don't think it's really appropriate to station agents in mosques," said Ebrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington.
"It has a chilling effect on a house of worship, and we would have concerns that agents would also be gathering information on ordinary worshippers."
The dispute reflects the tensions between the FBI and some Muslims since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The FBI has reached out to Muslims but also tried to keep tabs on their community, staying alert for signs of terrorist plots.
A coalition of leading Muslim groups last year threatened to suspend contacts with the bureau over what it called inappropriate infiltration of mosques.
However, others are welcoming the FBI's presence at a time of intense debate over US Muslims and their houses of worship.
A recent Time magazine poll found that 43 per cent of Americans hold unfavourable views of Muslims amid controversy over the proposed Islamic centres near ground zero and in the Nashville suburbs.
"I think people felt reassured that the FBI is helping us and supporting us and will make sure that nothing happens to our mosque," said Ameen Arain, a spokesman for the Islamic Centre of Nashville, which invited the two agents in response to Saturday's fire at the construction site of the Murfreesboro mosque.
"That was a hate crime, so the FBI needs to be involved," said Arain, who said the fire was the third incident of vandalism at a Nashville-area mosque this year.
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