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Anti-Muslim Bigotry

Anti-Muslim Protestor Throws Crosses At Feet Of Man Praying By White House (VIDEO)

Published

By Ryan J. Reilly

Published in TPMMuckraker

A group of anti-Sharia protestors who planned to counter-protest the planned pro-Sharia rally by the radical provocateur Anjem Choudary in front of the White House on Thursday found themselves without an opponent to debate.

The counter rally planned by Frank Gaffney in response to Choudary’s pro-Sharia demonstration was left without a raison d’etre after Choudary failed to show up as he’d previously announced (and promoted on Fox News). That left Gaffney and his group preaching to the choir so to speak as they denounced Sharia law to their followers as well as media and curious onlookers.

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But just as the rally was dying out, a Muslim man who showed up to pray in front of the White House. He was quickly surrounded by a large group of protestors who shouted an array of insults at him: mocking him for drinking Starbucks coffee, telling him to go back to his country and even throwing tiny crosses at his feet as he prayed. I captured the scene in the video below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OeQ5dcBltg[/youtube]

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Hena Zuberi is the Editor in Chief of Muslimmatters.org. She leads the DC office of the human rights organization, Justice For All, focusing on stopping the genocide of the Rohingya under Burma Task Force, advocacy for the Uighur people with the Save Uighur Campaign and Free Kashmir Action. She was a Staff Reporter at the Muslim Link newspaper which serves the DC Metro. Hena has worked as a television news reporter and producer for CNBC Asia and World Television News. Active in her SoCal community, Hena served as the Youth Director for the Unity Center. Using her experience with Youth, she conducts Growing Up With God workshops. hena.z@muslimmatters.org Follow her on Twitter @henazuberi.

54 Comments

54 Comments

  1. Sulayman F.

    March 4, 2011 at 1:52 AM

    My heart goes out to the poor man. It’s tough praying in public to begin with, let alone being set upon by a pack of Muslim-haters.

  2. Abdullah Osman

    March 4, 2011 at 1:55 AM

    May Allah reward him for his devotion & grant Hidayah to the misguided!

  3. Amad

    March 4, 2011 at 2:18 AM

    Its funny they have an Israeli flag next to “Jesus loves you”… wonder what most Israelis think of Jesus! And wonder if these bigots know how Israel treats Christians in the occupied lands.

    • Muslim

      March 8, 2011 at 4:07 PM

      “And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace” (Qur’an, 25:63).

      • Muslim

        March 8, 2011 at 4:08 PM

        Didn’t mean to place that comment directly under yours on purpose!

  4. Amad

    March 4, 2011 at 2:20 AM

    I do have to question the purpose of praying at this location… How do you pray in such ruckus and noise? I don’t think we need to provoke bigots, they already have enough provocation!

    • broahmed

      March 4, 2011 at 2:33 AM

      And in the face of such bigotry, what a powerful statement it made! Any decent human being viewing the video will be impressed with the Muslim’s calm prayer amidst the commentary of the crowd.

    • sabirah

      March 5, 2011 at 10:41 AM

      salam i agree with Amad, i hear from a lot of people that it’s a desireable thing to pray salah just about anywhere, but there are inappropriate locations and situations for it. If a muslims brings himself or others into danger or it is a provocation or draws some sort of undesierable attention, i think it should be avoided?

      • Umm Salam

        March 5, 2011 at 8:37 PM

        Didn’t the Prophet (Saw) pray in front of the Ka’ba when the Quraish were in power? And didn’t they place the afterbirth of a she-camel on him?

        • Amad

          March 6, 2011 at 4:00 AM

          That was the Kaba
          this is the White House.

          I dont think the analogy works.

          • greentea

            March 16, 2011 at 4:27 PM

            The guy was prolly praying in peace before the crowd turned into raving loons. This video doesn’t tell us what was present before the man began his prayers. I think the crowd may have decided much later to shift and get closer to the guy praying in that spot.

          • MyNight

            August 23, 2012 at 7:47 PM

            I think the analogy works, because Kaba is the Muslims must beloved place and the biggest place of worship whilst the White House is the place where American’s most beloved man or ruler does most of his job. two major kind of people with what is beloved to them. Plus, White House is a famous attraction or place and so is Kaba.

      • ahlam

        March 6, 2011 at 12:11 PM

        It seems from the article that it wasnt his intention to draw attention, because he started to pray after the crowd began to leave.

        Besides let them learn the true prayer that Jesus (alaihi salam) prayed and the true submission.

        If we look at the comments in the youtube video there are more positive reactions from non-muslims than negative.

    • MyNight | ليلي

      August 23, 2012 at 8:06 PM

      That guy has khusoo’. And Allah has told us in the Holy Quran: In the interpreted meaning:

      وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ

      And seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer) and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for Al-Khashi’un [i.e. the true believers in Allah – those who obey Allah with full submission, fear much from His Punishment, and believe in His Promise (Paradise, etc.) and in His Warnings (Hell, etc.)]. [Surah Al-Baqarah: Ayat 45]

  5. Sabour Al-Kandari

    March 4, 2011 at 2:55 AM

    Khushoo’ – 1
    Haters – 0

    • someone

      March 5, 2011 at 5:57 PM

      i dont know man about the khushoo, for me at least my concentration would be pretty shaky knowing there an angry mob right in front me

  6. abishah

    March 4, 2011 at 5:32 AM

    What makes them so insecure of islaam n muslims?why dont they do this ridiculous n childish preaching to hindus,atheists n others.muslims have never spoken a word against Isaa or Moosa(a.s) ever.rather they respect them more than their so called followers do.what sort of nations these christians n jews are?why they keep on interfering n intruding islaam n muslim countries?DO THEY HAVE NO RELIGIOUS N MORAL OBLIGATIONS N CODES TO FOLLOW?PALESTINE,IRAQ,AFGHANISTAN,BOSNIA,CHECHNYA,N ALMOST ALL MUSLIM COUNTRIES ARE FACING THEIR hysteric n lunatic islamophobia.In this video they are crying out Jesus Jesus without knowing how great Jesus was.Such a cheap attitude of an ignorant mob,Can that ever suit the Greatness of Jesus?oh GOd help them who have gone astray….

  7. Ify Okoye

    March 4, 2011 at 6:18 AM

    I remember I once prayed in a restaurant parking lot while one of my colleagues waited in the car. It was one among the peaceful salah, I’ve ever prayed. Completely unbeknownst to me, my colleague would later tell me when I returned to the car that some guy in car had been erratically speeding around us in circles, giving me dirty looks and maybe even saying something as his windows were down. But I didn’t any hear and wasn’t aware of any of it.

  8. Sister

    March 4, 2011 at 11:05 AM

    Mashaallah.When you got to pray ,you got to pray!!!

    • Umm Salam

      March 5, 2011 at 8:40 PM

      Soooooo true!

  9. Humble Muslim

    March 4, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    Salam

    The last thing we American muslims need right now are the likes of Anjum Chaudary… sigh

    • Amman AA

      March 4, 2011 at 4:12 PM

      What’s wrong with Anjem Choudry? Has he said anything which going against the teaching of Islam?

      • Amad

        March 4, 2011 at 4:29 PM

        What’s wrong with him?

        The more appropriate question is what’s right with him.

        He is almost like Exhibit A for everything that Islamophobes want to see and hear from Muslims. He does it better than any nonMuslim could pretend to do. And to be honest, I am not even sure if he believes it all, or just does it out of spite or some other weird itch to be famous.

        Why don’t they put people like him behind bars when they have put others that have done and said far worse? Something to think about.

        • MyNight | ليلي

          August 23, 2012 at 8:16 PM

          Who’re you referring to?

      • Humble Muslim

        March 4, 2011 at 5:38 PM

        Because he believes in confrontation, not in education.

        • Amman AA

          March 4, 2011 at 7:53 PM

          the only thing that I found that is controversal about him is that he supports suicide attacks that took place in london in 2007 and in other places as well…

          other than that, the establishment of an Islamic state and everything else he has said is in accordance with Islam….

          Brother Amad, I really feel uncomfortable making assumptions about him like that. I mean, we should avoid suspicion. The muslims world to be honest is very confused. So many different “versions” of Islam exist in the mind of so many muslims. Who knows, maybe we’re are just blind to see it but he might be speaking the truth. May Allah guide us all…

          • Humble Muslim

            March 5, 2011 at 2:12 PM

            “the only thing that I found that is controversal about him is that he supports suicide attacks that took place in london in 2007 and in other places as well…”

            ONLY???? Why are you talking as though that’s a small deal?

          • Mansoor Ansari

            March 9, 2011 at 12:27 PM

            I actually found him saying that British citizens cannot carry out such attacks as they have a covenant with the state, so how is that supporting 7/7 bombings?

    • MyNight | ليلي

      August 23, 2012 at 8:21 PM

      I know who we need.. The four caliphs. They’re great leaders known to all, Plus they were guaranteed Paradise during their lifetime. And Anjum Chaudary we don’t know whether he’s going to Paradise or not. And he might not be good in his personal life. But Allah knows bes. I know nothing of his personal life.

  10. Amman AA

    March 4, 2011 at 7:28 PM

    I know that in an Islamic State christians have the right to practice their religion, but I know that they do not have right to preach or practice their religion openly; just like the muslims brother is doing in the video. In an islamic state, the christian would be reprimanded for praying in a public place, especially near a government building

    So I I want to know how we muslims should deal with this inconsistency? Astaghfurullah, I don’t want to associate that with Islam, but isn’t it t hypocritical for us to chastise the people in the video?

    I think this is something we muslims need to understand before we start posting articles about bigotry and intolerance…

    It would be nice if someone could clarify this…JK

    • Brother

      March 5, 2011 at 10:40 PM

      America is a secular country, not a Christian country. I am not aware of any country which officially has laws based on the Bible. You can look up how Muslims were treated in countries that were officially Christian in history. All I can think of is are the Muslims in Spain during their expulsion.

  11. Sarah Amena

    March 5, 2011 at 11:51 AM

    Wow MashAllah! May Allah SWT reward this brother! I would have been so distracted!

    I agree, any person watching this would see that the Muslim brother was the most respectful and decent and all the rest were banshees!

  12. Muslim

    March 5, 2011 at 1:44 PM

    Salaam,

    I am not aware of harassment laws or anything, but weren’t they a little too close to the man praying? To me that is probably crossing a line into illegal activity – almost like assault. They can actually incite violence the way they were surrounding him and coming close to him.

    Also, same question for the protest they had in orange country, CA. Some of the things they said against those people were just outright violent and hate speech. Does anyone know what constitutes a hate crime?

    I do agree the brother could have picked a better spot to pray Salah, but you never know the specific circumstances and timing of the whole thing. Maybe he was running late for prayer or maybe he just wanted to exercise his right to freedom of religion. Nothing justified that groups actions of harassing him like that.

    I think it is becoming clearer and clearer to me what the right wing will push as their agenda for the upcoming elections. The same campaign tactics they used to convince people to vote for bush will probably be used again. Except this time it will be 10 times more extreme.

    Someone mentioned Muslims needing more professional PR people in the other article about the Orange County protest. I couldn’t agree more.

  13. Brother

    March 5, 2011 at 10:43 PM

    Mashallah, this brother has a lot of courage.

  14. Nadan

    March 6, 2011 at 6:01 AM

    Yep he could’ve chosen a better location but that does not excuse the fact that these protestors are openly harassing and mocking him. He seemed to have kept his calm though. I cam across the following below to show how the great leaders of Islam went through hardships bit there khusoo’ did not affect them in any way.

    “Consider the following examples of those who came before us:

    ô€‚ƒ The Muslims once head out with the Prophet (peace be upon him) on way to battle. During the trip the Prophet ordered two companions, one of the Ansaar and one of the Muhaajireen, to stand guard over them. As they did the Muhaajer decided to rest while the Ansaari chose to stand in prayer. Along came a nonbeliever and cast an arrow striking the Ansari in the chest. The Ansari pulled out the arrow and continued in prayer. The non-believer struck him with a second arrow. Again the Ansari removed it and continued his prayer. A third arrow was cast but now the Ansari could no longer stand and finally fell bleeding into his Ruku’ and Sujood. The aggressor fled as the Muhaajer rushed to his brother’s aid, “Subhanallah! Why didn’t you alert me from the first arrow??” The Ansari replied, “I was in the middle of a (beautiful) Sura and didn’t wish to interrupt my recitation of it.”

    􀂃 Imam Bukhari was once stung by a wasp 17 times while standing in prayer. When he finished, he felt some discomfort and asked if anyone was aware of what caused it.

    􀂃 Ibn-Azzubair stood firm and unflinching in his prayer while catapults fired upon the ground he stood on.

    􀂃 It was said that when Ali washed in preparation for prayer, he always went pale and trembled with anxiety as he thought of himself about to stand before his Lord.

    􀂃 Another companion needed an amputation. He requested that it be performed while he was engaged in Salah.

    􀂃 An entire wall collapsed in the mosque that one companion was praying in, but he was too engrossed to realize what happened till his prayer was completed.

  15. bakistani fi amrika

    March 6, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    allah musta`an

  16. Hello Kitty

    March 6, 2011 at 7:43 PM

    Gross. Your post is the written equivalent of finding maggots in the bottom of a garbage can, or stepping in dog refuse.

    • Nerd

      March 6, 2011 at 8:48 PM

      I’ll be outside your Mosque next weekend with my prayer group. God Bless Jesus Christ.

      • Umar

        March 6, 2011 at 11:14 PM

        Indeed come and pray next to the mosques if you so desire. I would love to see how you would pray.

        If we look to the Bible:

        Psalm 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

        Numbers 20:6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces.

        Matthew 26:39 Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) also puts his face to the ground in humility before God.

        Matthew 26:36-39 Then cometh Jesus … And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed.

        I can give another 20 references as to how the prophets of God prayed identically to the Muslims.

        If you would like assistance as to how to complete your prayer in accordance to God’s rules, feel free to ask.

        • Umar

          March 6, 2011 at 11:27 PM

          Not a rock will be thrown at you because if you are sincere and truly wish to pray as Jesus did, you simply would be indistinguishable from a Muslim.

          I am also somewhat bewildered. You said that you will pray to Jesus. I.e acknowledging he is a deity worthy of that worship, yet you say: “God bless Jesus”. May I ask, isn’t that asking “god” to bless himself. Or maybe it is a subconscious realisation that Jesus is in need of God’s blessing, thereby disqualifying him from being God.

          Maybe I’ve lost it here, but I’ve clearly explained my thought process. All I hear from you, is you asking God to bless himself? And “god” praying to himself? And a bunch of other swear words that I personally have never used in my life. Alhamdullillah.

          • Nerd

            March 7, 2011 at 12:31 AM

            LOL…….typical Muslims. You didn’t like my post, so you went ahead and deleted it. The last time I checked this is America and I am afforded the freedom of speech. This website domain is also from here in the U.S.

            Domain ID:D140282170-LROR
            Domain Name:MUSLIMMATTERS.ORG
            Created On:23-Feb-2007 16:59:03 UTC
            Last Updated On:25-Jan-2011 09:21:30 UTC
            Expiration Date:23-Feb-2012 16:59:03 UTC
            Sponsoring Registrar:eNom, Inc. (R39-LROR)
            Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
            Registrant ID:21380a0726cf4a11
            Registrant Name:Technical Support
            Registrant Organization:UK2 Group
            Registrant Street1:164 N Spring Creek Pkwy
            Registrant Street2:
            Registrant Street3:
            Registrant City:Providence
            Registrant State/Province:UT
            Registrant Postal Code:84332
            Registrant Country:US
            Registrant Phone:+1.14357553433

            Considering that my remarks contained no threats or profanity, one would assume all of you muslims are bigots with your own agenda.

            UMAR…..I was speaking in generalities. However, I have decided to go pray with some Christians and Jews at the Dome of the Rock in Israel. Then we shall have our next prayer session at the Al-Aqsa mosque. (By the way, it is only a matter of time before those two atrocious buildings become dust and rubble when Israel expands it’s temple. lol)

            Oh wait…I forgot that isn’t allowed. It would be a slap in the face.

            By that logic, your Muslim buddy outside the White House should have known better. He did it to elicit a response, nothing more. I hope he enjoyed the American rebuttal.

          • ahlam

            March 7, 2011 at 3:33 PM

            Dear Nerd,

            Please calm down,take a deep breath. Exhale slowly.Take a sip of cold water.Then close your eyes. Take another deep breath.Open your eyes. (Repeat as required).

            Now, you may resume.

          • MyNight | ليلي

            August 23, 2012 at 9:10 PM

            Your bible has contradictions. Many Christians who’ve studied the Quran converted to Islam. Heard of Yusuf Estes? he was formerly known as Skip Estes. And he was a preacher who preached Christianity. Because of one contradiction of three gods to one (??!) he converted to Islam. I mean how can you explain to me that three god is one god. I mean isn’t that just illogical? Isn’t 1+1+1= 3. Why is 1+1+1= 1?? OMG it’s really confusing. I’ve had come through this question billion times in my head and I never received an answer. Try explaining it to me? Or run away? Allah your Creator, gave us a brain to think it through. Use it. Seriously if I receive the answer for this question, I might convert to Christianity.

  17. Humble Muslim

    March 6, 2011 at 9:25 PM

    Did Jesus Christ (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) ever use such vulgar language? I seem to recall a story about him about turning the other cheek.

  18. Hena Zuberi

    March 7, 2011 at 2:45 AM

    @ Nerd It’s my post- I didn’t like you calling us names on our site so I deleted it- If you would like to have a civil discourse you are welcome at any time.

    When a 14-member Christian delegation from Nijran came to the holy city of Madina, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) hosted the delegation in the Prophet’s Mosque and allowed the Christians of the delegation to worship according to their religion in the Prophet’s Mosque. So come over to pray anytime if you come in peace.

    This particular gentleman apparently likes to pray in front of the White House ever so often. Who knows why? Would some one in DC find him and ask him? Would love to hear from him.

  19. Muslim

    March 7, 2011 at 1:48 PM

    Obviously Mr. Nerd here happens to be brainwashed by extremist religious groups who have a problem with Islam. One of those guys that is impotent in all other areas of his life, so he takes out his anger on the internet. He doesn’t represent the majority of the people of his faith, therefore there is no reason to even entertain his quite extreme remarks.

    @Umar – I don’t think it is your place to tell people of other faiths how they should pray in their religion by quoting versus from the Bible randomly like that – All Muslims don’t pray 100% alike either. If you are a scholar in Biblical proofs for current Christian prayer methods, then I would understand, but it would still be misplaced within the context of this discussion.
    And “not a rock will be thrown” at their prayer group BECAUSE it is wrong to throw rocks on people praying, whoever they pray to or however they pray. NOT because somehow there would be an epiphany in their prayer group and they realized that they have been praying the wrong way for 2000 some years and they start praying the “right” way and they all of a sudden become indistinguishable from the Muslims praying in the Mosque, so therefore no rocks would be thrown.

    I have seen and particpated in several Muslim prayer groups in Washington D.C. that never were harassed in public. I am talking about Muslims that came to D.C. to join in protests, Muslims who were visiting D.C. on vacation and Muslims who held religious gatherings of prayer and dhikr right next to the Washington monument for the sole purpose of holding a Muslim prayer gathering. All of them protected by the D.C. police and by the constitution of the United States.

    • Umar

      March 7, 2011 at 3:14 PM

      Lol, yes I understand that that rocks arent to be thrown despite their method of prayer, but I simply wanted “Nerd” to think about how he would pray. I personally have read many lines of the Bible where Jesus and other prophets pray exactly like Muslims, and pondering over the similarities in prayer between Muslims, Jesus and other prophets is a way to diffuse hatred that “Nerd” clearly has, making him realise that Muslims are not all that alien.

  20. Chaaz

    March 7, 2011 at 5:08 PM

    If no profanity is used and the content is well sourced. Only a scared, weak opposititon would delete posts. It happened to me two times on this site.
    With gentalness and respect,
    Chaaz the Seeker

  21. e

    March 8, 2011 at 12:53 PM

    Wow, I am a Christian and I just have to think, in this video who looks like a real believer in the one God and who looks like a bunch of pagans. I am really moved by this!

  22. Nahyan Chowdhury

    March 9, 2011 at 10:15 AM

    taking 00:20 second onwards in the beginning out of context, it sounds like they’re cheering him on…
    “Jesus, Jesus!” :)

  23. Zak

    March 9, 2011 at 9:01 PM

    I am little surprised of the questions! Americas image never was good to improve!?
    America’s interests in the ME is CLEAR OIL, Divide Arab World, Make Israel Happy.
    ZAK

  24. Learn how to speak Arabic

    March 15, 2011 at 7:01 AM

    Haha, who would call themselves “Nerd” in a comment??!?!

  25. Abdur

    March 19, 2011 at 12:09 PM

    At least Anjem Choudary calls for the Shariah…unlike some other Muslim orgainzations.

    • jock

      March 19, 2011 at 3:13 PM

      He calls for the Buckingham Palace and the Whitehouse to be turned into mosques, the assassination of the Pope and has lent his support to every terrorist out there only to backtrack when he realised he’d crossed the line. If you can’t see why that might piss off some people, there’s nothing that I can say that will explain it to you

      We don’t need any lessons about the “Shariah” from a cartoon-villain character like him

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