Being a Muslim in Los Angeles

July 9, 2003

Source: L.A. Independent

http://www.laindependent.com/link.asp?smenu=1&sdetail=207

On July 9, 2003 the L.A. Independent reported that "before Sept. 11, 2001, Tajuddin Shuaib could answer his cell phone in Arabic in public places. Today he worries that being overheard speaking in his native tongue could lead to trouble... 'There’s a feeling that, ‘Oh, there’s a Muslim — the Muslim’s gonna do something to us,' he says, acting out the cautious way he’s seen people edge away from him when they hear him speaking Arabic... It is a concern and a worry that he carries not only for himself and his family but for an entire community. Shuaib is a community and spiritual leader for more than 500 Muslims who worship at the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City [CA], where he is the director and Imam... It is a community that has to worry about being accused of terrorism one day and being attacked by terrorists the next. These are increasingly difficult times for the mosque, as Shuaib well knows."