The Death Of Innocents: The Tacit Call Of Anti-Muslim Hate
The global Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate industry scored its latest victims on 18th May 2026 at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, USA, where three attendees: Abdullah Amin, Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad were brutally gunned down by two radicalised teenage boys. May Allah have mercy on our martyred brothers taken from their families on the first of the blessed days of the month of Dhul Hijjah, a time in which Muslims are encouraged to engage in acts of devotion and sacrifice. Our thoughts are with their families. But for the selfless bravery of these men in drawing away fire, the death toll at the Centre, at a time busy with children, would no doubt have been greater.
Cold, premeditated deadly assaults on Muslims are rarely afforded the recognition of terrorism. Decades-old and incessant demonising of Islam and the “othering” of Muslims in both broadcast and tabloid media, and more recently by online influencers and agitators on payroll, have normalised vile rhetoric about Muslims into expressions of violent intent that we now witness more frequently.
And given that some of the very legislators who determine what counts as “terrorism” are themselves rabid apologists for bigotry and xenophobia – in government and in opposition – who scaremonger about “Sharia Law” without understanding what it is, and interpret civility selectively, varying their judgment depending on the identity of the victims, it is not surprising where this has led: brazen and open mockery of Muslims, and emboldened cries for the political exclusion of Islam, vis-a-vis Muslims, with the natural conclusion being the systematic exclusion of Muslims and Muslimness from public life, persecution and expulsion.
The anti-Jewish pogroms of 19th century Europe did not erupt spontaneously. Rather, they followed a sustained period of hostility, dehumanising rhetoric and state failure to protect vulnerable communities. In order to offer some reassurance to the grieving San Diego Muslim community that their lives are as sacred as anyone else’s, the overarching question now should be: “why and how were two teenage boys in the early stages of life radicalised into committing murders?”
To the Muslims of the UK who may be feeling fear but continue to express their Islamic identity, the Lewisham Islamic Centre stands with you. Hiding away in the shadows can never be the answer, nor is yielding to those who seek to deny others the same freedoms of expression that they themselves claim. We affirm the importance of unity, undeterred and unbowed, in the face of hostility and divisive rhetoric wherever it arises. Muslims have been a continuous presence in the UK for centuries. We are here to stay. Period
Do not say that those who are killed in God’s cause are dead; they are alive, though you do not realize it.
[Qur’an ch2, v154]