As the call to prayer echoed throughout Alhuda Islamic Center of Indiana in Fishers, men, women and children hustled through its front doors and split off to their respective spaces for Friday afternoon prayer service.
They slipped off their shoes, and most found a spot on the cushy deep blue carpet. Those with aging knees sat in pull-out chairs in the back. Dressed in polos, scrubs, baseball caps, abayas and thobes, they each bent down, closed their eyes and bowed in prayer.
Politician-led Islamophobic surge
Conservative politicians at all levels of government are enacting policy and making remarks that attempt to ostracize Muslims and assert that the world’s second-largest religion doesn’t align with American values. The Center for the Study of Organized Hate tallied 46 public officials who made anti-Muslim posts over a 13-month period, which amounted to an increase of 1,450% in such online comments.