Local Muslims worry about Effects of Fort Hood Shooting Rampage

Sourove Hossain is a fourth year student at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He's also Muslim. Hossain says it's not easy being Muslim in America.

Things got really rough after 9-11. His own friends asked him, "Does your dad live in a cave?" and "Are you a terrorist?"

Now the shooting rampage at Fort Hood by a man described as a devout Muslim makes things even worse.

"He just makes the rest of us Muslims, who are actually Muslims, look bad and gives us a bad name," said Hossain.

The news hit hard at the Islamic Center of Rochester. Sareer Fazili is the Vice President and spokesperson for the Center.

"We want to make sure the people know what we're about, and this incident at Fort Hood is absolutely nothing what we're about," said Fazili

The suspect Nidal Malik Hasan reportedly jumped up on a desk and shouted "God is great" in Arabic at the start of Thursday's attack.

"Taking God's name before you would do something like this would be the most sacrilegious thing you could do," said Fazili.

He says Islam teaches peace and says one loose cannon does not represent an entire Muslim community.

"The bottom line is anybody who does something like this we can never say that he is a devout anything, especially not a devout muslim," Fazili said.

Hossain shares the same view.

"Killing the innocent automatically disqualifies you from being a Muslim itself," said Hossain. "We want peace in society and hating one another will not get there."

Army officials say it's important for the country not to get caught up in the speculation about Hasan's Muslim faith. Commanders have been instructed to be on the lookout for anti-muslim reaction.

Officials with the Islamic Center of Rochester says their doors are always open for anyone to come and learn more about Islam.

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