Last Saturday, members of the Islamic Center of Blacksburg found a shopping bag filled with burned copies of the Quran in front of the Mosque's door on Southpark Drive. The incident was reported to the Blacksburg Police department. It is our understanding that they are currently carrying out their investigation.

This incident comes as a surprise to us and to many of our area residents. It saddens us that such an incident could happen in this peaceful, loving, and caring community. Several members of our Muslim community who have lived in this area for over 30 years are shocked and surprised.

Some may categorize this incident as a “hate” crime; we certainly see it as an “ignorance” crime. If those who have ill feelings towards us truly know who we are and what we stand for, things would be much different. We call upon you, our neighbors in this community, our neighbors in this country, and our neighbors on this planet, to do your part in getting to know us and know what Islam is about. You may obtain a copy of the Quran and read it. To request your free copy, visit https://www.cair-net.org/explorethequran/request.asp. We will also be glad to arrange for individual or group visits or presentations at our Islamic Center or at your preferred church or meeting place where we can present to you our facts, our values, and our belief.

Many Citizens of our town have showered us with their notes of support, caring phone calls and e-mails, “Quran” gifts, and lovely flowers over this past week. We thank God first and all members of this community from the bottom of our hearts for this bounty, especially those who have expressed their support and love.

Last month, the Council on American-Islamic Relations released a report showing a striking increase nationally in reports of suspected hate crimes against Muslims -- 141 last year compared with 93 in 2003. Overall, the organization said, U.S. Muslims had reported about 1,500 cases of hate crimes, unreasonable arrest, harassment and other alleged civil rights violations last year, a 50 percent increase from the previous year.

In today’s climate of heightened religious sensitivities and apparent cultural clashes, now is the time for people of all faiths to better acquaint themselves with Islam’s sacred text, the Holy Quran.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is proud to announce a new campaign intended to promote understanding of the Quran by distributing complimentary copies to any interested member of the American public. This campaign, titled Explore the Qur’an, serves as a response to those who would defame and desecrate the holy book of Muslims without full knowledge of its teachings.

False and uninformed accusations have been leveled against the Qur’an for some time. But now, this initiative places the sacred text directly in the hands of the American people and encourages all people of conscience to discover the truth about Islam. Explore the Qur’an allows the holy book to speak for itself and educate people of other faith traditions about the universal teachings of Islam.

A Statement from the Islamic Center of Blacksburg

To our Brothers and Sisters, members of the Blacksburg family:

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

On Friday, officers of the Blacksburg Police department informed us that they concluded their investigation of the “burned Quran” incident and that it was not a “hate crime”. Rather, it was a Blacksburg Muslim who had a house fire that caused the “burned Qurans”. In his rush to the airport, as he was departing to his home country, this person left the bag of burned material at the front door of the Islamic Center hoping that the center would “properly dispose” them. According to his testimony to the Blacksburg Police, he left an explanation note with the material. This note was apparently blown away and was never found.

The Muslim community is very pleased with this finding as it eliminates the concern that we all had about the possibility of a “hate crime” in our “peaceful and amicable” Blacksburg.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks and sincere appreciation to the competent officers of the Blacksburg Police department in whom we all have great trust.

Despite the erroneous initial explanations, this incident gave us the opportunity to come together in confirmation of our insistence on religious toleration and the freedom of religious expression. The initiative of the Blacksburg religious leaders and the statement they released in this regard was a testimony to this confirmation of our insistence.

We certainly appreciate the town council’s “anti hate” resolution, which came as a confirmation to the town citizens’ appreciation of the breadth and depth of diversity in the Blacksburg community.

” initiated and endorsed by the good citizens of our area is an affirmation to the Blacksburg character that we all enjoy.

Thank you Blacksburg

The Islamic Center of Blacksburg

(Sedki Riad, Director)

Saturday July 2, 2005