WASHINGTON DC – A Qur’an page smeared with what looks like feces was sent to the largest Muslim advocacy group in the US.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said a page from an English translation of the Qur’an was smeared with a “foreign substance” that appears to be feces. Also enclosed was a racist letter portraying former President Barack Obama as a monkey.
The fake return address was for Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), though it didn’t include his name.
“It’s often what these people do,” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said of those who send hate mail to the group. “They put the return address of someone who is sympathetic to Muslims,” like Conyers.
In 2005, Conyers introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives “condemning bigotry and religious intolerance.” It added: “The Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, as any other holy book of any religion, should be treated with dignity and respect.”
CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said in a statement earlier this week that the package is “just a sample of the hate targeting American Muslims and other minority groups in the wake of the presidential election.”
“These bigoted acts will never stop us from defending the civil rights and religious freedom of all Americans,” Awad said.
American Muslims have been targeted with violence, and their places of worship vandalized or destroyed.
Mosques across the country have been targeted for vandalism or other acts of destruction 35 times this year, according to CAIR. During a three-week period, fires at three mosques were declared arson.
Hate crimes against Muslims rose 67 percent in 2015, the latest year for which the FBI has statistics. A Southern Poverty Law Center report this year said the number of anti-Muslim hate groups tripled in 2016.