Tawhid Islamic Center (Muslim American Youth Center) in Burien Damaged After a Hit and Run Incident
AZAGIL – By Shama Farag
Check the news coverage in Seattle Times, KING 5, KIRO7, KOMO NEWS, and FOX 13.
Alzagil News today at the press conference held today in solidarity with the Muslim American Youth Foundation (MAYF) after the center was damaged in a hit-and-run incident Monday morning.
At around 9:15 a.m. on Monday, a young man in his twenties drove his silver car into the community center. The car then reportedly reversed and sped off, leaving extensive damage. The west building windows were smashed.
AZAGIL News interviewed Imam Yahya Suufi, the Executive Director of the Muslim American Youth Foundation, Pastor Rev. Terry Kyllo, Executive Director of Path to Understanding, and Imam Fazel, the Imam of the Islamic Center of Eastside. Many local community leaders, council member Hugo Garcia attended the press conference.
Imam Yahya made sure to introduce himself and spoke about the tragic event, and said, “I’m the Imam the executive director of Muslim American Foundation in Burien Washington. Monday, March 7th, 2022, at 9 AM, I was sitting at the office, and I heard a blast, a huge sound. I was alone by myself. I wasn’t sure was it inside or outside of the building. I stayed calm, though I know there are many Muslim community centers that were attacked. I stayed in my office for 10-15 minutes, then I got out to patrol around the area. The entrance area was clear, I went to the exit, and it was clear too. The parking was clear. I thought that nothing happened to the building, but I took a further look at the west of the building that was towards the business center. I found the Masjed part as you see here in the sisters’ section. The building is spacious. Imagine if someone runs his car into the sisters’ prayer section. If someone was praying at this time, that would have brought so much damage to our community. Someone might get hurt. We were lucky no one was occupying the facility at this time. I was able to call the police right away. They came and they realized that it was not a hit and run incident. There was a chain, and someone has to drive through the chain and straight hit this part of the building. This can’t be a coincidence. We don’t know what the intention of the individual was. We can’t speak of that, but we believe with the so many incidents that have happened in the Muslim community centers in the past six months, roughly four other Muslim centers either have an arson or have been vandalized. The incident is under investigation as we speak. And the city chief came. We are very satisfied with how they are handling the case. We didn’t stop our activities. We are trying to make sure not to spread fear into our community. The crime has no address, and it can happen anywhere. We organized with our fellow human beings and people of other faiths and officials, and we contacted our community to hold a press conference. The turnout was great, and we are thankful for Alazgil News and everyone who showed support. This is the time when you know who is there for you are.”
We asked about surveillance cameras and if anyone can have access to the footage, the Imam said, “Yes, and we saw the car with a young man in his twenties, but we will withhold from that because the case is under investigation.”
Pastor Terri Kylo made sure to show his absolute solidarity and compassion and said, “In times like this peace always doesn’t come from within, it has to come from our creator, Allah. On behalf of the Christian community and so many other communities around Western Washington State, I just wanted to say that we stand with you. We wanted to let you know that you are not alone. You have so many friends. You have so many people that welcome you and care about you. That’s tragic and I can imagine the impact it has on you.”
Imam Fadel was amazed by the support the Muslim community has received and stated, “As you can see the outpouring love and compassion we received from the non-Muslim community after the incident that took place in the Muslim American Youth Foundation. We appreciate the council members, the police, and different community members who came to show support. Different churches, synagogues. As community faith leaders we don’t want to see any place of worship get vandalized or disintegrated. We need to speak up against this and highlight the problem and we can understand the importance of these centers. It won’t be only for Muslim youth, but for all youth. It benefits all the community. May Allah protect all places of worship.”
