Muslim parents: Our kids are not terrorists, and we don't want them to fall prey to terrorists
After watching a video at school last year about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 12-year-old Fateh Alam came home and launched an online search to learn more about Osama bin Laden.
He also shared with his mother an impression he got from classmates that day: “I felt like everybody was looking at me.”
“He just came home so disturbed,” said Nida Alam, a 35-year-old mother of five from Wood Dale. “My son and my daughter both came home with this strange, agitated feeling.”
Alam's anecdote underscores the challenge faced by suburban Muslim parents - that their children may be labeled “terrorists” because they share a religion with those who use it to justify their fanaticism, and growing fears that they could fall prey to extremist elements through the Internet and social media.
Muslim community leaders, mosques and schools recognize that the threat of Muslim youths being recruited by extremist groups or being influenced by their propaganda is real in today's environment.
Three suburban cases have fanned those fears:
A 19-year-old Bolingbrook man, Mohammed Hamzah Khan, arrested in October at O'Hare International Airport is charged with trying to persuade two younger siblings to go with him to Turkey to join Islamic State militants. Khan's mother made an emotional plea after one of her son's court appearances, asking the terrorists to “leave our children alone” and saying they are using social media to brainwash Muslim youths into joining their cause.
In 2013, Abdella Ahmad Tounisi of Aurora was caught after the then-18-year-old posted messages on a fake website created by the FBI. Authorities say he agreed to travel to Syria to fight with an al-Qaeda-sponsored terrorist group.
And in September 2012, Adel Daoud, of Hillside, 18 at the time, tried to detonate a presumed car bomb outside a downtown Chicago bar, according to federal authorities. The fake bomb, planted by FBI agents, didn't explode. The FBI began monitoring Daoud's activities in 2011, saying he posted messages online about killing Americans.
All three men have pleaded not guilty to charges. Their cases are pending.
Coming from a devout Pakistani Muslim family, Alam said she tries to protect her children from getting distorted ideas about Islam. She home-schools them about their religion, not even trusting weekend Islamic schools to do the job right.
“If we want to teach them values,” she said, “we have to, inshaAllah (God willing), do it ourselves.”
Online threats
Following the suburban arrests, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago began offering Internet safety workshops at mosques and Islamic schools throughout Chicago and suburbs at the request of concerned parents and school administrators.
“By the third case we realized this was a trend here for us locally,” said Gihad Ali, youth programs director for the group. “We don't want to wait for there to be a fourth youth (charged). It's been a trend for years in other parts of the country. We are not immune. We have one of the biggest Muslim populations in the country here in Chicago.”
Ali said that in all three suburban cases, the teens were targeted through social media, and all were Muslim males who studied at private Islamic schools.
Yet, she added, girls also can be vulnerable to such predators, citing the case of a 19-year old Irish Muslim convert, Shannon Conley, from suburban Denver who pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to support Islamic State militants.
Ali has conducted more than a dozen workshops for Islamic schools, mosques and youth groups reaching roughly 750 teens. Training parents to be more vigilant is the other education component, she said.
“Parents need to talk to their children about this and put them on guard, basically,” she said. “Young people are so curious and they have good intentions that can get taken advantage of.”
Saleha Samdani, a stay-at-home mother of three from Gurnee, said the topic of Muslim teens accused of colluding with terrorists and other global events, such as the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris, are dinner-table discussions in her household, including her two older boys, ages 15 and 10.
“We try to keep the channels of communication open and we discuss stuff with them openly,” Samdani said. “We want to make sure whatever questions they have about politics, religion, that they are able to talk to us first.”
Teachers at her children's weekend Islamic schools at Islamic Foundation North near Libertyville and the Islamic Community Center of Des Plaines are young college students with whom they can better relate and bond. There are also Muslim youth groups and community gatherings for young people where they can talk about these events in a safe space, she said.
“There are more avenues where a kid can talk their mind, and if they have any queries, they can take them to these people,” Samdani said.
She said her children are involved in sports at school and activities, such as skiing and basketball, “where they spend their energy in a more healthy way.”
“We try to not seclude our kids from the culture and the place where we are,” she said. “Muslim kids should not be alienated from the society. The kids should not be sheltered from the mainstream, (yet) knowing their limits and staying within the religious boundaries.”
Another mom, Anjum Mulla of Hanover Park, says children in elementary and junior high schools need a lot of community support.
“They need a (safe) place to hang out, youth activities, something that will keep them busy,” said Mulla, who has three grown children who experienced some of the post-Sept. 11 backlash toward Muslims.
“There is a disconnect in masjids (mosques) between the youth and the older generation,” she said. “The best thing we can do is get the youth more involved through programs, activities, get their input (on) what would they like to do instead of having speeches. That doesn't speak to them.”
Any Muslim could be a victim
Another concern for the broader Muslim community is labeling teens who have fallen prey to radical elements as being “exceptional or out of the ordinary or suffering from certain issues,” Ali said.
“That is a very dangerous approach,” she said. “It's not because one youth is radical or another youth has family issues. ... The tactics of the recruiters (are) so advanced, so sly, deceptive. Grooming doesn't happen overnight. Anyone could fall victim to this.”
Ali emphasizes Muslim youths are being targeted online in a way their non-Muslim peers aren't.
“One of the things we talk about is responsible behaviors online,” she said. “What not to say. What things to look out for. What are some of the traps, some of the red flags of so-called online friends.”
Muslim leaders also are asking law enforcement agencies to be more forthcoming about surveillance tactics within their communities, and warn parents and youths of entrapment.
“Religious profiling is a reality,” Ali said. “It's not something new. There is absolutely a distrust between the community and law enforcement, and there are reasons for it. Whether it's law enforcement or whether it's ISIS, they are all threats. We have to do what we can to educate them so they do not fall prey to these traps.”
None of the families of the three suburban men who were under surveillance received a warning from authorities about their activities, whereas in the Colorado case the FBI went to Conley's parents three times before she was arrested, Ali said.
“Why the double standard?” Ali said. “Because Shannon Conley doesn't fit the profile of the FBI, whereas Hamza Khan does?”
Online/social media safety tips for Muslim youth
• Be careful what you post.
• Deleting Internet browser history using “Incognito Mode” or reformatting computer does not erase websites visited or searches performed. Internet service providers can store the private browsing history of customers.
• Messaging apps keep a record of all data sent, including pictures, videos, and text.
• Never give out personal information, such as full name, address, phone number or social security number, online.
• Affiliation with any groups considered “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” by the U.S. government is a felony. Even verbal or written support for such a group can be construed as “material support of terrorism.”
• Privacy does not exist on the Internet.
Source: CIOGC