Masajid usually have an open door policy and an acceptance of strangers, similar to the AME church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine worshippers including a state senator were murdered last month.
There is an innate sense of security that comes from being in the house of Allah, however many masjid leaders have to rethink the security of their sanctuaries. With several masajid targeted in the DMV and a notable rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and incidents, masjid security is an issue of paramount importance.
“Three threats to a masjid in three months is unprecedented, esp. in such a short time,” says Zainab Chaudry, the Outreach Manager of CAIR-MD, speaking about a local DC Metro masjid. She believes that houses of worship overall have glaring oversights in the area of security.
A lot of masjid leaders are reluctant to speak about this issue, says Chaudry. “I do understand concerns about negative publicity and want to highlight that the struggles are not specific to Muslim community. This is the overall sense of concern at most houses of worship.” The Muslim Link reached out to several of the area Islamic Centers about their security but many didn’t want to engage in this discussion.
Masjid security should be approached the same way as the fire department approaches fire safety, it spends most of its time in fire prevention, says Imam Johari Abdul Malik, the Director of Outreach at Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center (DAH) in Falls Church, VA. Imam Johari says that to mitigate concerns about masjid security Islamic centers must spend time on outreach and engagement with the communities around them. He should know, as DAH has been a target of vandalism, threats, and incidents of provocation by mentally unstable guests and has proactively addressed the issue of safety. “I spoke to Imam Siraj [Wahhaj] after 9/11 and asked him, did you guys have problems at Masjid Taqwa and he said no, because our neighbors know us,” he says.
Internally, DAH has a security team and with the help of a private contractor and law enforcement they have conducted thorough security assessments, from looking at where cameras are placed, to a technical review of the servers. Two years ago, DAH placed wrought iron fencing around the perimeter of the center. During Eid Salah and Ramadan Taraweeh, DAH hires police officers from Fairfax County for traffic and to provide a security presence.
DAH staff maintains a close working relationship with their security team and local law enforcement. “I can send a text message to the precinct’s captain,” says Imam Johari. DAH has on occasion locked down the facility. “When we receive a phone [threat], we call Law Enforcement,” he says, “After the last incident, the captain came over himself and provided increased surveillance by leaving a policeman on the premises; the perpetrators don’t know when the police officers will show up at the masjid.” The captain was also an invited guest at the DAH iftars.
frustrations have been in convincing leaders to take the safety and security of the congregation seriously while navigating internal politics. CAIR is often viewed as aggressive in their approach towards security measures. There is fine line between maintaining safety and blocking access. There is the danger of excessive paranoia and knee jerk responses that are not beneficial to the community, says Chaudry. At the same time, she says, "we can’t protect ourselves if we don’t know what is going on.”
She is also in touch with police departments in Maryland. “It is a long process to find out who is behind [the threat].” One challenge that communities should be aware of is swatting—the act of making hoax calls to 9-1-1 to draw a response from law enforcement, usually a SWAT team. It is considered an act of terrorism intended to put a community on edge. The goal is to frighten people by bringing in the SWAT team. Masajid need to empower themselves, and learn how to deal with these security challenges, says Chaudry. CAIR has seen such action in New Jersey and Maryland, where a threat was called in to a house of worship and it was evacuated and on lock down for an extended time.
The individuals who engage in this activity use technology to make it appear that the emergency call is coming from the masjid's phone. It is a serious and expensive crime, and one that has potentially dangerous consequences.
Chaudry, who has recently completed a FEMA certification, recommends that Islamic Centers and masajid have security assessments done through the local police departments. She is also reaching out to church, synagogue and masjid leadership to help them develop emergency plans.
Some local institutes have taken security seriously. In College Park, MD, Dar us Salaam has installed an electronic card access gate and new shatter proof glass doors and windows at the Al Huda School. A call-in bell and security cameras have been standard security measures for over a decade. Emergency codes are posted in the office and a full time security employee sweeps the ground during the daytime.
DAH has an ongoing process for emergencies. There is an alert system, staff and teachers in the school are notified, the system notifies the parents and eventually if the threat level is high the wider masjid community is informed.
Johari agrees that it’s a challenge maintaining the openness of the community and reducing risk. “If we are in a period there have been many threats or incident somewhere else, for example after the tragedy in Chattanooga we [did] step up our security presence including having uniformed security in place at the entrance of musallah,” say Imam Johari. “We may have a plain-clothes presence [during events], just someone watching over us while we pray,” shares Imam Johari. He recommends the pamphlet prepared by CAIR that provides steps for masajid.
Imam Johari suggests that all masjid leaders should develop an emergency crisis plan, assess vulnerability of the institution and a security awareness program. The community should be aware, if there is threat, how high the threat level is, what protocols need to be followed, what should trigger an evacuation, and how to use outreach as threat prevention. After 9/11, neighbors made at perimeter around DAH at night.
The Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) is a resource that plays important role in supporting the building, sustainment, and delivery of five mission areas of Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery. DAH has resubmitted a grant application to the Homeland Security Grant Program for the current cycle. DAH was denied due to lack of adequate funding but has resubmitted their request . “We are hopeful that we will become awardees,” says Imam Johari. According to the Department of Homeland Security, ‘these grant programs fund a range of preparedness activities, including planning, organization, equipment purchase, training, exercises, and management, and administration’.
Most importantly there is a need for a resilience or recovery program that restores the community, as incidents like hate crimes and vandalism brings a community down.
When Usman Sarwar, the Vice President of the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, hears about attacks at places of worship, the first thing on his mind is that his institution has to stand in solidarity with those who have encountered a hate crime. He helps put together a press release to let the community know that people of faith can rely on each other. He believes that this is important because of many of the issues places of worship face have the same roots—anti-immigration and/or racism. “There is a huge history of racism [against African-American] churches,” he notes. “After the Oak Creek Sikh Temple massacre, we joined with a few groups and visited the local gurdhwara,” says Sarwar. “First thing that goes through my mind, we have to stand in solidarity and then how do we make sure that we do the best job to secure our community.”
The environment at the center has changed over the years. In the late nineties MCC used to be open, after 9/11, the property was demarcated gates were added. “We have progressed over the years. We don’t have an emergency preparedness plan. We have been thinking about that and we have to tackle this [in the near future].” MCC hires a private firm for a security presence during Ramadan. County police helps with traffic and make a sweep on the 27th night of Ramadan and on Eid day.
MCC have never had real threats made against the masjid. “We have been very fortunate. We face other common security issues- after hours vandalism, trespassing teens from outside the community drinking and hanging out on the premises, but no vicious threats,” says Sarwar.
“Our security system is fairly robust, [covers] the beginning to the back of the property,” shares Sarwar. The center has used it to curb thefts and once the recording was subpoenaed for a restraining order against an abusive father.
Sarwar and the Imam of MCC have received training from Montgomery County, where they have received specific protocols from MoCo police officers.
Much like the AME Church where there was a study-circle taking place, there is programming at MCC run by committee heads. These folks have to be trained, says Sarwar. It is on the agenda for future, that full time employees and lead volunteers be trained to effectively respond to emergencies and help minimize loss of life.
Chaudry suggests that community leaders should reach out to local law enforcement, set up a meeting with police and make connections and connecting with NGOs and other faith leaders to build and alliance. “There is strength in unity and standing together,” she says.
“We make sure we meet as much as possible outside the community— with interfaith, law enforcement, state and local officials so they know who we are. We try to have the events at MCC so our officials and politicians know who we are. “It has helped – when I go to an interfaith event they will mention us. It is like a tree; people of other faiths advocate us and we reciprocate,” says Sarwar.
“We try not to be insular, we are open and engaging, showing the world who we are. We pray a lot that Allah keeps us safe [from] whoever comes through the door. We try not to be paranoid. We don’t spend our time looking out for informants. Our clinic serves many people who come to the masjid.” Bottom line is, Sarwar says, serving people outside of the community has helped MCC build a resilient community.
Can the masjid ever be adequately prepared? Chaudry emphasizes that a masjid is supposed to be a place of peace. “We don’t infringe on that and don’t want them to become exclusive; we do want to make sure that they are safe.”
Masjid leaders can reach out to Zainab Chaudry to schedule a community safety workshop. CAIR also has a community safety kit that can be customized. (202) 488-8787
Ten Safety Guidelines for an Islamic Center:
1. Form a Security Committee and appoint responsible members of the Board / community as members with responsibility and authority to oversee the premises.
2. Form an emergency response plan / contingency plan for different events – fire, tornado, active shooting, bomb threats, etc.
3. Do regular inspections of the safety exits ensuring they are not blocked, fire extinguishers are full and serviceable, and alarm system on/off and access panels are accessible.
4. Train personnel in how to set off an alarm or turn off an alarm.
5. Have security personnel do regular walkthroughs of the inside and outside perimeter of the masjid before large gatherings looking for suspicious activity or unidentified packages lying around, etc.
6. Establish procedures for conducting walkthroughs inside and outside the Masjid as events are taking place and monitor for suspicious activity, etc.
7. Conduct pratice safety drills once a year with women and children involved (Jumuah or weekend school event).
8. Adults should monitor the children playing outside (no unsupervised activity).
9. Children / teens generally should not be outside the masjid after dark. Note that many cities have curfew hours for teens and children (~10 pm or later).
10. Establish masjid shutdown procedures with responsible and authorized people who can tell people to leave as needed. Identify evacuation and gathering points outside the masjid where people will gather for headcount, etc. if an evacuation does need to take place.
Adapted from suggestions by Anees Thaj
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