From the Oklahoma Daily, an independent OU campus newspaper:
As the first night of Ramadan wound down Wednesday, two children tossed a football through the rain in the parking lot of the Masjid Al-Nur Islamic mosque, 1304 George Ave. | Look at them cute kiddies. Ain't they just the cutest all-Americans you ever laid eyes on. |
Standing to the side was Hossam Barakat, an OU Arabic instructor who lives nearby at Parkview Apartments, 606 Stinson Ave.| Of course it's only a mere coincidence that the kindly professor was living in the boomer's apartment building. Life's funny like that, sometimes... |
Although he was also celebrating the Muslim holiday, Barakat was also thinking about the events of this past weekend, when Joel âJoeâ Henry Hinrichs, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering junior, died in an explosion around 7:30 p.m. Saturday while sitting on a park bench on the South Oval about 100 yards away from Oklahoma Memorial Stadium during the second quarter of the OU-Kansas State football game. "Iâm concerned about the the fact that hundreds of people could have died [Muslim] community,â Barakat said. âHopefully by next week itâs going to be cleared that heâs not involved in this community.â| Hope a little harder, Professor. |
With Internet reports and newscasts purporting a supposed connection between Hinrichs and the mosque, Barakat and other Muslims are worried about public perception. âIâve never seen (Hinrichs) before, just on the news,â Barakat said.| "OK, maybe I saw him around the laundry room sometimes. And there was that one poker game. And we baked cookies every few weeks for the mosque social. And I wrote him a recommendation for his graduate program in Lahore. But it's not like I knew him or anything." |
He did, however, know OU finance major Fazal M. Cheema, Hinrichsâ roommate.| "Fazal really knew how I liked my hotdogs at the mini-mart." |
On the night of the explosion, Barakat was visiting friends, including Cheema, at his apartment complex. Around midnight â about four and a half hours after the explosion on the South Oval â Cheema exited the apartment and Barakat said he heard Cheema being taken into custody by Norman Police Department officers, who urged Barakat and the six or seven others to stay inside. Around 4 a.m. Barakat and the others were taken one-by-one and questioned by the FBI. They were questioned again the next day and cleared of suspicion, Barakat said.| "See? It's all settled. Case closed. Now go away." |
Now, after the public has seen Hinrichsâ picture and heard that Muslims were questioned by law enforcement agencies, Barakat is more concerned that some people are connecting dots that arenât there. âOf course [Iâm afraid] of the social reaction,â Barakat said, âbecause the government has law â you can get a lawyer. I believe everyone is so worried now about what is going to happen.â| Well, *I* am certainly worried. |
Adeel Khan, former Muslim Student Association president and psychology and mathematics junior, said he comes to the mosque âpretty oftenâ and also said he had never heard of Hinrichs or seen him at the mosque.| "Generally I don't hang out with guyz named Joel, if you catch my drift." |
Khan also said he is worried about people connecting bits of information to establish a false relationship between Hinrichs and Muslims because stereotyping is already so prevalent. âYou take the actions of a minority of a group and apply them to the group overall,â he said. âSome Malaysian sees on TV reports of Catholic priests (molesting children) a few years ago â whatâs he going to think about priests?â Still, Khan said that, generally, most OU students have reacted reasonably. âIâd have to say thereâs been no negativity directed at me or my friends,â he said. Ashraf Hussein, president of Muslim Student Association and petroleum and electrical engineering junior, said he is disturbed by the mediaâs focus. â(Hinrichs) had a Muslim roommate; he had a Muslim roommate â thatâs all theyâre mentioning,â Hussein said. Barakat agreed, saying people are afraid of the media because it appears they take information and change it for their purposes. He said the eventâs specific social dynamics worsen the situation. âItâs considered very Middle Eastern, the way (Hinrichs) killed himself or tried to kill others,â he said. âItâs different from someone taking a machine gun and killing everyone."| A failed homicide bombing is certainly different from someone taking a machine gun and killing everyone. A successful homicide bombing is remarkably similar, except there's more parts to pick up afterwards. |
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