ChristiansUnite Forums

Shots fired at Florida mosque as Ramadan begins
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Fla. - A mosque was hit by gunfire as members inside celebrated the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, authorities said Saturday.

No injuries were reported and there were no arrests.

A member of the Islamic Society of Brevard County stepped outside the mosque Friday night to use his cell phone when he heard several gun shots, police said.

The man, who was not immediately identified, took cover behind a wall as several rounds struck the building, police said. He then ran inside and told mosque members, who called police.

Authorities searched the surrounding area for suspects but found none.

A pair of binoculars, footprints and tire tracks were found in the woods across from the mosque, said Melbourne Police spokeswoman Jill Frederiksen. Investigators are still trying to determine if they are related to the case, Frederiksen said.

No other details were released, but the investigation is ongoing, Frederiksen said. Detectives were working to determine a reason for the shooting. No suspects have been named.

Police will begin extra patrols around the mosque in Melbourne, about 50 miles east-southeast of Orlando.

The shooting happened on the start of Ramadan, a holiday that centers around inner reflection and reconnecting with God and family, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.

"It was very scary that this happened under what most regard as a peaceful time of year," CAIR-Orlando Executive Director Sabiha Khan said.

Ibrahim Hooper, a national CAIR spokesman, said that while no motive had been determined by police, the shooting fit a pattern of incidents at mosques this year.

A bullet-riddled Quran was left outside a mosque in Chattanooga, Tenn., and an Indiana mosque was vandalized. There were other incidents at mosques in Maine, Arizona and Maryland.

"Worshippers of the mosque would obviously be disturbed if (religion) was the motive for the attack," Hooper said Saturday.


_______________________


I can't help but laugh at the statement in bold. That statement is just like saying that islam is a peaceful religion. It is a well known fact by those that have been around muslims during ramadan that it is a very volatile time to be around them. muslims have a habit of going off quite easily during ramadan.

Ain't that the truth

I should post this seperate, but with my agreement with Pastor Roger this fits in............
============================================

Ramadan — month of prayer for Muslims, of “holy war” for extremists
(AFP)

23 September 2006

DUBAI - Islam’s holy fasting month of Ramadan began on Saturday in most of the Middle East, with bloodshed in Iraq, threats of violence across the region and many Muslims still incensed over remarks by the pope.

In the first reported bloodshed of the holy month, at least 31 people were killed by a bomb in a Shiite stronghold of Iraq where calls for “jihad’, or holy war, echoed earlier threats of attacks in the Gulf and on Israel.

A day of protests on the eve of Ramadan saw no let-up in demands for Pope Benedict XVI to apologise for quoting a medieval Christian emperor who criticised some teaching of the Prophet Mohammed as ”evil and inhuman”.

The pope has invited ambassadors of Muslim countries to the Vatican for a meeting on Monday as part of a diplomatic offensive to repair rifts caused by his remarks.

But Jordan’s Islamic Action Front derided the pope’s call.

“The pope committed a great wrong against Islam and a meeting with Muslim countries’ ambassadors is not sufficient. There must be a clear apology,” said Zaki Saad Beni Rsheid, the front’s secretary general.

As the religious row rumbled on, the shadow of more violence during Ramadan hung over security forces.

US military commanders in Iraq warned of an upsurge in violence while several other countries were fingered as Ramadan targets in a message to Western leaders from Ayman Al Zawahiri, the number two in Al Qaeda.

Marking the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States, Zawahiri threatened Israel and countries in the Gulf.

Zawahiri’s message came three days after the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza Al Muhajer, urged the country’s Sunni minority to rise up and kill at least one American in the next 15 days, in a video on an Islamist website.

“These multiple messages could be a prelude to a series of attacks by Al Qaeda or by its supporters, especially during Ramadan, the month of jihad and martyrdom,” said Yasser Sirri, who heads the Islamic Observatory in London.

Five Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, began marking Ramadan on Saturday.

Saudi King Abdallah and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, in a Ramadan message to Muslims, said “Islamic nations suffer from some of its children who have not understood the foundation of Islam which recommends love, reverence and tolerance”.

The message was a clear reference to supporters of the Saudi branch of Al Qaeda, blamed for a series of attacks in the kingdom since May 2003 and described in official parlance as a “deviant minority”.

In Iraq, the local branch of Al Qaeda called for more ”victories” against the “crusaders” and “infidels” during Ramadan in a message issued on Thursday.

“Saturday is the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan” for Sunnis, the Mujahedeen Shura Council, said, adding it hoped this would bring “conquests and victories”.

A little-known Jeish Al Fataheen group called on Muslims to ”strike at the fortresses of the infidels and hypocrites” in a statement also saying it wished Ramadan was full of “victories”.

Some unidentified “Mujahedeen”, in a message on Saturday on Islamist websites, praised the Al Qaeda leaders, Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri, along with Taleban chief Mullah Omar, and vowed to “make this sacred month, a month of conquest and victories”.

In Afghanistan, another violence-ridden Muslim country, Western military leaders were also on alert for a possible upsurge in Ramadan violence after 19 Afghan roadworkers were killed by a bomb blast followed by an ambush by fighters of the ousted Taleban.

Before the Taleban was toppled by a US-led coalition, it harshly punished Afghans found not to be fasting and praying during Ramadan.

“I hope this Ramadan will be the last with problems,” said Mohammad Akram, an electronic engineer in Kabul. “We’ve suffered and I think it’s enough — may God help us out of it.”

In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, a regulation shutting down venues such as bars, massage parlours, steambath houses and pool parlours over Ramadan is expected to be fully enforced this year for the first time.

Ramadan — month of prayer for Muslims, of “holy war” for extremists (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/September/middleeast_September522.xml&section=middleeast&col=)