Postcard: Dearborn

摘要

A week and a day after the mas-sacre at Fort Hood, Texas, there's a palpable sense of unease among the 400 men and women gathered for Friday prayers at the American Muslim Center in Dearborn, Mich., 1,350 miles away. In his sermon, lay preacher Hani Ayyad is careful not to mention Major Nidal Malik Hasan by name but repeatedly inveighs against "those who try to hijack our deen [faith], who distort, tarnish and darken it." Worshippers know exactly who he means.rnAyyad, a charismatic 37-year-old with a sonorous voice, seems to be speaking for, not to, the congregation as he laments, "It's becoming harder and harder for us to raise our head and say, 'I am a Muslim.'" Many nod in agreement when he says, "There are very difficult times out there."