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Opinion: Police presence kept Potsdam Masjid safe, mosque president says

Posted 4/16/19

A forever-due heartfelt thank you to our law enforcement and the different communities is in order. When I watched the painful video of the events in New Zealand, my first thought was this is …

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Opinion: Police presence kept Potsdam Masjid safe, mosque president says

Posted

A forever-due heartfelt thank you to our law enforcement and the different communities is in order.

When I watched the painful video of the events in New Zealand, my first thought was this is dangerous. I could not help but think it had every element to encourage copycats. However, I was overwhelmed with a sense of true security, not panic.

My wife and I have lived in Potsdam for the past 15 years, 11 of them with our oldest son (we have since added two new girls). For many more decades, professors and students in all four colleges, doctors in all hospitals, dentists, and professionals in many other industries called St. Lawrence County home. Many of them had children born and raised in the corridors of our local school districts. We have not a single incident that ever led us to believe we are not safe. This is why almost instantly my panic dissipated.

I knew then that we could rely on our police department for protection. After all, they reached out to us in 2001 to express their concern for our safety. They reached out to us when the heinous Orlando shooting took place to express the same. By “they”, I mean the local Potsdam Police Department (PPD) and Sheriff Department who have jurisdiction over the mosque, and the state police that reaches out in person or via phone.

On the day of the New Zealand crime, PPD’s presence gave us yet another proof that their professionalism is beyond doubt; it is impeccable. We know it and the entire community should take solace in that we are all ok because of their commitment to keep us all safe.

It is worth noting that the positive experience is shared by many of us who live in different towns of the county, whether it be Ogdensburg, Canton, Potsdam, Massena, and anywhere in between and beyond.

I guess the icing on the cake is the fact that our communities of civilians are also concerned for the welfare of everybody. That Friday during service, we had not only police present and patrolling, we had people from several churches and the synagogue, show up in support. They were children, parents, and grands. They were beautiful souls that felt we are in this journey together. It was an embodiment of God’s revelation in Quran chapter 49 (The Dwellings) aya 13:

“O People! We have indeed created you from a male and a female, and we have made you into communities and tribes to know one another. The noblest amongst you before God is the most conscious. Indeed God is all-knowing all-aware.”

We are just deeply grateful for them all.

Thank you to all of you, and thank you to our law enforcement men and women for honoring our citizenry and recognizing our humanity.

Tarik Ait Maatallah, president

Potsdam Masjid