Iowa City Muslims Speak Out About Protests

An anti-Muslim video that was issued recently sparked a lot of uprisings in the Muslim world. After this, Iowa City Muslims tried to reach out to the non-Muslim population on Saturday, but were met with nothing.



A video appeared on YouTube on July 2 that sparked riots in the Middle East this month as it reached more viewers and Egyptian media broadcast it with subtitles. The YouTube user's pseudonym was Sam Bacile.

The video degrades the Islam Prophet Muhammad. Muslim people began to protest and riot in the streets all over the world. Four American citizens have been killed as a result.

Mariam El-Hattab, a Muslim in Iowa City, wanted to offer Iowa City's non-Muslim residents the chance to ask questions about the Muslim population after the video was released.

El-Hattab and other Muslim women from her Mosque offered a meeting with Iowa City non-Muslim women on September 22. Nobody showed up to the meeting to talk to them.

Muslims all over Iowa are standing against the uprisings that are going on worldwide after the video, stating that they are going too far.

She condemned the killing of Christopher Stevens, who is the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, saying it was un-Islamic. According to the Daily Iowan website, El-Hattab referred to the act as the "stupidest thing she has ever seen in her life."

Another Iowa City Muslim woman, Doaa Elgaali, stated that she believes most of the protests are irrational and she does not really care about the video. She also stated that most Muslims believe this as well, but the media is showing only the irrational groups.

Salah Moghram agreed that the video should not be watched and should not have been uploaded and shared by Islamic websites. He asserted that that any protests should be peaceful.

El-Hattab is a sophomore at the University of Iowa, and Elgaali is a freshman. Moghram is a senior.

Some Iowa City Muslims are in support of the protests, though. Mousa Alaithan, a junior at University of Iowa, supports the protests, and even states that he understands the anger and violence, regardless of whether he supports it.

Please login to post.