Brennen Brothers, News editor

On Sept. 29 at 5:31 p.m. a fire was reported in the basement entrance of the Alhikma Islamic Center on 32nd Street in south Minneapolis. Firefighters extinguished the fire, in which the kindling was made up of clothes and trash, before it was able to spread further inside the building. The inside of the mosque was left largely undamaged and no one was injured. The Minneapolis Fire Department concluded the fire was an accident, writes MPR News. 

Muslim leaders are calling for further investigation. “Neither police nor firefighters interviewed anyone on the scene or asked to view surveillance footage of a person leaving the entrance before flames erupted,” shares Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, with MPR News. 

Abdririzak Kaynan, the mosque’s imam, shares with The Sahan Journal that a day care, which is located in the basement of the mosque, serves around 50 children. When he asked the police to investigate the fire as a hate crime, he said the police took it “lightly.” Ahmed Anshur, who is with the Islamic Association of North America, highlighted another fire at Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington. The Sahan Journal was told that after prayers on Friday, Sept. 5, a fire broke out after an unidentified male was observed walking near the shed that erupted in flames. 

According to MPR News, the Minneapolis Police Department said “they take all community members’ concerns seriously and that investigators arranged to get surveillance video from the mosque leaders.” The Minneapolis Fire Department defends their conclusion, saying it was “determined to be an accidental fire from a possible unhoused population utilizing the stairwell area.” 

KSTP writes that on Tuesday, Oct. 7, a woman was arrested after she broke into the mosque and began arguing with people inside. “After making her way inside, the woman reportedly began a ‘verbal altercation’ with someone inside before leaving. After contacting the police, someone inside the building followed the woman until the police arrived and found her near 32nd Street East and Blaisdell Avenue South. She was arrested for an outstanding warrant and damage to property.” 

Kaynan shares with The Sahan Journal that a worshipper confronted the woman. She made several threats and “was there to set the mosque on fire.” Another worshipper called 911 but was told to call 311, the non-emergency line, instead. Kaynan called 911 himself.

“We believe this individual is the same individual who came back again and tried to finish the job,” Kaynan said. “We believe this is a hate crime, we believe this is Islamophobia, and we believe this person intentionally tried to burn our Islamic center,” shares The Sahan Journal. Police are looking to find any connection between the woman and the fire, but currently, she has not been charged in connection with the fire, KSTP reports.