Muslim Community Reflects on Christchurch Shootings

The Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand on March 15 rocked the global Muslim community mid-March after a shooter killed 50 civilians, indicating a trend of growing white nationalism. The Exeter community reflected on the attacks by facilitating dialogue about Islamophobia.

In the wake of the shootings, Reverend Heidi Heath and Principal William Rawson sent emails to students and staff expressing their solidarity. “I believe that one of the roles of Director of Religious and Spiritual Life in our community is to acknowledge these moments, help equip people with the tools to process them and to create space for impacted communities and their allies to gather,” Heath said.

Rawson affirmed the Academy’s commitment to addressing events that affect the Exeter community. “We cannot respond to every event that occurs off campus, but when events occur that threaten the safety of members of our community, it is important to speak out in support of those who have been threatened, and also reaffirm our values as a community and recommit ourselves to doing all we can to oppose racism and other forms of hatred and violence in the world,” he said.

Because the Christchurch shooting is not an isolated tragedy, Heath voiced that communication among members of the Exeter community is vital. “I’m also acutely aware as the campus chaplain that our Muslim loved ones live with a daily level of pervasive Islamophobia and anti-Muslim rhetoric in our wider world, even when things are relatively calm,” she said. “I both work to offer consistent support and care, and to help support others on campus who offer crucial resources to our Muslim students and adults.”

The Academy has offered support to the Muslim community through Jummah Prayer and weekly lunches on Friday afternoons, both held in Phillips Church’s prayer space. “Similarly, we support programming of various kinds across the year to lift up the voices and experiences of our Muslim community members,” Heath said.

Despite Academy efforts to reduce students’ experiences with marginalization, Dean of Multicultural Affairs Sami Atif noted that there have been several on-campus instances of Islamophobia in the past, from a Middle Eastern student being called a terrorist in town, to Atif’s wife, Khadijah Campbell, being slurred when she crossed the street wearing a headscarf. 

Campbell reflected on the incident, explaining how the scarcity of Muslims or people of color in New Hampshire has contributed to her troubling experiences. “The misconception of Muslims being foreign and not domestic is a problem the town of Exeter faces, especially due to the area having very little interactions with any other races outside of New Hampshire borders,” she said.

Leena Hamad ’17 described her experience at PEA. “I did experience Islamophobia at Exeter, but mostly in the form of tasteless jokes and pointed inflammatory comments made by people who knew I was Muslim,” Hamad said. “The Islamophobia I’ve seen since has usually targeted the local Muslim community I’m a part of.”

Senior Malobika Syed, a Muslim student, reflected on how her religious identity has affected her experience at Exeter. “Islam isn’t really acknowledged by the general community,” she said. “People conflate extremist ideology with Islam. I think many people here are uncomfortable with talking about the specifics of any religion, for example, what the significance of a hijab or any sort of religious garb is, which can lead to making assumptions about religious groups of people like Muslims.”

Specifically for new students, Atif noted, these moments impact their perception of Exeter. “You haven’t had time to really firm up relationships with people and when you have these moments it can be really odd or shattering,” Atif said.

Campbell remarked that she is worried for younger members of the Muslim community as the Exeter town can constrain religious expression. “I’m more concerned for my children and the Muslim students who are growing up in the town of Exeter,” she said. “Islam makes up so many different cultures and races, however this town makes it very hard for any young person who practice their faith outwardly.”

On the other hand, Campbell noted that support from Religious Services has been valuable for Muslim students at the Academy. “I will say the support that the students have within the religious service that has been established due to the many years of Rev. Thompson and the amazing work of Rev. Health is everything that any community should have,” she said.

French Instructor Amadou Talla agreed. “We are a small group of people, and my experience with everyone has been very positive,” he said. “I am grateful for the interfaith space we have at Phillips Church and for the opportunity to hold Friday Jummah prayers with MSA members. That is a choice I did not have when I was teaching in the public school system.”

Campbell said she will continue to work with religious services to create space for both Muslim community members and others curious about her faith. “What happened in Christchurch sickened me … I know a lot of these things that happen to the Muslim community is hard, but nothing as hard as our early predecessors,” she said. “This act of violence will not damper my faith or this community.”

Hamad took the Christchurch shooting as a warning against hate speech and a reminder of power of words. “In light of the events in Christchurch, the emergence of far-right populist movements in the US and abroad, and generally the rise in public hate speech against Muslims, immigrants and other minorities and marginalized communities, we have to also understand that words can be incredibly dangerous,” she said.

The different occasions on which Islamophobia is not addressed adds up, according to Hamad. “The shooter in Christchurch was influenced by ideas and rhetoric that shouldn’t be defended under the name of free speech … Every discriminatory comment that we let slip and fail to correct has built up to this; we can’t pretend acts of hate and evil have nothing to do with our everyday lives,” she said.

Talla noted the ubiquity of Islamophobia.“In the face of recent anti-Muslim rhetoric in the media, it has been increasingly harder to live out one’s faith as a Muslim without feeling threatened,” he said. “For that reason, I am glad there is a physical space at Exeter where Muslim students can come together for spiritual and emotional support.”

Hamad expressed that Exeter should take further steps to facilitate community-wide conversation about the shootings. “I think the administration needs to offer spaces for students, faculty and community members to reflect on these incidents—and not just for Muslims but for the entire community,” she said.

Religion Instructor Nuri Friedlander reflected on the importance of truly processing the personal tragedies and real-world consequences of the Christchurch shootings and similar incidents targeting Muslims worldwide. “There are so many stories you could write, like… what it was like for Muslim students to come back to campus having had this happen, where maybe they felt vulnerable. Or these 51 people who lost their lives—those are all individuals. Do we know their names?”

History Instructor Aykut Kilinc voiced his hopes for community-wide support and the necessity of “showing solidarity, remembering the victims and making a stand against violence.” Kilinc elaborated that this tragedy is a reflection of a wider political atmosphere that he characterized as dividing.

“I truly hope that we try to find a way to get together all of us and talk about what makes us human beings,” Kilinc said.