The families of the three young Muslims fatally shot in Chapel Hill last week have been urging people to see the incident as a hate crime. Chapel Hill police, which have arrested and charged a suspect, say they鈥檙e looking at all possible motives, and the FBI has opened its own parallel preliminary inquiry.
But regardless of what authorities have found so far, the tragedy struck a chord with many young Muslims 鈥� especially the closest friends of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha.
Not too far from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, four best friends 鈥� all young men 鈥� live in a big green house. When you walk into their home, the first thing you notice are the full-sized flags representing Palestine, Bangladesh, Nigeria and the Sudan.
Hussein Ahmad, one of the friends, says the flags show off each of the families' heritages and give their simple living room some flavor.
鈥淵eah that was it, and it was a cheap, easy way to do it,鈥� Ahmad says. It鈥檚 also to 鈥渟how that we鈥檙e all Muslim brothers no matter where we come from.鈥�
The four friends knew Barakat, who was 23 and a second-year student at the UNC School of Dentistry. The friends played basketball with him regularly. One of them went to middle school with him. Others studied with him in the library.
鈥淗e鈥檇 come to the house, watch TV, watch football games every Sunday,鈥� says Sammy Said, a junior at UNC and the youngest of the four friends.
He says he wasn鈥檛 too worried when he heard last Wednesday that three people were shot in the neighborhood where Barakat lived.
鈥淭hese guys were in shock, but to be honest I shrugged it off,鈥� Said says.
But when Said and the others didn鈥檛 get any text messages or calls back from their friend, they jumped into their cars and rushed over to his neighborhood. That鈥檚 when they got the news.
Ahmad鈥檚 sister was close to the three victims. She texted him to ask: "What鈥檚 going on?"
鈥淚 said, 鈥楾hey found Deah, Yusor and Razan and they鈥檝e been killed,鈥欌€� Ahmad remembers. 鈥淢y sister was like, 鈥楧o they know why?鈥� and I said, 鈥楴o, I don鈥檛.鈥� And she texted me back saying, 鈥榃as it the neighbor?鈥欌€�
Uncomfortable Around Their Neighbor
Barakat and his wife Yusor Abu-Salha鈥檚 neighbor, Craig Hicks, 46, turned himself into authorities hours after the shootings on Tuesday and was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Barakat and Yusor, 21, were newlyweds, and Yusor was going to join Barakat as a student at the dental school in the fall. Razan Abu-Salha, 19, Yusor鈥檚 younger sister, was studying architecture and design at N.C. State University.
Barakat鈥檚 four friends strongly believe it was a hate crime. They all heard from mutual friends that the three had felt hated and uncomfortable around their neighbor -- and went out of their way to make sure they didn鈥檛 upset him.
Hussein Ahmad, a friend of Deah Barakat, says it's insulting to say the murders were motivated by a parking dispute. 'As if that's a valid reason to take away three lives just like that.'
Ahmad says it鈥檚 insulting what the Chapel Hill Police Department has said so far 鈥� that the murders were motivated by a parking dispute between Hicks and his neighbors.
鈥淎s if that鈥檚 a valid reason to take away three lives just like that, as if that鈥檚 better than a hate crime,鈥� Ahmad says.
Mohamed Eltilib, another one of the friends, says authorities鈥� statements so far make him feel like Muslims are being treated as second-class citizens. Eltilib, who is African-American, says the incident reminds him of regular conversations he has with his mother about being respectful and careful with law enforcement and about being Muslim in America after 9/11. He says that when his mother calls him, she reminds him: "Watch out."
鈥淓very time I get off the phone with her, she鈥檚 always like, 鈥楤e careful, be careful,鈥欌€� he says.
Eltilib鈥檚 mom even felt uncomfortable about his living arrangement because she was afraid that a house full of Muslims could be a target. He says that surprised him, but that after his three friends鈥� shooting deaths, it doesn鈥檛 seem so outlandish.
鈥淪ome of us have beards and we talk Arabic and we don鈥檛 hide our Islam so (my mom) was worried that people could see us a threat,鈥� Eltilib says.
Heightened Self-Awareness
For other Muslims, that fear of how people will perceive them is very real. On the campus of N.C. State University in Raleigh, three young women were recently catching up at a library. They were also close to Barakat and even more so to his wife, Yusor, and her younger sister, Razan.
Nida Allam asked: 鈥淭hey were so innocent, they never did anything wrong, how can I protect myself?鈥�
Nada Salem added: 鈥淪o why am I not next?"
And Morjan Rahhal concluded: 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter who you are 鈥� you can be the best Muslim or the worst Muslim, and they won鈥檛 care.鈥�
Allam, Salem and Rahhal wear headscarves, and Salem says the killings of her friends have frightened her. She says one day last week, her family ran out of milk at home, and although she wanted to drive to Walmart to buy some, she hesitated.
鈥淚 texted my brother, 鈥楬ey can you go pick it up? I鈥檓 too scared to go,鈥欌€� Salem remembers.
Allam, Salem and Rahhal say these past few days, they鈥檝e been sprinting to their cars when it鈥檚 late, or that they avoid altogether going out alone after dark. They say they鈥檝e always felt that as Muslims they have to work extra hard to prove themselves, and that now those feelings are magnified.
鈥淚 used to be so comfortable,鈥� Salem says. 鈥淚 remember people would come up to me and be like, 鈥楬ow鈥檇 you work in a place 鈥� like when I worked in Chili's? They鈥檇 be like, 鈥楬ow did you work with a scarf on?鈥� And I鈥檇 be like, 鈥榃hat am I supposed to do? Hide it?
Salem and her friends say they won鈥檛 take their headscarves off. And that they don鈥檛 want to hide. Rahhal and Salem say that, if anything, these recent events have brought them closer to their faith.
鈥淭he only solution is to not take off your scarf, not to hide who you are and not to protest and to educate.鈥�
鈥淵eah, and represent yourself through your actions, that鈥檚 the only thing you can do," Salem adds.
Legacy Of Kindness, Dedication And Service
Eltilib, one of the four friends in Chapel Hill, says he hopes the shootings will encourage people to change their perceptions of Islam.
鈥淒on鈥檛 let the media or ISIS or whatever may be going on in other parts of the world shape your opinion,鈥� Eltilib says. 鈥淏ase your opinions off the Muslims in your community, especially these three. I feel like they perfectly blended being an American and being a Muslim.鈥�
All of the young men and women agree. Since last week, they鈥檝e been asking themselves: "What would Yusor, Razan and Deah do?" They want to share the same kindness, the same dedication to service and the same compassion the three embodied.
They say that, if anything, the murders have made the Muslim community stronger. Hussein Ahmad scrolls through his phone. He鈥檚 part of a new group chat called Pack of Brothers, composed of men who are Muslim from Raleigh, Cary, San Diego, New York and other places around the country.
This weekend, they met at a UNC gym to do what Barakat would likely do on a Saturday afternoon: play basketball. Ahmad says that Barakat used to play with many of them regularly.
鈥淭his reminds us of him, I鈥檓 sure everyone right now is happy,鈥� Ahmad says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been grieving these last few days, so this is a good way for us to relax, to be together and remember a great man.鈥�
Barakat, according to Ahmad, used to pull out a white towel during every basketball game, and take it to the corner of the gym and pray. It鈥檚 something that, on this particular Saturday, most of the guys did.
'Base your opinions off the Muslims in your community - especially these three. I feel like they perfectly blended being an American and being a Muslim.' - Mohamed Eltilib, friend of Deah Barakat
