WARREN, Mich. – Steven Elturk got the call from a contractor letting him know something bad had happened at the Islamic Organization of North America, which he has run for nearly 20 years.
“Who would want to do such a thing? This is a house of worship.” Elturk, the imam at the mosque on Ryan Road, said. “Why would they vandalize a place where we worship God?”
Over the weekend, a wing of the building that’s currently under construction was broken into and vandalized.
The damage included smashed glass, graffiti spray-painted on the walls, floors, and equipment, and a door was kicked in and thrown into the basement.
Elturk was alerted to the vandalism on Monday (Sept. 8) when the work crews arrived, stating that it likely occurred on either Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Complicating matters is that there is no video of the incident.
“Unfortunately, we had to take down the surveillance cameras because of the construction,” said Elturk. “So, we don’t know who did it.”
The mosque was the first in the city of Warren.
It’s home to multiple worship halls, as well as a soup kitchen and a space to give homeless people a place to sleep.
“We’re adding about 10,000 square feet to the existing building, additional worship space,” Elturk said. “The community is growing, and we need to, you know, make this space larger to accommodate our community.”
Elturk was born in Lebanon and has lived in the United States since 1976.
He bought the property in 2005 and started the masjid two years later.
Elturk says, at the time, he faced heavy pushback – including acts of vandalism and death threats – from the community.
He says they harbored anti-muslim sentiments towards him and others in the aftermath of 9/11.
“We were vehemently opposed,” Elturk said, “from city officials all the way down to residents nearby.
“I know why,” Elturk added. “Fear of the unknown.”
Elturk says the relationship with the community has drastically improved over the last 20 years, owing it as much to a change in attitudes toward Muslims as to the support of other clergy.
After this act of vandalism, which he feels is likely an act of random vandalism, he simply wants whoever did this to do the right thing and come forward.
“The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case.
“It’s not about, you know, breaking windows and doors and vandalizing and painting over machines, and you have violated a sacred space,” Elturk said.