As Khalif Samantar knelt for afternoon prayers at the Eskilstuna Islamic Dawa Center on Dec. 25, he sensed a growing heat and a low, rushing sound coming from a nearby hallway. He focused his mind on the prayer, only to realize seconds later that someone was shouting, “The mosque is on fire!” Samantar sprang through an open window and rushed through the snow in his stocking feet for help. Samantar said he struggles to get through his prayers without smelling smoke or hearing the rush of a fire. After he escaped that day, he said, he feared that women and children were trapped in other rooms of the burning building, and anxiety haunts him still, even in his sleep. We would always take our families with us to the mosque, said . Samantar, a father of three. The mosque was always our safe place. It’s not anymore.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 04:19:41 +0000
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