The shocking double filicide in the Dallas area has created a buzz of concern at the North Austin Muslim Community Center. I spoke by phone today with Sheikh Mohammed-Umer Esmail, who planned to address the tragic story in his sermon.Yup, they just can't cope with American values, like actually expressing your opinion and not wanting to dress in a hefty bag.
According to news reports, Yaser Abdel Said, 50, a Muslim cab driver from Lewisville, is suspected of shooting his two daughters Tuesday night in a hotel parking lot and leaving them to die in his taxi. The girls were 17 and 18, both star students who excelled at tennis and soccer.
Some reports are suggesting the killings had all the signs of an “honor killing.” Some have said one of the girls had a boyfriend, which scandalized the Egyptian father. Reports also refer to the daughters wearing Western clothes and disobeying their father’s rules.
That is what worries our Austin imam. Esmail said he was shocked that this would happen in the United States, and although he doesn’t think local Muslim parents would resort to such extremes, he does want to start a dialogue about the challenges of raising children with Muslim values in American society. Foreign-born parents sometimes feel unable to cope with their children’s American-influenced behavior, such as talking back or refusing to wear modest clothes. Some try to force their kids to comply, he said. Some just stop enforcing the rules.
That’s why talking openly about these issues is key, Esmail said.
“I’m worried about something like that happening over here,” he said. “If it can happen in Dallas, it can happen anywhere else. Are we prepared in advance?”
If this cat wants some dialogue, here's some advice. Stop adhering to a 7th Century religion that treats women like chattel.
Meanwhile, Said's son is calling for his father to turn himself in.
Good luck with that.
As the family of two teenage Texas girls allegedly shot by their father and left to die in his taxi prepared to bury them, their brother issued a plea to his father.
"I just hope he turns himself in because, you know, he messed up the whole family," Islam Said, 19, told MyFOXDFW.com after his sisters were found dead Tuesday night.
Said said his father, Yaser Abdel Said, 50, of Lewisville, Texas, was having a very hard time when his daughters, Sarah Yaser Said, 17, and Amina Yaser Said, 18, started dating.
Connie Moggio, the girls' aunt, said there had been turbulence in the Said household for a while.
She said her sister married Yaser Abdel Said at the age of 15 and was pregnant shortly after, adding she had tried to leave her husband many times over the years, most recently, on Christmas Eve.
"A few days before she called me at my job and told me she was leaving because he had threatened the girls because they were dating," Moggio told MyFOXDFW.com.
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