Dar Al-Farooq community praises FBI arrests, raises questions

(KMSP) - Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community outside of east Africa, and on Tuesday, they praised the FBI’s announcement that they arrested several people in connection with the explosion at the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in August.

The Islamic center in Bloomington houses not only a mosque, but also a religious school for children.

“We’d like to thank and welcome the swift response to this unfortunate tragedy,” said Jaylani Hussein with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Hours after the FBI announced the arrests of three Illinois men in connection with the bombing at Dar Al-Farooq, leaders in the Muslim community held a press conference at the center.

“Our message today to our community is we will strive, we’ll be resilient and we’ll be strong. At the same time, we have a lot of concerns, a lot of questions,” said Mohamed Omar with Dar Al-Farooq.

One of their biggest questions is why did the suspects - who traveled hundreds of miles to get here - target them?

“We are concerned today that we believe it is possible that one of our neighbors of our communities may have put the target on this mosque, forcing individuals who live in Illinois to decide to attack a mosque in Minnesota,” Hussein said.

It was back in August when an explosive device was used to damage the Mosque, in what Governor Dayton described as an act of terrorism.

Although no one was hurt, the blast left a negative and lasting impact on those who worship here.

“President Trump, when asked about this bombing, questioned whether or not it was fake news. I call on President Trump to unequivocally to condemn this act of terror,” Imam Asad Zamam said.