Metro Detroit mosques prepare usual security but get no threats after viral video

As Muslims prepare to observe the Eid al-Fitr holiday starting Wednesday, representatives at two area mosques said Tuesday they have not received any threats over the Israel-Hamas war and a recent viral video that features incendiary remarks made during a Dearborn protest Friday.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, Islam’s holy month of fasting. Muslims around the world are preparing for the annual "festival of breaking the fast." Mosques in Metro Detroit anticipate anywhere between several thousand to several hundred people at local mosques Wednesday, which is the start of the three-day holiday.

Mirvat Kadouh, a board of trustee member for the Islamic Center of America, said the Dearborn mosque expects about 2,000 people to attend some part of Eid events Wednesday.

"Because we have a school, we always go the extra mile" with security, which includes having private security, Kadouh said, adding that the center always brings in extra security for Eid.

She also credited the Dearborn Police Department and other law enforcement agencies with having a presence at the event.

There was concern that inflammatory comments made Friday at a Dearborn rally could lead to threats. Video that captured brief chants of "death to America" and "death to Israel" by some attendees went viral over the weekend.

The chants have been roundly denounced by Dearborn religious and city leaders. The incendiary remarks were initiated by an unidentified person in the crowd and have since become one focus of videos being shared worldwide and reported by international media.

"We at the American Muslim Center do not adopt this type of opinion," said Imam Mohammad Mardini of the Dearborn mosque. "We do not accept, or share, the attitude that was expressed in those chants."

The mosque expects about 1,100 to attend Wednesday Eid events.

"We hope and pray for peace and tranquility," Imam Mardini said.

But the six-month Israel-Hamas war has affected this year's events in Metro Detroit. Last week, the Imams Council of Michigan urged Islamic centers across the state to cancel all public festivities and celebrations of the holiday amid the "ongoing genocide unfolding in Gaza."

At least 10 centers, including six in Dearborn, one in Detroit, one in Dearborn Heights and one in Warren, have cancelled festivities, according to a release from Imad Hamad, the executive director of the American Human Rights Council in Dearborn.

But prayer services still will take place at mosques.

The city of Dearborn has also cancelled Ramadan-related events. The city is believed to have been the first in the nation to organize such things as "Ramadan Nights," a festival featuring local restaurants and food trucks serving at night. Ramadan is when observant Muslims abstain from drinking and eating from sunrise to sunset.

On Monday, the city cancelled its second planned Eid al-Fitr community breakfast that was to be held Saturday. A city spokesman said the decision was made in light of the "solemn mood" this year.

Dearborn is home to one of the largest Middle Eastern and Muslim communities in the U.S. Many in the community have had family and other loved ones killed or displaced in the war.

laguilar@detroitnews.com