Lessons from Nabra Hassanen Murder

The tragic killing of 17 year old Nabra Hassanen of Sterling, Virginia, has shaken the American Muslim community and the nation as a whole. An assailant abducted her, took her to a nearby area where authorities suspect he sexually assaulted her before killing her with a bat. Nabra was only a sophomore in high-school.

Following this horrific incident, wicked opportunism once again reared its ugly head. The 22 year-old man charged with the killing turned out to be an undocumented Salvadoran national , a fact that has changed the tenor of the conversation around the case. Overnight, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant extremists have gotten their wish. On June 18, arch conservative provocateur Ann Coulter tweeted: @AnnCoulter: When a 'Dreamer' murders a Muslim, does the media report it?

To right-wing extremists, the blood of this tragedy was used to stain all undocumented immigrants as criminals. They would seek to divide Muslim and Latino immigrants by pitting one group against the other -- creating fear in both communities.

American Muslims are all too familiar with these fear tactics. Our current President uses domestic and foreign terror attacks to vilify Muslims and garner support for his travel ban. As a candidate Trump proposed a Muslim registry, and as President he is creating an office and database to track crimes committed by immigrants . The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) serves no real law enforcement purpose, but rather, it is a vehicle to shame immigrant communities and create fear in the American public of the other.. In reality, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. White nationalists have perpetrated 73% of domestic terror attacks since 9/11, though these facts do not always seem to make their way into the public discourse or the President's tweets.

Muslim Americans and the Latino community share similar burdens in this country. Stereotyping, prejudice, and collective guilt is used to generalize individual actions as group norms. This is not true in the reverse. When a white-nationalist attacks a church in Charleston he has "mental health issues." This double standard insulates the "white community" from institutional racism. Not only is this unfair, its un-American.

Evil people commit evil acts regardless of race, religion, or immigration status. American Muslims should oppose efforts to exploit the murder of this young girl to further any political agenda. The tragedy here is not some talking point in a larger partisan battle, it is the loss of an innocent life. As the Bible says in Exodus 20:13, Thou shalt not kill, the Holy Quran (5:32) says, whoever kills one person-...it is as if he had slain all mankind.

From two different books we all pray to a God of love and mercy who values human life above all others. As we reaffirm the our faith during Ramadan, let us also reaffirm our bond with one another. Nabra could have been anyones daughter, so she is all of our daughter. We cannot allow her murder be used to erase our common humanity.