Quba Islamic Institute a Houston institution supporting homeschooling for followers of Islam was destroyed in a
one-alarm fire this morning. Investigation into the cause continues with local arson officers and members of the BATFE. The building was unoccupied at the time. Their Facebook page urges calm. ABC reports that a suspicious person was seen there the day before.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, ABC News quoted local Muslims who suggested a man was spotted near the center looking suspicious.
Imam Zahid Abdullah told ABC News he saw a man looking suspicious near the property on Wednesday and again the night before the blaze.
"My son was passing by here and somebody was sitting here in a white Ram (pickup truck), making mockery, chanting," Abdullah said.
"The first thing we think about is hate crimes that could go on," Hala Saadeh, who uses the community center, was reported as saying. "It says right on the front - Islamic Institute. We’re not hiding ourselves.”
Preliminary investigation has concluded that the fire was started by a person. Who it was is unknown at this time. But the investigators have made clear that the fire was not accidental. Let us be clear: the investigation is ongoing. Please do not spread hate; spread love, tolerance, and harmony, just as Prophet Muhammad (S) did.
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(Assistant Imam) Ahsan Zahid, 25, said arson investigators with the Houston Fire Department told him that an accelerant was used in the fire... Zahid, a political science student at the University of Houston, said two working theories are being pursued. The fire was started on purpose to damage the building or it was started by a homeless person who broke in to the building because of the cold. http://www.chron.com/...
TPM Smoke billowed from the Quba Islamic Institute early in the morning as the Houston Fire Department responded to an alarm at about 5:30 a.m CST, the station reported.
The fire was under control about an hour later, but the building, identified as a family center that was set to open soon, was a "complete loss," according to KHOU.
The burned building had just been purchased and was going to be turned into a community center, as well as a place for children to study Islam.
Luckily, firefighters kept the flames from spreading to the mosque where people gather to pray. Some were headed there around the time of the fire but were quickly turned away as firefighters blocked off FM 1959.
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