IU students react to attack

The Bloomington community was rocked Saturday after an attack on Bloomington's only mosque, just days after London suffered several bombings. Some members of IU's Muslim Student Union believe the hate crime is a calling for them to educate others about Islam. \nOzair Shariff, president of MSU, said his initial emotions ranged from anger to shock to disappointment. \n"Disappointment, that people can be so ignorant this day in age in such a crucial time that ignorance shouldn't have a place," he said. "Individuals that perpetuate these acts, it's their ignorance. What's crucial is looking at people on the individual level, not as a religion, looking at acts at individual levels, whether it is 9/11, London or now our mosque because at the end of the day it is our belief that religion is not at fault."\nShariff said this event helps the MSU because of how hurtful the act was. \n"This event tells us as the Muslim organization on campus that people still need to be educated on Islam," he said. "This is more proof that MSU needs to keep up their work to educate people on Islam. This really solidifies what we do."\nIU spokesperson Larry MacIntyre said President Adam Herbert is out of town but several other key administrators were made aware of the situation through the IUPD and the chancellor's office. \n"As far as the University's position, we agree with what Mayor Kruzan said," MacIntyre said. "It is a form of terrorism in itself and we condemn it."\nVice President of the MSU Shahaab Uddin said he felt scared that someone might have been injured in the incident and he admitted being a little afraid. \n"I've seen discrimination, but not as extreme as the hate crime as we just saw," he said. "I think we need to reiterate our focus and cause. We need to reach out even more."\nUddin continued to say this bonds many Muslims together. \n"It helps to be with other Muslims in times such as this ... so we could express our feelings with each other and our feelings about this attack"