Dearborn — The local office of a national Muslim civil rights group says they have met with postal investigators about several anti-Muslim hate mailings that were sent recently to area mosques, Islamic centers and Muslim organizations.
Officials for the Michigan office of Council on American-Islamic Relations, located in Southfield, say they were investigating mail received by a local mosque that contained pornographic references to Islam.
Lena Masri, the staff attorney for CAIR-MI, said the organization has turned over several pieces of obscene mailings. Masri said the correspondence they received from a local mosque was pornographic material making reference to Islamic religious symbols.
“Unfortunately, given the rise in Islamaphobia, we’ve seen a rise in hate mail mailed to mosques as well as to our offices,” said Masri on Monday.
Masri said she was informed by local officials with the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Office that a Dearborn mosque was mailed a letter containing a page from the Quran that was smeared with feces.
Masri said CAIR has issued an advisory for local mosques and Islamic organizations and others to be cautious when opening their mail. She urged people not to open mail without a return address and to report suspicious letters and packages to the U.S. postal inspector or to CAIR’s office.