At approximately 11 p.m. on Jan 4, the FBI, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the FBI’s Joint Terrorist Task Force raided the mosque.

The FBI obtained a warrant to search for guns and rocket launchers that the tipster said were being stored in preparation to shoot down planes as they took off from LaGuardia Airport.

After tearing up the mosque’s rug, cutting open pieces of luggage, and checking the citizenship status of those present, the investigators came up empty handed.

The mosque’s Imam, Mufti Abdul Rahman Qamar, who taught a Koran lesson at Masjid e Khizra two hours before the raid, said he was not upset about the incident.

“I am American, too. Safety is the most important thing. The FBI needed to check if it was true, they were gentle and polite, and they saw there was nothing here,” he said.

 According to the imam, his five children were held in custody, one at the 114th Precinct, while the three-hour raid occurred.

The children were students of high school and college ages.

Saeed Mahmood, a member of the mosque, said that the imam’s children were thrown on the ground and beaten by officials when they first arrived, but, “Once the officers checked our citizenship papers, they were much nicer.”

Investigators also searched the homes of Mahmood and Qamar, but found nothing.

Mahmood said he believes that the tip was given to the FBI by an internal faction at the mosque that is against the imam, but there is no evidence to prove it.

Parvez Mahmood, a Queens resident and chairman of the Pakistan Independence Day Parade and Fair Committee, questioned if the FBI would have raided a church or synagogue as quickly as it raided Masjid e Khizra.

He said, “They should give a mosque the same respect as any other religious place of worship.” He added, “If they had a good reason to raid it, then they were doing their jobs, but they didn’t find anything.”

Qamar said, “I didn’t feel like they were singling us out because we’re a mosque. They were searching the place because they were given false information.”

He added, “People of this community know me. I have tried to teach more about the Muslim faith since the attacks to Community Board 3 and to the 115th and 113th Precincts. I have gotten nothing but respect since the attacks, including during the raid . . . I feel the FBI would have treated another religious group the same way that they treated us.”

The FBI agent in charge of the raid was on special assignment and unavailable for comment at presstime, but sources close to the case told the Tribune that the FBI received credible information that there were weapons and threats of terrorist activity at the Jackson Heights mosque.

Although we were assured that the search procedure would have been the same for any group Mahmood remained skeptical, and said, “It may have been different.”

Directly following Sept. 11, leaders of the Muslim community said that verbal and violent attacks on Muslims increased, and that several violent threats to Muslims caused the NYPD to patrol the areas around mosques.

According to the NYPD, officers are still on alert around mosques, but constant patrols stopped in mid-December.

Police also said that the number of bias incidents in the City increased slightly following Sept. 11, but said they could not release specific races involved in the incidents.

The number of bias incidents has since gone back down, police said. 

Parvez Mahmood said, “There was definitely a change in attitude after Sept. 11. We were just regular people before. After those attacks, people may have placed the blame on Muslims in this country.”

Executive Director of the Northern Queens Health Coalition and Chair of Pragati, an organization for South Asian women Mala Desai, said “Soon after Sept. 11, there were a number of bias attacks against members of the South Asian community. People were scared, and I went to several City offices for help.”

Desai said that the incidents have died down, but she said, “The feeling is still there.”

“The feeling,” as Desai calls it, is being felt all across Queens.

Outside of the Afghan Kebab House in Flushing, two Afghani residents told the Tribune that while they don’t fear retaliation against them for Sept. 11 as they had in the days following the attacks, negative attitudes towards them are still felt.

Johad Zahoon a restaurant patron said, “When it first happened, I was truly afraid of being hurt. People would yell things at me from cars and I would see police cars in front of my mosque. Now I’m not afraid, but I still feel that things aren’t quite back to normal . . . ”

Zahoon’s friend Nahira Gul, a Muslim woman who wears a scarf, added, “It doesn’t help that CNN shows Muslim people shooting guns in the air and celebrating when the Towers fell. I cried when they fell. I wasn’t celebrating. But people think I was.”

Executive Director of the Bangladeshi American Friendship Association Morshed Alam said he has felt the negative feedback, and said, “I can’t describe what we’re all feeling, really. We just know things are not back to how they were . . . I have seen changes for the positive and for the negative. Some people have come together to show that they accept us and have learned more about the religion, others don’t understand the religion and think Muslims attacked America. Muslims didn’t attack America, terrorists did. There is a difference.”

While a negative sentiment may still be in the air, Middle Eastern businesses report that everything is the same.

Owner of the Alibaba Afghani Restaurant and Catering Hall in Fresh Meadows, Mohammed Shukoor, told the Tribune, “Nobody has treated us any differently. Business is fine.”

An employee at the Afghan Bakery in Long Island City said, “Nothing has changed. We’re still selling the same thing we always sold.”

And employees at the Afghan Kebab House in Flushing and the Al-Maaka Halal Meat in Richmond Hill also said business is fine.

Desai said she is pleased that businesses are doing well and that incidents have decreased, but she said, “I just hope people are reporting any incidents that are occurring. People don’t want to talk about this, and they’re afraid. I truly hope that people are coming forward if they’re having problems.”