(AA) – Hundreds of people from different faiths gathered at The All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) in Virginia to mourn the three young Muslims who were killed in North Carolina on Tuesday.
Local Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Sikh and Buddhist community leaders attended the event, where a photo gallery of the victims’ lives was on display.
Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were murdered by their neighbor in what many are calling a hate crime.
“We must say ‘no’ to hate, and we must say ‘no’ to discrimination together and ‘yes’ to working together for what’s best for America and for the world,” said Joan Bell Hayes from the United Christian Perish.
“If you really want to remember these three souls, challenge yourself and challenge your intentions,” said Sam Rasul, the first Muslim in the Virginia House of Delegates.
The three victims were shot dead in a residential complex in Chapel Hill. Craig Stephen Hicks, the prime suspect, surrendered to police after the attack.
Community leaders asked “all Americans to be extra vigilant in our common struggle against actions that counter and threaten the very core of our nation’s principles and to cooperate with law enforcement agencies to ensure justice for the victims of these attacks.”
Barakat was a second-year student at the University of North Carolina’s School of Dentistry, who was raising money on YouCaring.com, to provide dental relief to Syrian refugees in Turkey.
His wife, Yusor, was planning to begin her dental studies at the same school in the fall, and her sister, Razan, was a student at North Carolina State University.