At a time when Islamophobia was on the rise in the United States, an imam was shot dead outside a mosque.

At 6 am, Imam Sharif was sitting in his car when an unknown gunman shot him multiple times in the stomach and right arm outside the Masjid Muhammad Mosque, where he had been imam for four years. As the mosque's call to prayer rang out on South Orange Avenue, mourners gathered to remember Sharif.

Officials are still searching for the gunman to determine what killed a man remembered as a symbol of his community. Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said authorities "will bring the perpetrators to justice no matter how long it takes."

"Imam Hassan Sharif was with the people of this city and we will be with him and his family," Baraka added. Those who know Sharif, 52, remember him as a preacher of peace against injustice and violence in Newark.

"Imam Hassan Sharif was young, so he could relate to them in that sense," said Jimmy Small, president of the Muslim League of New Jersey Voters. “He tried to work with the community and give them access. Many young people passed by the mosque and enjoyed their free lunch. Get out and talk to young people about how dangerous gun violence is,” Small added.

This is not the first time that Sharif has been attacked by gunmen. Sharif was attacked at a mosque while on his way to Fajr prayers, according to a Facebook post last August.

On his Facebook page, Sharif described the encounter with a man who got out of a car and pointed a gun at his head as a "real ordeal". Sharif took the gun from the attacker, who fled the scene.

"I go to the mosque and say my morning prayers as usual. This morning was a particularly obvious test. I got out of the car and went inside. Who was thinking of me? They followed me and pointed a gun at me in the head," Sharif wrote on Facebook. Sharif said of the attacker: “This morning, Allah showed him mercy. I pray that he will hear this mercy and change his life," adding, "I will die to protect my people to see them in this world." . Change".

The attack on Sharif comes amid rising Islamophobia in the United States and other Western countries, with hate crimes against Muslims on the rise in Western countries since the October 7 attack on Israel by the Hamas resistance group.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported that American Muslim rights and advocacy groups received a total of 1,283 requests for assistance and reports of bias between October 7 and November 4. "We encourage all mosques to keep their doors open, especially given the recent increase in anti-Muslim bias," said Dina Syedahmed, spokeswoman for the New Jersey branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin went out of his way to confirm that there is fear and anxiety among Muslims in New Jersey. "We are aware of global events and the growing prejudice against many communities, particularly the Muslim community, in our state," Platkin said.

He also said that recognizing the tensions that have arisen in many parts of the world during the Gaza conflict, law enforcement agencies have stepped up inspections of places of worship, especially Jewish and Muslim places of worship. Platkin also acknowledged that gun violence is on the rise in the United States because there are more guns than people, with 120 guns for every 100 Americans.

"We also know that Imam Sharif is the latest victim of the senseless gun violence plaguing our state and our nation," he said. In 1973, James Shabazz, the imam of the Muhammad Mosque at the time, was also shot dead on the road.