Islamic Society of Joplin

This is the Islamic Society of Joplin, a mosque and community center in Joplin, Missouri. Its history is marked by immeasurable tragedy. In 2008, the sign welcoming people to the mosque was deliberately set ablaze. In 2012, the Islamic Society experienced two individual fires within one month, one completely destroying the holy site. Mosques, when situated in the post 9/11 context, have increasingly become the site for hate crimes. Active attendance at the Islamic Society has dropped from 50 families to 30 in the decade and a half since its founding. Yet despite the abject disdain displayed by criminals, the Islamic Society of Joplin, and community members around them, have created a sense of unity that has kept the Joplin Muslim community alive.

The Islamic Society of Joplin opened in 2007, with a membership of around 50 families (Missouri mosque burned...). Tragically, by 2008, the Islamic Society had already been the victim of one attack, as the sign for the Islamic Society of Joplin had been the target of arson (Missouri mosque burned...). While this was investigated, a perpetrator was never found, as the "investigation... hit a dead end" (Missouri mosque burned...).

In 2012, two separate attempts of arson at the Islamic Society of Joplin sparked nationwide attention on the small community. The first attempt on July 4th "scorched the roof of the building" and was caught on surveillance camera, with the FBI offering a $15,000 reward to find a perpetrator (CNN). The second attempt on August 6th, during the holy period of Ramadan, destroyed the entire building. After the fire, however, leaders remained steadfast in their religious obligations, saying that "this [w]as a test from God" who "has a plan" in the fire's wake (Ryan). The man who started it, Jedediah Stout, was a self-proclaimed conservative Christian who "didn't like the religion of Islam" (Thomas) Stout, an Iraq War veteran, was one of many emboldened by the War on Terror to attack the Islamic religion. However, that was unlikely his only motivation. Stout twice attempted to burn a Planned Parenthood clinic in Joplin, although was ultimately unsuccessful (Thomas). Stout received 61 years of jail time after being found guilty in 2016 (Younker).

Anti-Islamic hate crimes have increased generally since the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center by Al-Qaeda. FBI data indicates a spike from 28 anti-Islamic hate incidents in 2000 to 481 in 2001, with a flat rate over 100 in years after (Kuek Ser). These rates still held true in 2012 - in eleven days surrounding the attack on the Islamic Society of Joplin that would cause its complete destruction, there were seven other attacks on religious facilities, including a "deadly shooting spree in a Sikh gurdwara", most being on Muslim institutions (Kolsy). Mark Gillem and Lindsey Pruitt describe the cause of this as dispersion - increasingly, immigrant communities are no longer concentrating in urban neighborhoods, but are located in rural and suburban neighborhoods, Joplin being one example, with sparse architectural markers of their individual cultures (Gillem and Pruitt 63-64). These architectural markers of the arrival of immigrants can be contentious, as "in these new environments, architectural icons are visible landmarks of difference that are targets of surveillance and, in some cases, retribution" (Gillem and Pruitt 64).

The Islamic Society of Joplin is but one example of how architectural markers can cause disparate violence against immigrants. Joplin is situated in the midst of a largely conservative and Christian area. The relative quantity of mosques is miniscule compared to the daunting amount of Christian churches of all denominations. Yet these attacks are disparately focused on Islamic, Central, and South Asian peoples. Only around 30 families now practice at the Islamic Society of Joplin (Gross). Despite this, it has been the target of three unique incidents of arson. The targeting of the mosque in Joplin became an indicator for Muslims across America, one acknowledging that "Joplin was attacked before... if this sort of harassment continues, something worse may happen" (Kolzy). This worry was not unwarranted. The increasing intensity and quantity of attacks ensured that only three years later, anti-Islamic hate crime statistics rose by 67%, driving a 7% increase in nation-wide hate crime rates (Barrett).

Catastrophic damage to rural mosques extended to others, as Noel, Missouri, only a 50 minute drive away from Joplin, experienced a fire in late 2020 that burnt a mosque and an African grocery store, which resulted in the injuries of two (Strader). While the cause of this fire is undetermined, mosques in this area have disproportionately been the site of massive amounts of damage. Yet in the aftermath of each attack, the Islamic Society of Joplin has turned attention primarily to rebuilding. After the destruction of their own mosque and community center, the Islamic Society of Joplin spent two million dollars on a rebuild effort that would replace the former building (Fowler). This was significantly through crowdfunding efforts online from the Joplin community and many others. The Islamic Society of Joplin has also helped provide a fundraiser to rebuild the mosque burned in Noel.

The Islamic Society of Joplin is but one example of a larger trend of anti-Islamic hate in the United States. However, it also signifies the ability of religious communities to move beyond incidents of hate and continue in their faith despite vulnerability.

Barrett, Devlin. U.S. Hate Crimes Up Nearly 7% in 2015, FBI Says, Wall Street Journal. November 14th 2016. Accessed October 29th 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-hate-crimes-up-nearly-7-in-2015-fbi-says-1479144587?mod=article_inline.

Fowler, Lilly. Joplin's Muslims rejoice in reopening of mosque after fire blamed on arsonist. The Joplin Globe. July 29th, 2014. Accessed October 29th 2021. https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/joplin-s-muslims-rejoice-in-reopening-of-mosque-after-fire/article_9113b16b-e2e3-548b-9ec8-34ca0f8e3a63.html

Gillem, Mark. Pruitt, Lyndsey. "Chapter 4: Security, surveillance and the new landscapes of migration" in Ethno-architecture and the Politics of Migration. Routledge, 2015.

Gross, Daniel A.. How a Muslim community in Missouri rose from the ashes of an arson attack, The World. May 29th 2017. Accessed October 29th 2021. https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-05-29/how-muslim-community-missouri-rose-ashes-arson-attack.

Kolzy, Uzma. Eight attacks, 11 days, Salon. August 14th 2012. Accessed October 29th 2021. https://www.salon.com/2012/08/14/eight_attacks_11_days/.

Kuek Ser, Kuang Keng. Data: Hate crimes against Muslims increased after 9/11, The World. September 12th, 2016. Accessed October 29th 2021. https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-09-12/data-hate-crimes-against-muslims-increased-after-911.

Missouri mosque burned to the ground a month after failed arson, RT. August 6th, 2012. Accessed October 29th 2021. https://www.rt.com/usa/mosque-arson-fire-joplin-999/.

Missouri mosque destroyed in second fire in a month. CNN. August 7th, 2012. Accessed October 29th, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2012/08/06/us/missouri-mosque-burned/index.html.

Ryan, Kelsey. 'Suspicious' fire leads to destruction of Joplin mosque. Joplin Globe. August 6th, 2012. Accessed November 12th 2021.

Strader, Stacie. Noel fire sends 2 to hospital, damages store and mosque, KOAM News Now. December 28th, 2020. Accessed October 29th 2021. https://www.koamnewsnow.com/noel-fire-sends-2-to-hospital-damages-store-and-mosque/.

Thomas, Crystal. Joplin man who torched mosque, attempted to burn Planned Parenthood clinic sentenced to five years in prison. The Joplin Globe. October 10th, 2016. Accessed October 29th 2021. https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/local_news/joplin-man-who-torched-mosque-attempted-to-burn-planned-parenthood-clinic-sentenced-to-five-years/article_c39da4b1-07b9-513d-98af-9cf720f3e0f1.html

Younker, Emily. Joplin man pleads guilty to mosque burning, Planned Parenthood arson attempts. The Joplin Globe. April 18th, 2016. Accessed November 4th 2021. https://www.joplinglobe.com/news/joplin-man-pleads-guilty-to-mosque-burning-planned-parenthood-arson-attempts/article_31662cb4-059a-11e6-b461-abebb8063e3c.html