Correction: This story has been updated to correct a misspelling of Khurram Owais’ name.
Earlier this year, the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts decided to “open up” its communications to the broader community by launching a Facebook page.
The move, according to Khurram Owais, the secretary of the 42-year-old West Springfield mosque, was meant to “break that fortification” that arises in Muslim communities when faced with hostility from the broader society.
“It’s a two-way street of feeling more belonging and more community,” he explained.
The group’s first dozen Facebook posts, which included images and flyers about upcoming events, saw little engagement until Oct. 8, when Owais decided to try something new.
Owais wanted to promote “Open Mosque Day,” an event the organization has held since 2017 with the goal of fostering cultural exchange and introducing neighbors to Islam and the mosque. He posted a flyer describing the Oct. 11 event and its agenda, featuring activities like an Islam 101 presentation, a Q&A session, a mosque tour, noon prayer, and food.
“And then Facebook asked me, ‘Would you like to boost it?’” he said. “I was like, sure.”
Owais, a physician who admits he’s “not a social media guru,” paid $20.
“I was under the impression that Facebook’s algorithm would be pretty smart, showing the post to people who are genuinely interested,” he said.
Slowly, a trickle of reactions came in.
“Initially, it was just angry emojis,” Owais explained. “And then it just kept getting nastier and nastier.”
By Oct. 10, the post had nearly 120 comments from people throughout the country, around three-quarters of which were hateful or threatening.
A profile with the name Fran Ring wrote, “You better not contribute to illegals or your s*** might get burnt down!”
Michael Carnahan said, “WOW !! Letting us Christians know when to attack .thanks . A holy war is apon us. You will lose again.”
Douglas Smith, whose profile describes him as working for the U.S. Navy and features photos of a man in Navy uniforms, posted a meme that said, “F*** ISLAM ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!!” below an image of crusaders.
A Navy spokesperson declined to comment on the meme and Smith’s profile.
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Mosque leaders kept the Facebook post up until after the event, even sharing it to Longmeadow’s community forum in part to showcase the hateful comments. Then they deleted it.
“We didn’t want abuses [and] hurtful comments to linger on our page,” Owais said.
Despite the online threats, the event was peaceful and drew about 70 attendees.
But for Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, the executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a worshipper at the Islamic Society of Western Mass, the series of events wasn’t surprising.
“Meta likes the drama. They like the smoke,” she said.
Similarly, Owais said Facebook’s boost function appeared to seek any form of engagement, regardless of whether it was positive or negative.
“It ended up being a very dumb algorithm,” he said.
Facebook and its owner, Meta, did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment.
Data from CAIR-MA show a sharp rise in both the volume and severity of Islamophobic incidents across the state. Reports of hate and harassment rose 40% in 2023, and call volume to CAIR-MA doubled that year, reaching an all-time high. By mid-2024, the organization had already received nearly as many calls as in all of 2023.
Much of that surge followed the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. CAIR-MA reported it received more calls in the three months following the outbreak of the conflict than it had during all of 2022.
Amatul-Wadud said Muslims are “conditioned to expect” harassment and often “just sort of accept it” because they are one of the few groups it remains “politically correct and OK to demonize and to threaten and bully” in the United States. That normalization, she said, leads many people to dismiss threats that should be taken seriously.
Sgt. Joseph LaFrance, a spokesperson for the West Springfield Police Department, said after reviewing the Facebook comments, officers did not find anything criminal.
“Many of the posts were intolerant and ignorant,” he said in an email, “but we did not see any threats directed toward the people posting or the Mosque.”
LaFrance also said the police department had no recent reports of threats involving the facility, and that the last call for service was for what turned out to be a false alarm in June.
To protect worshippers, the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts has for years hired a police detail for Friday prayers, a measure intended for both traffic control and safety.
Owais said the mosque draws up to 1,200 people across two services. One officer is typically stationed outside for about four hours. While they help direct traffic on Amostown Road, their presence also serves as a deterrent. “It’s worth investing for,” Owais said, noting that provocations happen “on a fairly regular basis.” Earlier this year, he said, a caller to the mosque left a voicemail declaring “death to all Muslims.”
CAIR-MA is helping the mosque apply for a state Nonprofit Security Grant, which funds upgrades like reinforced doors, cameras, and locking systems.
“It costs a lot to secure yourself,” Amatul-Wadud said, noting the grant is “specifically for nonprofits and institutions that might face risk and may need some support.”
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For Owais and others, Islamophobic harassment has become an increasingly regular occurrence. Owais said he has had patients refuse to let him treat them because he is Muslim.
The rise in hostility has reportedly been accompanied by escalating violence. The CAIR-MA 2025 Youth Bullying Report says Abdul, a public high school student, was hospitalized after a classmate poisoned a water bottle with rubbing alcohol. Another student reportedly suffered a severe concussion after being punched. Among girls who wear the hijab, 35% reported physical harassment, including having their headscarves pulled off in school.
In a CAIR-MA survey of 319 Muslim students published this year, 36% said they didn’t feel comfortable discussing bullying with teachers or staff. Nearly a quarter said they had changed or considered changing their appearance, behavior, or name to avoid being identified as Muslim. Only 35% said they would tell a parent if they were bullied, fewer than those who said they would report it to a teacher (57%) or a friend (45%). Just 1% said they wouldn’t tell anyone at all.
Owais said years of exposure to harassment, often disguised as “jokes,” have led many Muslims to normalize hate, responding with silence or avoidance.
“The default is that you kind of brush it off, you laugh it off, and stay enclosed within your group, within your pack, and you just kind of keep operating,” he said. “The idea from us as an organization is that this needs to change.”