(RNS) — On a Sunday evening last month, several Muslim high schoolers were sipping drinks and playing board games at a coffee shop in Murphy, Texas, for what was supposed to be a casual social gathering.
Around sunset, some of the students stepped outside Original Mocha coffee house, located in the suburb about 25 miles northeast of Dallas, to offer their evening prayer. They asked the cafe owners for permission to use the sidewalk, and 17-year-old Usman Kayani started leading the short prayer.
That is when three men who identify themselves as Christian influencers approached the roughly 20 students and began making Islamophobic comments such as “I am mocking your religion” and “You need Jesus,” according to video footage.
Kayani didn’t look behind or cut short the prayer, he said, even as one of the men came close to him. “I was kind of scared at that moment because I thought he was going to attack me,” Kayani said. “So I just closed my eyes and continued reciting the Quran. I needed to keep my prayer steady.”
Most in his group remained seated and quiet, he said, not wanting to escalate or give the agitators a reaction.
“We were taught to hold ourselves with dignity even when others don’t,” said Kayani, who is president of Plano East Senior High School’s Muslim Student Associati …