Editing Mosque (section)

===Role in violent conflicts===
{{See also|Islamophobia|Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}
[[File:Cast Lead Mosque.jpg|thumb|Mosque in [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]], destroyed during the [[Gaza War (2008–09)|Gaza War]] in 2009]]
As they are considered important to the Muslim community, mosques, like other places of worship, can be at the heart of social conflicts. The [[Babri Mosque]] in India was the subject of such a conflict up until the early 1990s when it was demolished. Before a mutual solution could be devised, the mosque was destroyed on December 6, 1992, as the mosque was built by [[Babur]] allegedly on the site of a previous [[Hindu temple]] marking the birthplace of [[Rama]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Flashpoint Ayodhya |url=http://www.archaeology.org/0407/abstracts/ayodhya.html |date=July–August 2004 |publisher=Archaeology |last=Romey |first=Kristen M. |access-date=2006-04-23 |archive-date=2012-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122220518/http://www.archaeology.org/0407/abstracts/ayodhya.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The controversy surrounded the mosque was directly linked to [[Bombay riots|rioting in Bombay]] (present-day [[Mumbai]]) as well as [[1993 Bombay bombings|bombings in 1993]] that killed 257 people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rollins |first=John |title=International Terrorism and Transnational Crime: Security Threats, U. S. Policy, and Considerations for Congress |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HApgi3eCLxoC&pg=PA15 |access-date=21 February 2013 |date= 2010 |publisher=Diane Publishing |isbn=978-1-4379-2756-6 |page=15}}</ref>

Bombings in February 2006 and [[2007 al-Askari Mosque bombing|June 2007]] seriously damaged Iraq's [[al-Askari Mosque]] and exacerbated existing tensions. Other mosque bombings in Iraq, both before and after the February 2006 bombing, have been part of the conflict between the country's groups of Muslims. In June 2005, a [[suicide bombing]] killed at least 19 people at an Afghan [[Shia Islam|Shia]] mosque near Jade Maivand.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/01/AR2005060100263.html |date=June 2, 2006 |access-date=April 23, 2006 |title=Suicide Bomber Kills 20 in Afghan Mosque |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=A16 |last=Aizenman |first=N.C. |archive-date=October 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007001755/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/01/AR2005060100263.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2006, [[2006 Jama Masjid explosions|two explosions]] occurred at India's Jama Masjid.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Darpan |first=Pratiyogita |title=Pratiyogita Darpan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trBMVnMmk6oC&pg=PT175 |access-date=21 February 2013 |date=February 2009 |publisher=Pratiyogita Darpan |page=1509}}</ref> Following the al-Askari Mosque bombing in Iraq, imams and other Islamic leaders used mosques and [[Jumu'ah|Friday prayers]] as vehicles to call for calm and peace in the midst of widespread violence.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4747886.stm |date=February 24, 2006 |access-date=April 23, 2006 |title=Friday prayer plea for Iraq calm |publisher=BBC |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031150/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4747886.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

A study 2005 indicated that while support for suicide bombings is not correlated with personal devotion to Islam among Palestinian Muslims, it is correlated with mosque attendance because "participating in communal religious rituals of any kind likely encourages support for self-sacrificing behaviors that are done for the collective good."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Study: Islam devotion not linked to terror |url=http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0405/Jun13_05/03.shtml |publisher=The University Record Online |last=Swanbrow |first=Diane |date=June 23, 2005 |access-date=February 24, 2007 |archive-date=December 30, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230212711/http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0405/Jun13_05/03.shtml }}</ref>

Following the [[September 11 attacks]], several American mosques were targeted in attacks ranging from simple [[vandalism]] to [[arson]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=3113 |title=IPA NY Voices That Must Be Heard |publisher=Indypressny.org |access-date=November 3, 2008 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160524004722/http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=3113 |archive-date=May 24, 2016 }}</ref> Furthermore, the [[Jewish Defense League]] was suspected of plotting to bomb the King Fahd Mosque in [[Culver City, California]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/jdl-chairman-follower-accused-of-plotting-to-bomb-mosque-congressman |title=JDL Chairman, Follower Accused of Plotting to Bomb Mosque, Congressman |publisher=Associated Press via Fox News |date=December 13, 2001 |access-date=April 23, 2006 |archive-date=May 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520195513/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,40693,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Similar attacks occurred throughout the United Kingdom following the [[7 July 2005 London bombings]]. Outside the Western world, in June 2001, the [[Hassan Bek Mosque]] was the target of vandalism and attacks by hundreds of Israelis after a suicide bomber killed 19 people in a night club in Tel Aviv.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1366719.stm |title=Arafat orders immediate ceasefire |date=June 3, 2001 |access-date=April 23, 2006 |publisher=BBC |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031252/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1366719.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=John |title=Paranoia, poverty and wild rumours – a journey through BNP country |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/farright/story/0,,1758974,00.html |date=April 22, 2006 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=May 28, 2006 |location=London |archive-date=December 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219112224/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/farright/story/0,,1758974,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12927212 |title=Italians fear mosque plans |last=Carlile |first=Jennifer |date=May 25, 2006 |access-date=May 28, 2006 |work=NBC News |archive-date=February 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227084707/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12927212/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Although mosquegoing is highly encouraged for men, it is permitted to stay at home when one feels at risk from Islamophobic persecution.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Rahman|first1=Fazlur|title=Major Themes of the Qur'an|edition=2nd|date=2009|page=147}}</ref>