Local Muslims worried about Paris attack backlash

Just days after the atrocities in Paris, concerns about Muslims and the threat of terrorism seem to be peaking. On social media, anti-Islamic rhetoric is rampant.

Here in the Bay Area, Muslims are concerned about backlash against their community.

Midday at Fremont's Islamic Society of the East Bay is a time for prayer. People from around the area come to worship Allah, the God of the Quran.

Ashik Ali is from Fiji and works in high-tech. He was devastated by the Paris attacks.

"People were just sitting down to have an ordinary meal. And they blow them up. It's heinous. It's barbaric. It's not representative of our religion period.," he said.

Ali Habad is a truck driver from Ethiopia. "They're not Muslim. They are not Muslim," he said of the terrorists.

He says Islam is about peace. "Teaches us that anybody who kills one person, it's equal to killing all people in humanity. So, killing is never the answer," said Habad.

"The level of fear from my fellow American Muslims is concerning and frightening," said Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "People are afraid to go out, they're afraid to send their kids to school. We've seen instances of vandalism and attacks in other parts of the country already."

The fear is that critics cannot distinguish between the terrorists and the 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide.

"Believe me, we are not that kind of people. It's just only a handful of idiots who do all these things," said Ashik Ali.

The two men we spoke with both said coming to the United States was the best thing they ever did. In fact, one of them got choked up when talking about what the country means to his family.

"I been here almost 30 years, my son... he was in the A.S. Army... And my nephew, he was in the Army also," said Ashik Ali.

They don't understand how some people can pervert their religion the way ISIS does. "

We can say just like KKK. You know, KKK, they carry a bible, and a cross. And Christianity, Jesus Christ did not teach them to go and burn people and go and kill people," argued Ashik Ali.