From Houston Chronicle
Flanked by clergy from a cross-section of Houston’s religious community, leaders of an Islamic religious center Friday asked prosecutors to drop the felony charge lodged against a homeless man accused of setting one of their buildings on fire.
“We always preach forgiveness,” said Ahsan Zahid, assistant imam at the Quba Islamic Institute. “Our God is forgiving. Our prophet was always forgiving, and God tells us we should do as we expected to be treated by others. We should forgive, and that is the request we made.”
Leaders of the institute, at 730 FM 1959 in the city’s southeast side, made their public request at a news conference called by Interfaith Ministries. Lending support to the Muslim group were clergy from Jewish and Christian congregations.
Harris County District Attorney’s spokesman Jeff McShan confirmed that his office had received and would consider the institute’s request.
But, he added, “At this time, Darryl Ferguson’s first-degree arson charge will remain. The investigation into the fire is ongoing. No final decisions have been made and will not be made over the weekend.”
