Man accused of stabbing imam caused concerns at another Paterson mosque
PATERSON — The man accused of stabbing an imam during Sunday’s morning prayers at Omar Mosque on Getty Avenue recently alarmed people at another Islamic house of worship in South Paterson because of alleged abnormal behavior.
Serif Zorba, 32, had been attending prayer services at the Mevlana Cami, a mosque on Sussex Street, every day since the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month that began March 22, according to the vice president of that congregation, Hasan Oren.
But Zorba’s behavior at a recent service caught the attention of worshippers, Oren said.
On Friday afternoon, Zorba entered the Sussex Street mosque for prayers and knelt in prayer position, with his head touching the ground. He draped a black scarf over his head and face and remained there unmoving for an hour and a half, Oren said, describing the behavior as highly unusual.
“Who can stay on the floor in prayers position for one-and-a-half hours and cover his head with a black thing? This is not normal,” he said.
After prayers, Zorba allegedly approached the imam and pointed at his tie, asking him, “Why are you wearing a tie? In our religion, you should not wear a tie.”
Though the behavior was odd, Zorba gave no indication of anger or violence, Oren said. Zorba returned for prayers at the Mevlana mosque on Saturday.
Oren heard about Sunday’s stabbing the next day. When he saw the suspect’s photo, he went back to check the mosque cameras and realized it was the same man.
Earlier: Suspect named in stabbing attack on imam during prayers at South Paterson Omar Mosque
“We were shocked,” he said. “How can he do that?”
Oren described Imam Sayed Elnakib of the Omar Mosque, the victim of the stabbing, as a well-respected religious leader, saying people were saddened by the news. Oren planned to visit Elnakib as he recovers from his injuries, he said.
No explanation of motive
Zorba appeared before state Superior Court Judge Vincenzo Stampone on Monday afternoon in a virtual court hearing from the Passaic County Jail. Bill Rohr from the Public Defender's Office entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. The court said the stabbing suspect initially refused to file for a public defender but said he would do so after the hearing.
The Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion for pretrial detention early Monday, and Zorba is scheduled to appear for his detention hearing on Thursday at 9 a.m. before Judge Scott Rumana.
Authorities have not provided any explanation for the stabbing.
Law enforcement and city government officials gathered outside the Getty Avenue mosque on Monday morning to announce heightened security measures there and at other Islamic houses of worship for the final 10 days of the Ramadan holy month.
New Jersey State Police Maj. Frederick Fife, the officer currently in charge of the Paterson Police Department, declined to reveal details of the extra security, but he said it would include plainclothes officers as well as those in uniform in marked vehicles.
Fife said the plainclothes officers would not be deployed inside the mosques. Other officials said the mosques were not planning any weapons checks of people coming to worship.
“We don’t want to turn this into a TSA checkpoint,” said Abdul Hamdan, a spokesman for the mosque, referring to the Transportation Security Administration, which screens airplane passengers before they board their flights.
Officials acknowledged Monday that none of the new security measures could have prevented the attack on the 65-year-old imam.
Hamdan and others at the press conference said Elnakib was in stable condition at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson and likely would be released later this week. Hamdan called the members of the mosque congregation who subdued the attacker “heroes.”
The suspect has not been charged with any hate crimes in the attack. Zorba allegedly has been at the Getty Avenue mosque on other occasions in the past and was participating in the prayers just moments before his attack on the imam. Hamdan has said Zorba was not a member of the Omar Mosque congregation.
Zorba was arrested Sunday and charged with attempted murder and weapons offenses. The mosque spokesman said attendance at Monday morning’s prayers was significantly greater than on Sunday, when the incident happened.
“The community is bouncing back,” said Al Abdelaziz, the councilman who represents Paterson’s 6th Ward, where the mosque is.
Staff Writers Kaitlyn Kanzler and Liam Quinn contributed to this article.
Hannan Adely is a staff writer for NorthJersey.com. Email: adely@northjersey.com
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ imam stabbing: Man accused caused alarm at mosque
