Burglars who ransacked the home of a Muslim family in Fairfax County also left hate messages behind and ripped apart the family's Quran.
Police are investigating it as a bias-related crime at the family's apartment complex next to the Huntington Metro Station.
"It feels like a nightmare," said Shoaib.
Reality sinks in every time Shoaib and Mahrukh look around their ransacked apartment. Every drawer dumped out, furniture turned over, their bed sheets ripped off and the mattress askew, clothes thrown on their floor, even in their little girls room. She's only 4 years old.
The most hurtful thing was the hate message on the living room wall with an expletive, "F.... Muslims."
"The Quran is ripped apart. Torn into pieces, they're all over the floor," said Shoaib.
The couple only want their first names used for this story.
Paintings with Islamic verses were damaged.
It happened while they were visiting a cousins in New York over the weekend. A maintenance worker discovered the mess on Monday.
"All the jewelry is gone. TV, Apple TV, PS for computers, screens..." Mahrukh explained. Even her daughter's jewelry was swiped.
The burglars broke in by picking the dead bolt lock on the back door. The couple thinks the burglars heard their call to pray alarm which goes off five times a day.
They think that's when the thieves realized, "These are actually Muslims," said Mahrukh.
"Fear and hate, they have no boundaries," - Muslim father whose home was hit by burglars who ripped apart Quran and left hate message @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/VCsxIBlQqM
— Peggy Fox (@PeggyTV) March 28, 2017
The couple moved with their two small children from Dubai to Fairfax County believing it would be a good place to raise their children.
"One reasons we moved here is because we felt safe. Everyone we ever met was extremely nice and people are educated. It's a nice area to live. But if this can happen in an area like this, it goes to show you that bad people are everywhere. And you know, fear and hate, they don't have boundaries," said Shoaib.
They say the company that manages the apartment complex has been helpful, but they do plan to move.
The couple is not hopeful there are any capture photos of the burglars because they don't believe there are security cameras around the complex. That's something they believe the burglars knew.
