Christian Family Loses Muslim Girls

After more than three months in a Christian foster home, three Muslim Iraqi sisters are now in the care of a Detroit-area Muslim leader.

Arab American religious and community leaders had criticized the girls’ treatment by their original foster parents, alleging that they gave them Christian crosses to wear and took away their traditional hijabs, or head scarves.

The girls, ages 12, 14 and 16, were removed from their parents’ home in August after state child welfare officials accused their parents of physically abusing them.

The girls now live with Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, leader of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, his wife and three children.

“We give them all the flexibility and freedom they want both inside and outside our home,” Elahi told the Detroit News. “We take care of them better than our own children--honestly--because we want them to realize they are in a safe and warm atmosphere. We want to make them happy and give them a sense of belonging.”