One by one, the mourners lined up inside a Dearborn mosque Tuesday morning to pause in front of framed photos of the Abbas family and then shake hands with relatives dressed in black as the sounds of Islamic prayers echoed throughout the hall.
On the wall was a slide show of photos of the Northville family of five —killed by a drunken driving suspect in Kentucky earlier this week —as speakers recalled their legacy. People remembered their smiles, their careers, their relationships with neighbors and other family members.
"A journey cut short by onelawless individual," saidAdnan Chirri, uncle of one of the victims, Dr. Rima Abbas. The family has "arrived at their destination and, inshallah (God willing), that is heaven."
The family— Issam Abbas, 42;his wife, Dr. Rima Abbas, 38, and their three children,Ali, 13;Isabella, 12, and Giselle, 7 —was returning home from a Florida vacation when they were killed in a fiery crash at 2:30 a.m.Sunday. Apickup headed the wrong way on northbound I-75 strucktheir SUVhead-onin Lexington, Kentucky.
Tuesday'stwo-hour funeral service inside one of America's most prominent mosques touched upon faith, God's will, and the diverse fabric of metro Detroit, where the Abbas family made their home as the descendantsof Lebanese immigrants.
The service drew upon the traditions of Shia Islam as people cried out to God for mercy and remembered the struggles of past generations. The deaths have affectedmany in metro Detroit's Lebanese-American community who have ties toBint Jbeil, the town in southern Lebanon the family has roots in.
Rima Abbas was the granddaughter of the founder of the mosque, the late Imam Mohamad Jawad Chirri, an immigrant from Lebanon who helped open the mosque in 1963.
Sheikh Ibrahim Kazerooni, one of the mosque's imams, spoke about how to deal with tragedy and sudden death.
"We should be grateful for what we have," Kazerooni told the crowd. "Too often, it takes pain and the devastating shock of a tragedy to awaken us to the reality of the world. Be grateful for the people that are around you and are a part of your life. Life can suddenly come to an end.
"Death is unavoidable, nonnegotiable, no one is exempt," he said.
The Abbas family was Muslim, but intertwined with the interfaith mosaicof the region. Speakers noted that they exchanged Christmas gifts and photos showed them in front of their Christmas treeat home.
Chirri said that the family and the Islamic Center have been contacted in recent days by many "religious scholars ... Jewish community, Christian community, Muslim community, and others" to express sorrow.
Chirri read aletter of condolences from Catholic Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron that saidin part: "I offer heartfelt condolences. ... The entire Roman Catholic community grieves with you and your congregation. ... May all of you find peace in your submission to the divine will."
Another family member noted condolences she had received from a rabbi. And others called for getting tough on drunken driving.
"Alcohol is a disease," Natalie Abbas, sister of Issam Abbas, said during the service. "And laws should be in place, tougher laws for people who think it is safe to drink and drive. That's what we need to work on."
Chirri said: "Let them not have died in vain. Control the flow of alcohol. This has to stop. The flow of alcohol is so rampant in this country. It's available to everyone. False IDs. Drink as much as you want at the bar, as much as you want at the stadium, then go out driving,it's archaic."
After the service, the five caskets weretaken to the main prayer halland then carried out to the hearses as the men holding them cried out in Arabic: "There is no god but God."
As police blocked off parts of Ford Road, the hearses led a caravan drivento Islamic Memorial Gardens in Westland, where the burial later took place.
Part of the service touched upon discussions aboutthe will of God and the traditional stories that Shias recited during Ashura, the 10th of the new year on the Islamic calendar that recalls the early battles to help protect Islam.
Some family members questioned whether it was God's will that the family died. Natalie, the sister of Issam, the father who died, said that Issam had been thinking of traveling to Mexico with her over the Christmas holiday break. Instead, they went to Florida.
"I've heard repeatedly these past few days that was God's will," she said. "People say it was God's will, they were meant to die. God's will for a 7-year-old to die? I don't think so."
This was the third day of mourning and visitation at the Islamic Center. Another service is planned for Thursday and a candlelight vigil on Friday.On Monday, the night before the funeral, roads were bumper-to-bumper with traffic for a mile around the sprawling mosque, where anestimated 2,000 people filed through a crowded hall to pay respects.
The tragic deaths also add to concerns expressed bytraffic safety experts, who have beencalling for better roadway safetyin recent years as automotive fatalities in the United States annually top 40,000.
Just before the fatal collision, several 911 calls were received about a white pickup traveling the way in the northbound lanes. After the crash, both cars burst into flames which quickly became araging inferno.
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Thousands mourn Abbas family at Islamic Center of America in Dearborn
The driver of the pickup truck, Joey Lee Bailey, 41, of Georgetown, Kentucky,also died.
Bailey's toxicology results are pending.
Rima Abbas, who graduated from Wayne State University's medical school in 2006, practicedfamily medicine atBeaumont Medical Center inGarden City andis affiliatedwith Beaumont Wayne and Beaumont Dearborn. Some of her colleagues were at Tuesday's funeral. Issam Abbas was an attorney and real estate agent.
The children attended Northville Public Schools, which had social workers on hand to help students deal with their grief. Ali Abbas was in the eighthgrade, Isabella Abbas was inseventh grade and Giselle Abbas was in secondgrade.
Relatives asked thatin lieu of flowers donations go to Mothers Against Drink Driving.
In his remarks, Sheikh Kazeroonisaid to rely on God for strength at times like this.
"In the most tragic of circumstances ... one is made paralyzed and searches for words to express one's feelings," he said."You have no other alternative, since we don't understand the rationale, butto go back and take refuge in Allah ... so we remain balanced during these unique and painful events."
Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo.Staff writerBill Laitner contributed to this report.
