Cops: Cabbie Stabbed After Fare Asked, 'Are You Muslim?'??

Authorities say a New York City cab driver is recovering after being brutally stabbed by a passenger who first demanded, "Are you Muslim?"

The attacks occurred as New York is in the midst of a contentious debate over plans to build an Islamic community center and mosque a few blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center.

Police said Ahmed Sharif, 43, of the borough of Queens was driving his taxi on Manhattan's East Side Monday night when he was hailed by a pedestrian on the street.

Roughly one block from his destination, the passenger, identified as 21-year-old Michael Enright, of Brewster in upstate New York, allegedly asked Sharif, "Are you Muslim?" When Sharif said yes, Enright pulled out a knife and slashed Sharif in the neck, face and shoulders, police said.

Despite his injuries, Sharif was able to lock the attacker in the back of the cab and call for help. The suspect managed to get out of the vehicle, but police quickly located him and took him into custody.

Sharif was treated at a local hospital and released.

"I have been here more than 25 years," he said, according to a statement released by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA). "I have been driving a taxi more than 15 years. All my four kids were born here. I [have] never [felt] this hopeless and insecure before."

Sharif said he believed the debate over the Islamic center, often dubbed the ground zero mosque, was making public sentiment "very serious."

"All drivers should be more careful," he said.

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