Imam Feisal Rauf: Moving Islamic Cultural Center Would Have 'Fueled Terrorism'

Making a relatively rare television appearance on Sunday, Imam Feisal Rauf, the man behind the controversial Islamic cultural center in downtown Manhattan, said that if he were forced to move the project it could spur terrorist activity among radicals abroad.

"My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be 'Islam is under attack in America,'" said Rauf. "This will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment, this will put our people -- our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens -- under attack in the Muslim world and we [would] have expanded and fueled terrorism."

In the interview with ABC's "This Week," Rauf said he was not making threats to the American public in hopes that critics would change their tune on the construction of his project. He was merely offering insights into how the debate was playing out in the Muslim world. His interview touched on topics beyond the Cordoba House project, dealing additionally with the broader perception of Islam within American. Asked, for instance, about Sarah Palin's infamous tweet that "peaceful" Muslims should "refudiate" the "Ground Zero Mosque," Rauf noted the heavy political hand that had made its way into a basically settled constitutional debate. There was, he added, "growing Islamophobia in this country."

"How else would you describe the fact that mosques around the country are now being attacked? We are Americans, too. We are treated and talked about today as if American Muslims are not Americans. We are Americans. We are doctors. We are investment bankers. We are taxi drivers. We are store keepers. We are lawyers. We are part of the fabric of America. And the way that America today treats its Muslims is being watched by over a billion Muslims worldwide."

When pressed about a Florida pastor's now-canceled plans to burn Qurans in protest of radical Islam, Rauf expressed a bit of relief that the burnings didn't take place and horror at what could have been sparked by such an image.

"[The Quran burnings] would have created a disaster in the Muslim world. It would have strengthened the radicals," he said. "It would have enhanced the possibility of terrorist acts against America and American interests."

Comments

[nasser Al Lmaki]

02:48 AM on 10/24/2010

to edsimon 1977

similarly;USA shouldnt impose its HEGEMONY worldwide,especially,ISLAM, and particularly the middle east,afghanistan and IRAN.(ref:WIKILEAKS report)!!! or ask MEL GIBSON.

[nasser Al Lmaki]

02:40 AM on 10/24/2010

1-There are 1.5 Billion muslims world wide BUT only 28 millions are from SAUDI ARABIA, less than 2% of all muslims worldwide.
2-over 70% of all muslims worldwide are NON-ARABS !!!

[nasser Al Lmaki]

01:47 AM on 10/20/2010

to capt ayhab ;;; above :
yes, yes u can build a big cathedral in iraq and u know it very well.so as in all other 57 islamic nations of 1.5 billion with the exception of saudi arabia which has less than

[PhredPhnerd]

11:43 PM on 10/03/2010

PhredPhnerd Commented 3 weeks ago in Politics
This comment was removed in accordance with HuffPost's moderation guidelines.

Wow, really...Can you be more s-p-e-c-i-f-i-c?

....I may not have been tactful in my comments, but I think its abhorrent to censor anybody for tactless comments especially by the moderator. Please consider instituting yahoo's ranking system for unpopular comments. (Community votes)
Again, my orignal comments to this story were unsympathetic and controversial.
I hope we both can learn something here and get on with getting on.

[Rajiv Malhotra]

06:33 AM on 09/25/2010

Is the imam not using blackmail? 'Support me or else.' How is this different from playing the 'good cop' to get his way on the basis that this will save us from the 'bad cops'? The imam must show his leadership by efforts to bring about an Islamic Reformation along the same lines as Christianity underwent in Europe - resulting in separation of imams from politics, freedom of speech including the right to criticize Islam like any other religion, transparency, etc. The true liberal Muslims' work has to be internal to his/her community.

[verypragmatic]

11:36 PM on 09/23/2010

Rauf is a fraud and not a moderate. As was his father he is also a Muslim Brotherhood member.

http://www.alyssaalappen.org/2010/08/17/feisal-abdul-rauf/

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7125/pub_detail.asp

[doug cantlon]

02:11 AM on 09/19/2010

..
>
> It is extremely sad to me that those who say they want strict constitutionalists
> appointed as justices to the Supreme Court...so easily disregard the Constitution
> when it is inconvenient or goes against their personal beliefs or ideology...
>
> I challenge anyone to tell me what connection the Muslims of the NYC
> mosque have to 9/11...what part did they play in that attack? What did
> they do that caused fanatics to fly jetliners into the WTC, the Pentagon and a
> Pennsylvania field???
>
> The silence is deafening, isn't it????????

[Robert Medina]

12:46 AM on 09/22/2010

I have 400 years of ancestors buried in St. Croix, without honor, they where Muslims once, what did islam do for them.

[doug cantlon]

02:11 AM on 09/19/2010

>
> This is a country made up of people with hard jobs that they're terrified
> of losing. The roots of freedom are of little or no interest to them at
> the moment. . We have serious
> problems to solve, and we need serious men and women to solve them. And
> whatever your particular problem is, friend, I promise you, Limbaugh, Palin,
> Boehner, Hannity, Beck, etc. ..are not the least bit interested in solving it.
> They're interested in two things and two things only: Making you afraid of it
> and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win
> elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-
> income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk
> to them about family and American values and personal character. Then
> you have an Imam who wants to build an Islamic center and mosque in NYC.
> You scream about patriotism and hallowed ground and you tell them
> he's to blame for their lot in life....you go on television and the internet and
> say the President is a Muslim and non-American citizen...hoping to obscure
> the real issues and hide the fact that maybe you don't have any better answers,
> either...
>

[doug cantlon]

02:09 AM on 09/19/2010

>
> Conservatives/ republicans like to take shots at the A.C.L.U.
> This is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights,
> so it naturally begs the question.... Why would anyone choose to reject upholding the
> Constitution? If you can answer that question, then, folks, you're smarter than I am.
>
> Everybody knows America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship.
> You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna
> say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words
> make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating, at the
> top of his lungs, that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the
> top of yours.(Like the Florida preacher or New York Imam)
> You want to claim this land as the land of the free,
> then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol
> also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in
> protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.
> Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.
>
>

[zulkifli tujuddin]

10:51 PM on 09/16/2010

At the time of my writing, the tread is already 6,508 long... Easy to get lost. So to help us keep things in perspective...

1. It is NOT a Mosque.
2. It is not on 'Ground Zero'.

:)

[RockydaDog]

12:45 PM on 09/16/2010

Its interesting to me that there seems to be no one agreed upon response to Islamic terrorism. Bush instigated a couple of wars (at least) and though some consider these moves the reason we have so little terror action others feel that this has inflamed the Muslim world. Others believe the problem lies within American hearts and thus education is necessary. Others feel that we've taken the whole thing too personally, that it isn't about us but rather a manifestation of a long power struggle within Islam. Surely there is bias against Islam--probably in equal measure to those who find appeasement the best route. Mr. Rauf to me seems mostly self serving and ironically his actions (or disappearance) may insure the Mosque/Community Centre/Cordoba/Park 51 is never built.

[The Scientist]

11:59 PM on 09/14/2010

Rauf has to appear in court on charges that he's engaged in "slumlord" behavior with two properties that he owns.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/14/ground-zero-mosque-imam-a-slumlord/

[MEDIABIZ]

01:00 PM on 09/15/2010

Union City mayor heaps scorn on imam for being 'slumlord'
Published: Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 8:34 AM

Union City Mayor Brian Stack branded the imam proposing to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero one of the worst landlords in Union City at a press conference yesterday, according to today’s Jersey Journal.

The press conference - held in front of 2206 Central Ave., a 16-unit building owned by Feisal Abdul Rauf - comes on the heels of a lawsuit against Rauf the city filed in Hudson County Superior Court on Monday.

"I think we are trying to send a message here, not only to Rauf but also to other slumlords, that in Union City you are not welcomed here," Stack said.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2010/09/union_city_mayor_heaps_scorn_o.html

[MEDIABIZ]

10:14 AM on 09/14/2010

When I ask my American friends about the proliferation of Islam in America, the typical response is that everything will work out just fine in America because America allows room for practice of all religions and all beliefs... Americans have become apologists for Islam without knowing the important facts about Islamic religious beliefs and practices, particularly the practice of taqiya.

Lying is allowed, as stated in Islamic doctrine, when a believer (Muslim) is speaking to a non-believer (non-Muslim) for the purpose of achieving his goal, the advancement of Islam.

Our democracy is at work as we exercise our freedom of speech and assemble ... to prevent the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero, a symbol of victory commemorating the profound material and psychological damage caused by the enemy of our nation in an attack upon us nine years ago. If the will of the people of NYC combined with the many voices around our country is able to halt this project, then not only is it a testimony to the strength of democracy in America, but, equally as important in defeating this travesty, it becomes the stumbling block to what will be the flagship used in launching the ideological forces aimed at destroying this very process.

Dr. Ashraf Ramelah is founder and president of Voice of the Copts, a human rights organization working to free the oppressed and persecuted Copts of Egypt.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/the_911_gazwa_and_the_cordoba.html

[Muslimhumanist]

07:16 PM on 09/14/2010

The concept of taqiyyah is not as you describe it. Spreading the the untrue meme that all Muslims are liars is ugly and inflammatory. It is the moral equivalent of anti-Semtism.
"Don't trust your Muslim neighbors--they are only lying to you until they have the power to enforce shariah law." Is this list even moderated? ....This is no different than an ugly untrue rant about a Jewish cabal controlling Hollywood and the banks.

Peace....

[Gustavo Rejivik]

12:05 AM on 09/15/2010

Are you practicing taqiyyah in your response?? Seems rather obvious what the term is and how it is used. So this Imam could be lying to us about his motives.

Meanwhile you call the previous poster ugly, inflammatory, untrue, equivalent to Anti-semitism .... yes then let's get this rant removed because the truth not be told, can't handle other people's views ... how sad.

[CelticMajic]

08:32 AM on 09/14/2010

Faiz Khan

[Ergon]

10:10 AM on 09/14/2010

So're you.

[Arrech]

07:07 AM on 09/14/2010

Get Civil at Ground Zero:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Get-Civil-at-Ground-Zero/148850028475741?ref=ts&v=app_4949752878

[Ergon]

10:11 AM on 09/14/2010

Get civil everywhere. But I appreciate the thought. Faved