Last Saturday afternoon, some Jewish friends who are fans of the Muslim Women's Fund came for tea at our home. They were eager to discuss the front page news story in the NYT on the Mosque at Ground Zero which has elicited high intensity emotions, passions and political machinations.
The concept for Park51, the interfaith community center and mosque near ground zero was inspired by the Young Men's Hebrew Association and the YMCA's in New York. But talking with my friends, I'm reminded that not everyone knows that historically in Islam markets, mosques and public squares converged to serve the community -- whereas churches and temples are in their own, separate, sacred precincts -- away from the bazaars. We really don't know each other well enough.
You see this in Istanbul where the souk adjoins the Blue Mosque. Or in Jerusalem, where Muslim merchants renting space at the edge of the Mosque of Omar sell -- not Muslim prayer beads (tasbih in Urdu) but Christian ones (rosaries) -- because ten yards down is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The board of the new interfaith center will be composed of Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders and the center's goal is to build bridges between faiths. Further, this unique interfaith center/mosque will promote a pioneering model of moderate American Islam -- an anti-dote to Saudi Wahabism and Salifism, which are fueled by America's oil dependence. The center/mosque was approved by the local community board (23-O) and NYC's Landmark Preservation Commission (9-0) unanimously.
As I followed the issue, I was struck by how the word mosque became the dominant conflict driven media frame of the story and how interfaith bridge building and creating a space for moderate Islam receded into the background.
The interfaith center/mosque hit a nerve emotionally and understandably. As my friends who came to tea said, they supported the idea of the center but at another location. They empathized with people's emotions, however irrational, and believe that they need to be respected. And I would add especially if they are families, including Muslims, who have lost loved ones at ground zero -- these are some of one's worst nightmares which rank with losses in wars, earthquakes and famines.
The mosque debate became an exploitable political torch for Gingrich, Palin and Lazio. But it also became a values test for Mayor Bloomberg, Thomas Friedman and the NYT editorial board.
Standing by the Statue of Liberty, Mayor Bloomberg in a stirring speech on the proposed mosque said: "It is as important a test of separation of church and state as any we may see in our lifetime, and it is critically important that we get it right."
Tom Friedman in his column speaks to the quintessential American values that make an immigrant like me proud to be American when he writes:
I greatly respect the feelings of those who lost loved ones...
When we tell the world, 'Yes, we are a country that will even tolerate a mosque near the site of 9/11, ' we send such a powerful message of inclusion and openness. It is shocking to other nations. But you never know who out there is hearing that message and saying: "What a remarkable country! I want to live in that melting pot, even if I have to build a boat from milk cartons to get there.
And finally my friend Daisy Khan, wife of Imam Feisal Rauf, (a Sufi who conceptualized the interfaith center/mosque), Executive Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) and a founding board member of the Muslim Women's Fund, has stayed the slalom course on the center/mosque hearings mindfully. When I asked for her take away last night, she said: "This is a victory for America. It affirms the preservation of religious freedom and supports faith communities."
Parvez Ahmed: What Would Our Founding Fathers Say About the 'Ground Zero Mosque'?
However I have a HUGE issue with this.... If Ground Zero is such sacred ground, why the hell is there a subway station cutting through it and NEW development PURELY based around capitalist ideals over the site.
I can understand if the state and city asked for NOTHING to be built at Ground Zero but this isn't the case. There has been more fury over an Islamic derived multi-cultural center with PRAYER facilities - e.g. NOT A MOSQUE (they can control who uses it - vs a Mosque that must be open to all) than the capitalist bent reconstruction of the WTC complex. So it's OK to stick a coffee shop at Ground Zero, but not a place of worship.... Sorry folks I have a hard time siding with the right wing bigots on this one. As a centrist voter I DO NOT stand for anything taking away rights of others that were developed by our founding fathers. Muslims and Islam existing during this countries founding - it's NOT something new. The fury and hype is VERY un-American and not something I as an immigrant (a Christian immigrant) appreciate when it comes to all the talk of "freedom". WHAT Freedom - we're WRONGLY letting opportunistic politicians direct the people down the WRONG path - and we sit here like idiots and do nothing.
If the average, non-Muslim American familiarized themselves with the beautiful and noble religion of Islam they would not need us to tell them that Al-Qaeda and bin Laden do not represent it's teachings. If non-Muslim intellectuals in America read the Quran with the goal of understanding (rather then fueling their irrational hatred of it) they would not need us to tell them the value of it to humanity. If the average non-Muslim American who doesn't want a mosque in their backyard accidentally walked into one they might see why their neighbors are giving their hard-earned dollars to build one.
Here's hoping...
After reading the life of His Holiness Mohammad I totally disagree with Islam being a religion of peace. Your religion is in total contrast with other peace living religions of the world.
Can you explain "Dar-ul-harb" and Dar-ul-Islam"? I am a Hindu from India and totally know the truth.
Why is it so that your brothers cant live in peace any where in the world.
Give anyone a religious text - REGARDLESS of the faith and someone can always find a false meaning or backing for a malicious act. This is NOT unique to the Koran. So let's stop playing that game....
Fact is this is a simple matter of law. Laws which are held under the most basic of constitutional tenants. Why then are we talking about "sensitivity" and "respect"? Because our President openned that can of worms. How can that be. A constitutional scholar, a supposedly great orator, but a man that makes it possible for mass hysteria to rule over constitutional precedent and wisdom. How did that happen? Isn't there one honest journalist out thesre that will address how this happenned? How did a simple constitutional right become questionable during the administration of a constitutional scholar and why? I voted for Obama, as part of the electorate that elected him, I have to ask myself how has he performed in the execution of his duties. The most important of which was to support and defend the constitution of the United States. Honestly I have to say he has failed miserably, both directly and indirectly. I am not even clear right now on his understanding of the basic rights as outlined under the constitution. I hope his faith brings him peace since he has sought to defend it more the constitution. I will not vote for him again.
map of countries with large muslim populations
The hallowed ground at ground zero is being filled with a subway going to New Jersey.
The rise of Islamic fundamentalism can be traced directly to the rise of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia trains thousands of foreign muslims in Religion and Saudi Arabia funds the building of thousands of masjids all over the World.
Moderate muslims have no funding and can't compete against the influence of the gulf Arabs who are mainly Wahabi or Salafist muslims.
America never supports the moderate or liberal muslims. America won't even support its own moderate muslims who were born and raised in America.
Most Americans simply believe all muslims are the same, ignorance is bliss in America.
" All too will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind, let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty, and even life itself, are but dreary things. And let us reflect that having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance, as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. "
http://www.princeton.edu/~tjpapers/inaugural/infinal.html
Think about it.
You answered your own question. Because they are already here. The reaction is against building a new center, esp one whose reason for being is partially (according to Imam Rauf) because of it's proximity to ground zero.
Discrimination relies upon the creation of what W.E.B. Dubois called “The Veil,†a web of stereotypes, myths, exaggerations and lies, designed to create an immutable “difference†between the groups. What we’re seeing in the 9/11 mosque controversy is the residual effects of Americans spending the last 400 years looking at other Americans thru the distortion of “The Veil.â€
We’re so used to seeing “difference,†we don’t realize how warped our vision is.
Too bad we keep confirming their every belief.
Does any one have concrete information on this.
KSA has been a direct (through Government) and indirect (through private charities) supporter of the Taliban regime and AQ. They have a pattern of sponsoring mosques through the world that spread the radical ideology that gave birth to the terrorist problems that the whole world is dealing with today.
Meaning that no organizations that are on the US' list of banned groups will be a part of this mosque.
Thomas Jefferson - "Notes on Virginia"