I was just having a look at today's csmonitor.com and found this a very encouraging piece. I know that there has been progress in the mosques in Great Britain too, but I wonder whether they have all come as far as our American cousins have?
Good to hear that moderates are fighting back. Here are two short excerpts from:
Love and peace,
Judy
How are mosques fighting terror?
By Mark Clayton | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Abdur-Rahim Shamsiddeen is one Muslim leader who doesn't beat around the bush on terrorism. All who regularly attend this imam's mosque know of his "zero-tolerance policy."Before every meeting, he reminds visitors to the Jewel of Al-Islam mosque in Phoenix, one of the city's largest, that they are welcome to pray. But then he ticks off schools of ultraconservative Islamic thought that are not welcome for open discussion and debate, including several known to have been favored by the 9/11 terrorists.
"We follow exclusively the Holy Koran and the approved Sunnah [Islamic custom] of Prophet Muhammad," he says. "If all Muslims followed those we'd have no problems." .....
Mosques have sometimes been used by terrorists. Omar Abdul Rahman, a radical Islamic cleric now serving a life term for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, once preached at a Jersey City, N.J., mosque. But are US mosques breeding grounds for terrorism today?
It becomes less likely each year as the Muslim mosque community emerges into the American mainstream, says Ihsan Bagby, professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky and coauthor of a recent study of attitudes among Detroit area mosques. "The 9/11 attack has really propelled the Muslim community to become more involved in American society. It has translated bitterness over American foreign policy into constructive engagement."
For its part, the Federal Bureau of Investigation calls mosques essential partners in the fight against terrorism.......
RE: An encouraging report of some US mosques
ORIGINAL: Principled
I know that there has been progress in the mosques in Great Britain too, but I wonder whether they have all come as far as our American cousins have?
Yes, some seem to have done, according to this article....
On a Friday evening as dusk draws down, the streets and alleyways around the mosque – one of Britain's oldest, founded in 1910 – swarm with the faithful. Arab, Bangladeshi and African flow like a river into the great building. Behind it the old Fieldgate Street Great Synagogue is almost lost, swallowed by the rising steel skeleton of the new London Muslim Centre – the largest of its kind: a Muslim business centre, shopping mall and library – crafted to the side of the mosque. It is a mirror, almost, to the glittering shapes of the City skyscrapers and Docklands looming close by.
Surprisingly, mosque and synagogue share excellent relations. The mosque's chairman, Dr Muhammad Bari, a lean, neatly-dressed man who was once an officer in the Bangladesh Air Force (and is also deputy secretary of the Muslim Council of Great Britain), told me from inside his sweltering, whitewashed office: "Although we feel differently about the injustices on Palestine, in Islam we are asked to live peacefully with our neighbours. We're all people of The Book." During Yom Kippur, for example, all work was ceased on the London Muslim Centre out of respect for the Jewish festival.
[link= http://www.nickryan.net/articles/bricklane.html ]Full article here...[/link]
RE: An encouraging report of some US mosques
Thanks Nooria - isn't it good to read some hopeful, encouraging news for a change? I thought it was a very well-written article. OK things aren't perfect, but there are individuals who are making changes. 🙂
Judy
RE: An encouraging report of some US mosques
Some would say that Bush & his poodle Blair are also international terrorists. I hope when they go to their respective churches that they are reminded not to start illegal wars. 😮
Presidential candidate John Kerry made this good point in his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Thursday, July 29, 2004:
I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side.
RE: An encouraging report of some US mosques
Hi Dr L,
I like the Kerry quote - and agree with it. There was a book review in today's Sunday Times about the "unholy alliance" between the Bush family and the royal family of Saudi Arabia - sounds like the book isn't that factual though, but there is a photo of the King holding Bush's hand, while he looks extremely uncomfortable. [X(]
Also in the same paper is this article below - it's worth reading - here are a few excerpts:
The Sunday Times
August 15, 2004
Muslim alert on threat of British 9/11
Nicholas Rufford and Abul TaherBRITAIN’S most senior Muslim clerics have secretly met to prepare their communities for the aftermath of a September 11-style terrorist attack in Britain........
They have concluded that some sections of the Muslim community in Britain have become more sympathetic to terrorism because of the continuing Iraq war. As a result of the meetings, a guide is to be sent in September to every Muslim household, calling on them to report suspicious activities on a police anti-terrorist hotline........
Abdul Jalil Sajid, the imam of Brighton mosque and one of the country’s most senior clerics, said the imams were responding to warnings from police and the recent arrests of terror suspects. “It is the police and the government that have been telling us that an attack is on the way,” he said.......
As an interim measure, the imams have prepared a model sermon, which will be sent to all mosques and Islamic centres for delivery at Friday prayers. The sermon will make a clear distinction between jihad (holy war) and terrorism. It will point out that Muslims have a covenant of security not to attack the country in which they live.
The meetings were organised by the grand shura (ruling body) of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the country’s biggest Muslim body. with more than 350 Islamic organisations affiliated to it.
Inayat Bunglawala, an official of the McB who was at a meeting of imams, said the concept of jihad had been debased by terrorists. “Jihad is a noble endeavour to defend your country and society from attack, while terror is the indiscriminate killing of innocents.” .....
Well, I'd say that was an encouraging move by some British imams! 🙂
Love and peace,
Judy