MAQzine

VIEW:   The Manhattan mosque   by Yasser Latif Hamdani President Obama and his government are now under great stress because of the difficult position the mosque issue has put the Obama administration in. Logically, there should not be a problem with building a place of worship, a right guaranteed under the First Amendment to the US Constitution, but the issue is much larger than one of freedom of faith The mosque in Manhattan has stirred a hornet’s nest. The issue now threatens to test the very ideals of western secular democracy that we admire and cherish and seek to emulate in the rest of the world. It is important, therefore, to weigh in logically and as reasonable people — though reason is hard to come by these days — on the unnecessary provocation in Manhattan created by Imam Feisal Abdel Raouf and his wife Daisy Khan that they refer to as ‘Cordoba House’ or ‘Park 51’, a $ 100 million Islamic centre in New York City. I say unnecessary not because I oppose the ...

Zero Tolerance   August 2, 2010 by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Zaid Jilani, Alex Seitz-Wald, Tanya Somanader In December, the New York Times   reported   that "for months," hundreds of Muslims had been gathering every Friday at an abandoned building two blocks north of the World Trade Center for prayer and readings from the Qur'an in Arabic. A group of Muslims purchased the building -- which had been damaged from debris resulting from the 9/11 attacks  -- and now, led by the American Society for Muslim Advancement ( ASMA ) and the   Cordoba Initiative , plan to build a 15-story Islamic community center there that will include a mosque, an arts center, a workout facility, and other public spaces. ASMA founder Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said the project "sends the opposite statement   to what happened on 9/11." "We want to push back against the extremists," he added. Other faith leaders offered support for the project....

In Calling For Islamic Center’s Relocation, Former Bush Official Ignores Message She Touted Abroad By   Tanya Somanader   on Aug 23rd, 2010 In stoking the   paranoid hysteria   over the Cordoba Initiative,   right-wing   opponents   to the proposed Islamic center are cleaving to the sensitivity talking point: while Muslims have the right to build an Islamic center, they would be offending Americans if they did. Yesterday, another Republican voice joined the chorus calling for relocation. President Bush’s Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes penned an   op-ed   in the Washington Post asserting that the Islamic center is “contentious because it goes to the heart of who is to blame for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.” Hughes, who promoted the center’s sponsor Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as an   ambassador of Islamic faith in America   under the Bush Administration, claims his current project would ...

Gingrich Won’t Explain Why He’s Backing Out Of Participating In 9/11 Anti-Mosque Rally By   Alex Seitz-Wald   on Aug 23rd, 2010   a Last week, the right-wing group Stop Islamization of America   announced   that former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich was a “confirmed” speaker for the group’s September 11th protest against the proposed Park 51 Islamic center near ground zero, in New York City .   Other speakers   included former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, right-wing media tycoon Andrew Breitbart, and, notably, the far-right Dutch Parliamentarian   Geert Wilders , best known for his self-described “ hate ” towards Islam. Last week, however, Gingrich spokesperson Joe DeSantis told Politico that the Gingrich — who has been an   outspoken   opponent of the Islamic center — “is not scheduled to be at this rally.   He is not speaking .” DeSantis said Gingrich’s staff had only agreed to send a video message, not ...

Islamic center trying new Twitter strategy By   Michael Calderone The organizers behind Park51 never expected such strong opposition to building an Islamic community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero. The New York Times recently noted   the group's "early missteps"   in presenting a clear message of what the project's backers planned for the space. Social media consultant Oz Sultan is now hoping to influence public perceptions of the project through   Park51's Twitter account . The change comes after a series of irreverent tweets this week that resulted in   one intern getting replaced . "I was brought on five weeks ago to start together just basically social media engagement,"   Sultan told Capital's Gillian Reagan . "It's super nascent—where we are right now. A blog is launching in a few weeks, and we're looking for more folks who will write for us." So far, the Cordoba Initiative—the organization behind Park51—has str...

FACT CHECK: Islam already part of WTC neighborhood By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer  –  34 mins ago WASHINGTON – A  New  York  imam  and his proposed mosque near ground zero are being demonized by political candidates — mostly Republicans — despite the fact that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood. And that Muslims pray inside the Pentagon, too, less than 80 feet from where terrorists attacked. And that the imam who's being branded an extremist has been valued by both Republican and Democratic administrations as a moderate face of the faith. Even so, the project stirs complicated emotions, and  Imam  Feisal Abdul  Rauf  is a complex figure who defies easy categorization in the American Muslim world. He's devoted much of his career to working closely with Christians, Jews and secular leaders to advance interfaith understanding. He's scolded his own religion for being in some ways i...