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A New Jersey mosque is planning a national day of prayer on Sept. 25 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that expects to draw as many as 50,000 Muslims from across the United States.
This appears to be the first such event held by Muslims on such a large scale in the U.S. It represents a huge step forward for Muslims who for the most part prefer to stay out of the spotlight following 9/11.
Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam in Elizabeth, N.J., told the Star-Ledger newspaper that, "Most of the time, when Muslims go to Washington, D.C., they go there to protest some type of event ... This is not a protest. Never has the Islamic community prayed on Capitol Hill for the soul of America. We're Americans. We need to change the face of Islam so people don't feel every Muslim believes America is
'the great Satan,' because we love America."
The event will be held from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m., but the main prayer will occur at 1 p.m.
It’s a wonderful thing to see Muslims wear their patriotism on their sleeve and demonstrate the deep love for their country. Abdellah hopes that people of other faiths will join Muslims as well.
But, alas, the event also is turning into a religious war spurred by fringe groups who see an opportunity to stage confrontational anti-Islamic protests. One pastor is urging his congregation to fast from midnight on Sept. 25 to 7 p.m., not for spiritual meditation or to bring his people closer to God but to wrestle the “soul of the nation” away from Muslims. He’s mistaken. Muslims don’t claim ownership of America’s soul and he shouldn’t either.
The argument that has originated on anti-Muslim websites and appears to be spreading among conservative religious groups is that some sort of cultural or stealth jihad is being played out in the West while non-Muslims go about their business blissfully ignorant of the dangers. Meanwhile, mainstream media conspires to keep it all
hush-hush.
For those who may not care to read the blathering of such websites, stealth jihad supposedly when Muslims seek prayer breaks at work or Muslim women request private time to swim at public pools. Even wearing in public the so-called burqini, modest swimwear for women, is somehow Islamifying the local community. Who would have thought that a loose-fitting single-piece swimsuit would become a political hot potato that required government intervention, as we have discovered to be the case in France and Italy?
Now, the image of 50,000 Muslims -- most of who are American citizens – praying in public has raised the hackles of some people who see prayer as not worshipping God but as a threat to the soul of America. The whole thought seems, well, so un-Christian and un-democratic.
This past year or so a disturbing trend has emerged as small groups of people have staged anti-Muslim protests. On the eighth anniversary of 9/11 a small church group held an anti-Islamic demonstration at a Gainesville, Fla., mall to memorialize those who lost their lives on that day and those serving in the U.S. military.
About 30 protesters waved confrontational signs and shouted anti-Muslim rants. In London a nastier and more violent confrontation occurred between the English Defence League and Muslim youths at a Harrow mosque under construction.
If taken as isolated events, the rallies don’t amount to much. But it’s curious that for the first time we are seeing organized anti-Islam protests. I can’t help but think we are witnessing early signs of future, better organized rallies targeting the Muslim community.
Certainly Muslims have staged anti-Western rallies and often these demonstrations are violent. But these protests are not so much as anti-Christian but sparked by specific events, such as the publication of images of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The incidents at Harrow and Gainesville are a different animal all together. The protesters’ target is faith, as in my faith threatens your faith.
The implication is that we pray to a different God because we call Him Allah. And that’s the irony. We all share the same God. By denying, interfering or ridiculing anyone’s right to worship demonstrates a complete lack of respect to the deity we all pray to.
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3 comments:
I can't believe that I haven't heard anything about this. I've been asking for a Muslim Million (Man) March and this sounds like just that very thing! Yeah! I hope to hear about it on the news.
'By denying, interfering or ridiculing anyone’s right to worship demonstrates a complete lack of respect to the deity we all pray to'
You are absolutely right! I wonder when your own country will understand that and allow other religions to worship freely and publicly?
"The argument that has originated on anti-Muslim websites and appears to be spreading among conservative religious groups is that some sort of cultural or stealth jihad is being played out in the West while non-Muslims go about their business blissfully ignorant of the dangers."
Would this be a analogous to the view expressed in every section of the Muslim world's press by journalists, politicians and religious leaders (too often one and the same) every single day that their culture/values/religion/traditions are being invaded by "Western" culture/values/religion/traditions? Or have they nothing to fear?
Would you like to see all people treated equally regardless of faith or lack of faith in the non-Muslim world, given that you have already stated here http://www.arabisto.com/article.cfm?articleID=35717 that you don't believe that should be the case in Saudi Arabia?
How representative do you think this advice from Arab News in June on Sarkozy's burqa remarks is of Muslims in the non-Muslim world?
"But if France must tread carefully, so must those who would criticize. There has to be respect for cultural traditions. It is right and proper, too, that Muslims, when in France or any other non-Muslim country, accept the laws there — providing that those laws do not impinge on their faith, nor do they stop them from exercising their beliefs. Banning the burqa does just that."
What does this tell non-Muslims when the Muslim press - openly, unashamedly, and with no sense of moral irony - calls for Muslims (in the non-Muslim world, as the same newspaper would, at a guess, never dare to apply the same maxim to Muslims in all their diversity in the Muslim world.. a whole other kettle of fish…) to disregard laws that "impinge on their faith"?
In the light of all that, do non-Muslims really have nothing to fear, or did the argument in fact not originate on "anti-Muslim websites" as you claim but in fact on jihadi websites and in endless speeches and declarations and, indeed, actions from Muslims themselves?
A second point:
"The implication is that we pray to a different God because we call Him Allah. And that’s the irony. We all share the same God. By denying, interfering or ridiculing anyone’s right to worship demonstrates a complete lack of respect to the deity we all pray to."
Here's another irony: Should you be telling the people of other religions which god they are praying to? Is that not "denying, interfering or ridiculing" their worship? Can you not leave them be to pray to whatever god they want – isn't that what you yourself are asking for? Or does their belief – nay, their "implication"! - that they are praying to a different god "impinge on your faith"?
Finally (apologies for the length), do you think your responses to such questions would be representative of the diverse beliefs of Muslims in the US?
"Who would have thought that a loose-fitting single-piece swimsuit would become a political hot potato that required government intervention, as we have discovered to be the case in France and Italy?"
Who would have thought that such issues concerning women's garments would require government or police intervention or even court trials in the Islamic world, as we have discovered to be the case in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Sudan... Why should the rest of the world be any different?
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