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Interview with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

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I had the unique opportunity to sit down, one on one, with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.  Please enjoy our conversation:

 

I attended the Imam’s public presentation later that evening and found him to be equally engaging in a large crowd.  He spoke about his attempt to follow in the footsteps of great leaders who have tried to be champions of conflict resolution, especially during a time when most information in the media is ill informed.

He posed the question:  How will Americans engage in a world where 20-25% of the global population is Muslim? The US has a huge footprint in the Muslim world including geopolitical, economic and policy interests.

Imam Feisal spoke candidly of the “arc of being accepted in this country,” and referenced that before Muslims, Jews and Christians had to go through a similar struggle of being accepted in the US. He spoke of the anxiety that people feel about the “unknown,” and how it comes hand and hand with intentional misinformation.

Imam Feisal moved to the US in 1965, when he was 17 years old. During his lecture, he eloquently described that the exploration of his spirituality was rooted in the US because in this country, spirituality is a matter of choice. (Abroad, your clothing or country identified you as a Muslim – here you had to decide to be.)  He spoke of a stunning moment in his young life – at the age of 12 or 13 – where the boundaries of “self” dissolved for a very long moment – where he felt one with the universe. He smiled as he talked about the recollection, at that moment, that God was there, an absolute being of love, knowledge and wisdom, a moment of feeling deep love and compassion. This inspired him to read and study more in an attempt to piece it all together. It was particularly moving to witness his memory of this time – and if felt like I was listening in on a deeply personal conversation.

Imam Feisal firmly stated, “It is not about labels – Muslim, Jew, etc – it is about a relationship with our creator.”

Interestingly, the only ‘challenging’ question he was faced with that evening came from a man who read a quote from a New York paper that claimed that Imam Feisal stated that danger came from any extremist group and atheists/agnostics.  The Imam explained that he was misquoted in this case – and that his point was that any form of extremism is dangerous – including extreme atheists and agnostics.  The man then asked, “What do you think of me as an atheist?” and the Imam’s response was, “As long as you’re doing what your conscience tells you to do, you are a believer.”

Well said.

Someone in the audience did ask the inevitable question about the proposed Islamic Center (Park 51).  I think this subject has been covered enough, but I’ll simply say that the Imam explained there has been a vision for the center for a very long time and while he truly understands the pain involved, the expression of concern was malicious and political.  If you read my blog, you know that I agree that this is all simply a tool for divisiveness, and that ultimately is what feeds extremism.

At the end of the day, Imam Feisal reiterated that it is in the best interest for US national security to have good relations with the Islamic world;  he likened his job to “marital counseling on an international scale.” He added that from a human rights perspective, it is clear that an Islamic American identity needs to exist – but right now it is still seen as “alien.”

He received a standing ovation and despite a long day in the public eye, I was personally touched by his grace under pressure, his humanity, and the time he took to be ‘present’ for my interview (especially considering his hectic schedule!)

I would encourage anyone who wants to help build bridges to the Muslim community to visit The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge. While Imam Feisal is no longer a spokesperson for Park51 in New York, he is still a board member. To learn more about the Cordoba Initiative, click here.

(Note: This video is largely unedited.  I did not remove any of Imam Feisal’s answers.  Rather, I cut out the logistical conversation related to how much time we had with the media coordinator, etc.




Park 51: Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf and Daisy Khan’s Roles Change

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Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf

A press release from Park 51 announced that Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, will no longer be speaking on the organization’s behalf.  Imam Fiesal will begin his personal speaking tour next week.  He and Ms. Khan will also not be raising funds for the project on this speaking tour.

Park51 states that Imam Fiesal’s work on behalf of the Cordoba Initiative, while exceptional, requires a broader scope and that Park 51 requires a focus on the downtown Manhattan community specifically. Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf will remain on the Board of Directors for Park 51.

Here is the entire press release from the newly designed Park 51 website:

New Imam Joins Park51
Islamic Community Center
Launches New Website

New York, NY January 14, 2011: Park51, the Islamic Community Center in Lower Manhattan, announced three major developments today.

Park51 announced the appointment of its first Senior Advisor, Imam Abdallah Adhami, a well-respected Muslim-American leader who for nearly 20 years has dedicated his unmatched doctoral credentials in the Islamic tradition to the service of Muslim and multi-denominational communities here at home and abroad. Imam Adhami also holds a degree in architecture from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and has seven years of corporate experience in organizational development, art direction and executive training. He was born in Washington, DC and has been serving the Lower Manhattan Community since 1990.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity to be a key adviser on a project going forward that has enormous creative and healing potential for the collective good in New York City and in our nation,” stated Imam Adhami.

Imam Adhami will join Imam Feisal and other New York Imams soon to be appointed, who will help Park51 create a robust and dynamic religious and interfaith component.

Moreover, Park51 applauds the goals and efforts of our brother Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf for launching his nation-wide tour on January 15th, a campaign that we believe will have a profound and positive impact on the dialogue between different faiths. It is important to note though that while on tour and afterward Imam Feisal and Daisy Khan will not be speaking on behalf of Park51, nor will they be raising funds for the project. Imam Feisal will remain on the Board of Directors of Park51.

The Cordoba Movement and the Cordoba Initiative are separate nonprofit entities from Park51 with different missions and leadership. Imam Feisal’s tour will support only those organizations.

Due to the fact that Imam Feisal is focusing most of his energies and passion on launching this new and separate initiative, it is important that the needs of Park51, the Islamic Community Center in Lower Manhattan, take precedence. While Imam Feisal’s vision has a global scope and his ideals for the Cordoba Movement are truly exceptional, our community in Lower Manhattan is local. Our focus is and must remain the residents of Lower Manhattan and the Muslim American community in the Greater New York area.

And finally, Park51 is announcing today the launching of a new, expanded website and blog, which provides online access to many of the social and cultural services we intend to provide in the weeks and months ahead.

“We are very excited about the next phase of Park51 and the challenging work ahead,” Sharif El-Gamal, the Trustee and President of Park51 said. “It is an honor for me personally to welcome Imam Adhami to our team. I look forward to his leadership and assistance in the development of Park51. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our many supporters for their time, effort and expertise during the past few months.”

About Park51:
Inspired by Muslim values and heritage, Park51 is a center dedicated to providing cultural, social and recreational programs and services to the Lower Manhattan community, and to helping weave the Muslim-American identity into the pluralistic fabric of the United States.




Fighting Extremism: Comments by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and Daisy Khan

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Imam Fiesal and Daisy Khan

While the controversy about the proposed Islamic Center in New York City rages on, I am once again deeply moved by the dignity and grace of Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf and Daisy Khan.  They recently spoke at the Open Center in New York City.  If you don’t know The Open Center, it is a is a non-profit educational and cultural center offering programs intended to heal the body, nourish the soul and awaken the spirit. I have been to the center and it is one of the most spiritual places I have found in the hustle and bustle of the city.

In the video below, Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf speaks eloquently about the goals of the Islamic Center.  He references that the biggest issue we face as a society is extremism – in ANY religion – and that the goal of his work continues to be to build bridges between faith communities. His movement is to break the cycle of fear and misunderstanding that threatens peace in the world:

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His wife, Daisy Khan, passionately speaks of the support that she and her husband have received, including a letter from a 15 year old agnostic girl who prays for less ignorance around the issue. The prayer that Ms. Khan references at the end of her talk is delivered with heart and really moved me.  (Ms. Khan is an is Executive Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), a non-profit organization dedicated to developing an American Muslim identity and to building bridges between the Muslim community and general public through dialogues in faith, identity, culture, and arts):

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I have written extensively about the proposed Islamic Center (previously referred to as the Cordoba House.) Needless to say, I will be watching closely as Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf commences his national tour in 2011 to build support for the project. It will not be a fund raising tour. Sadly, his speaking tour is not open to the public due to the death threats that he has received as a result of this project proposal. The media will be invited to meetings and is welcome to report as they see fit.

(See links below for other blog postings on the subject.)




Top 5 facts about Park 51, NYC’s proposed Islamic Center

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Park51 Logo

I heard an interesting interview with Michel Abboud, the architect for the proposed Islamic cultural center known at Park 51.  (I suppose we could also call it “the Islamic cultural center formerly known as the Cordoba House and incorrectly called the World Trade Center mosque.”)

Here are 5 little known facts about the proposed center:

1)  it would be 16 floors, but less than 10% of the entire space will be used for prayer. The new building would have a mosque in the basement beneath public facilities including a swimming pool, basketball court, theater, restaurant, offices and a child care center.

2) the architect is Catholic

3) the theme of the Islamic center is cultural, rather than religious

4) the design which features a lattice of Islamic-inspired patterns which allows light to flood into the interior

Proposed interior of Park 51 Islamic Center, NYC

Exterior of the proposed Islamic Cultural Center for NYC

5) the plan still needs funding and planning – it is not a “done deal” at this time.

If you’d reside in the New York metropolitan area, you’ll be happy to know that Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq, from the 30mosques.com project, will be speaking at SUNY’s Purchase College (Purchase, NY – Westchester County) on Wednesday, November 17th at 7 pm.  The event is FREE and open to the public, so be sure to mark your calendar!




A Ramadan Adventure: 30 US Mosques in 30 Days

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I am so excited to blog today, as this is one of the most fun and informative adventures I have read about in some time!  Two young men, Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq, are on a Ramadan road trip. Their goal is to visit 30 mosques in 30 US states in 30 days, crisscrossing the US to break fast with a new mosque each day and to blog about the experience.

These two young men visited 30 mosques in the New York City area in 2009 and started a blog at the request of friends and family.  They were stunned to learn that people all over the world were following their journey and learning about the diversity within the Muslim community and foods that are eaten to break fast.  Check out this interview about their 2009 New York experience was covered by the Brian Lehrer radio show in NYC.

What I particularly love about Aman and Bassam’s journey is that they are Muslim, but they write about their mosque experiences as anyone visiting for the first time would.  And they’re FUNNY guys – blunt, honest and playful in their writing.  They started in NYC and decided to visit the controversial Park 51 (the Cordoba House) for evening prayer.  Their observations are definitely not what the mainstream media is covering, and it is downright refreshing:

“I’m standing in prayer expecting to feel something considering I’m inside the Ground Zero mosque. I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel, but for some reason I’m confused why I’m not feeling some mythical sensation.

Then I realized, it’s just a mosque, just like any other place of worship in the country. So the only thing I was feeling was an earache from all the screeching on the microphone from the sound system — just like every mosque in America. :)“

(Note: Park 51 has not been built into a cultural center yet. The site is NOT at Ground Zero, but 12 blocks away in the old Burlington Coat Factory building. I clarify this because calling it the “Ground Zero mosque” supports the misinformation that has floated around about the plans for an Islamic cultural center.  It is NOT on the Ground Zero site!)

and

“After the prayer, I walked outside and said goodbye to the security guard. His name was Rohan and he spends his days working security outside the building on a regular basis. I asked him if there’s been any kind of problems outside the building, considering all the protests. He said there hasn’t been any incidents at all, except for a random homeless guy that walks by asking people for marijuana. He joked, ‘Yeah but it’s New York City, if I didn’t see a homeless guy walking by asking for weed, I’d be surprised.’ “

and perhaps most humorous:

“An announcement is made that the toilets are broken and people should go across the street. You can’t have a community prayer without the standard hilarious housekeeping announcements…”

The 30 mosques web site has some great photos of their travels and the inside of mosques they’re visiting – as well as the people they’re meeting along the journey.

Al Jazeera news interviews congregants at a NYC mosque

A handful of people attend evening prayers at Park 51 (the Cordoba House site, NYC)

Aman Ali (right) speaks with a local Muslim in Augusta, Maine (USA)

This site is particularly important, as there is so much emotion and anger around the building of mosques and Islamic cultural centers in the US. For those raising ‘objections’  (code word for FEAR in my humble opinion) about Park 51 (the Cordoba House), I immediately ask the following questions:

1) have you ever been to a mosque?

2) spoken with a Muslim person about their faith?

3) read or heard anything about their faith that didn’t come from a mainstream news outlet?

The answers are usually no, no and no – and “I don’t need to – I ‘tolerate’ them.”  (Of course, the easiest way to manifest tension is to create an enemy using the “us/them” paradigm). Forgive me world, but I have high expectations.  I don’t want societies to simply ‘tolerate’ others. Tolerating isn’t enough in this fragile world we live in. I want us all to attempt to respect others whenever possible.  Lofty idea? Perhaps.

This usually means that we have to ask hard questions and put ourselves in others’ shoes to truly communicate effectively and to have an understanding of the lens that one sees the world through. It also means that we need to be willing and open participants in conversation and we must often tune out the media.

I recently had a conversation with some folks via Facebook about the Islamic Cultural Center that will be built 12 blocks from the World Trade Center site.  It went like this:

Person A:  I have decided that I’m ok with this center.  But the Muslim community has to come out and be more clear that they are moderate in their religion.

Person B:  They (Muslims) have no respect wanting to build so close to Ground Zero -  3000 people died and they shouldn’t build a site near that center. That is disrespectful.

Me:  Regarding the media – I have seen many interviews where Muslims speak about their religion being hijacked by terrorists.  I also think that many Muslims died in the 9/11 attacks, so I’m not understanding why they are somehow not allowed to be mourned in the same way. I also don’t understand what you mean by “too close” to the Trade Center.  What is “far enough” – the east side?  uptown?  midtown? Queens (across the East River)?

In the end, we all agree to disagree on the subject.  I don’t disrespect these people – I welcome the dialogue as it inspires me to write on this blog and share my opinions and findings.

I hope that Melibee readers will check out 30 Mosques 30 States.   Content is more quickly uploaded to their Facebook page – so feel free to check that out too!