Hate at the Local Mosque
Thu, May 6, 2004 at 7:07:09 am PDT
An op-ed at the New York Times by Asra Q. Nomani, a Muslim in West Virginia, describes the takeover of her mosque by radical Islamists—and the total lack of concern from “mainstream” Islamic groups like ISNA and CAIR: Hate at the Local Mosque. (Hat tip: Az.)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Not long ago in my little mosque around the corner from a McDonald’s, a student from the university here delivered a sermon. To love the Prophet Muhammad, he said, “is to hate those who hate him.” He railed against man-made doctrines that replace Islamic law, and excoriated the “enemies of Islam” who deny strict adherence to Sunnah, or the ways of Muhammad. While he wasn’t espousing violence, his words echoed the extremist vocabulary of Wahhabism, used by some followers to breed militant attitudes.
Like others who listened that day, I was stung by the sermon. It stands in chilling contrast to reforms taking place within Muslim communities nationwide. In fact, only months earlier at my mosque, my mother, sister-in-law, niece and I prayed in the main hall, an act of defiance that led to a reversal of the policy that women had to pray in a secluded balcony. Sadly, I have learned that the realization of an inclusive Islam is a fragile thing, even in this country. Americans need not look elsewhere to hear hate-filled rhetoric preached by fundamentalists. It resounds in our own back yards.
Like many small mosques, mine does not have an imam. Instead, a governing board —which appoints its own members — sets policy. An elected executive committee is supposed to decide who will lead prayers and deliver sermons. With infighting, that committee disintegrated over the last year, and went vacant after the board failed to hold elections in November. The board took over managing the mosque. A month before the student’s speech, he and about 10 other men staged the equivalent of a coup. They appointed five in their ranks as the “temporary executive committee” and usurped the board’s power to choose who will lead prayers, preach and make management decisions.
These men rally around strict interpretation of the Koran and Sunnah, which last week entailed a sermon that criticized women working outside the home and called women who have lost their chastity worthless. The group has packed the mosque’s bookcases with fundamentalist publications. ...
The board is finally holding an election at the mosque on Friday to officially choose a nine-member executive committee. But I have little hope for real change. Nine of 13 nominees are supported by the takeover group.
Christian and Jewish leaders offered to meet with the takeover leaders to discuss promoting tolerance in Morgantown, a city where people from more than 100 countries coexist peacefully. Their offer stands in contrast to the reactions by the Islamic Society of North America and the Council on American-Islamic Relations to complaints I filed. The society said it was available to mediate but would prefer disputes like this be resolved locally. The council, which recently started a “Hate Hurts America” campaign to counter anti-Muslim rhetoric, initially said it did not want to get involved in an “inter-community” issue, but now says it will investigate.
Unfortunately, Nomani still harbors illusions about ISNA and CAIR; she says they are “reluctant to take a strong stand.” This is incorrect; these groups are not reluctant at all to take a stand—in favor of the radicals.
Frank says:
