Cordoba House:  Hope From the Ashes of Tragedy - updated 9/12/10

Sheila Musaji

Posted Sep 9, 2010      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
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Cordoba House:  Hope From the Ashes of Tragedy

by Sheila Musaji

Note:  First published May 31, 2010 - updated and reorganized 9/4/2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS
WHO WERE THE VICTIMS OF 9/11?
WHY A CULTURAL CENTER & MOSQUE & WHY IN THIS LOCATION?
WHY THE NAME CORDOBA HOUSE?
LEGITIMATE CONTROVERSY OR BIGOTRY?
WHO ARE IMAM FEISAL & DAISY KHAN?
- IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF & DAISY KHAN IN THEIR OWN WORDS
- Some articles by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
- Some articles about Imam Feisal and Daisy Khan
SUPPORT FOR THIS PROJECT
OPPOSITION TO THIS PROJECT
9/11 FAMILIES BOTH SUPPORT AND OBJECT TO THE PROJECT
ISSUES RAISED BY OPPONENTS AND RESPONSES
- Insensitivity and sacred ground
- Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry
- Civil rights, Constitution, religious freedom
- Claims about Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (refusal to sign apostasy pledge, Muslim Brotherhood, U.S. foreign policy statement, stealth jihadist, secret extremist, position on Sharia, taqiyya, won’t condemn terrorism, won’t condemn Hamas, Perdana
- No mosques until churches & synagogues in Saudi Arabia
- Obama a Muslim
- Funding & finances
- Security, America’s image, war on Islam
AMERICAN MUSLIM & ARAB COMMUNITY CONCERNS AND RESPONSES
BEYOND ANTI MUSLIM RHETORIC
CONCLUSION


WHO WERE THE VICTIMS OF 9/11?

The terrorist act that brought down the World Trade Center in NYC on 9/11/2001 was a terrible tragedy for all Americans of whatever religion.  There were 2,749 victims, including 320 foreign nationals from more than 90 countries who died on 9/11.

The victims were not identified by religion (although there are 250 whose religion is named), but no ethnicity, race, or religion was spared.  You can click here for a list of all of these innocent victims.  There have been some who have tried to estimate how many from a particular community died that day.  For example, after insane claims were made that Jews were forwarned and so did not die in the attack, some attempted to estimate the number of Jewish victims.  One site estimated that Jews accounted for 10 to 18% of victims (based on number of Jews among those victims of the 250 whose religion is named), and they come up with an estimated number of 324 Jews.

One article written soon after 9/11 noted:  “The communications director of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee [ADC], Hussein Ibish, said more than 200 Arab Americans worked in the World Trade Center and many of them were killed ...  Several hundred people from predominantly Muslim countries could have perished in the attacks, according to a report by the French news agency, Agence France-Presse [AFP].  Bangladesh told AFP that at least 50 of its citizens are missing and presumed dead.  Egypt said four of its citizens are missing and feared dead.  Lebanon said two of its citizens are confirmed dead and two others are missing.  Pakistan said one of its nationals is confirmed dead but the figure is certain to rise because around 650 Pakistanis worked in the World Trade Center.  Turkey told AFP that 131 Turks are missing.”

A partial list of Muslim 9/11 victims was published by one site.  This list included Salman Hamdani, about whom the article says “the 23-year-old New York City police cadet who was a part-time ambulance driver, incoming medical student, and devout Muslim.  When he disappeared on September 11, law enforcement officials came to his family, seeking him for questioning in relation to the terrorist attacks.  They allegedly believed he was somehow involved.  His whereabouts were undetermined for over six months, until his remains were finally identified.  He was found near the North Tower, with his EMT medical bag beside him, presumably doing everything he could to help those in need.  His family could finally rest, knowing that he died the hero they always knew him to be.”

There were certainly Muslim victims.  The exact number is unknown, but many have estimated about 300 Muslims who died on 9/11.  In this tragedy as well as in many past historical events, Muslims are a part of America.  Muslims were also first responders, and Muslims were just as terrorized by this attack as any other Americans. 

Muslims have clearly and regularly denounced terrorism generally, and denounced specific instances of terrorism, including 9/11.  Their voices are simply drowned out by those who see Islam as a monolith and Muslims as something like the Borg, not individual human beings.

It is a shame that I need to open this article with yet more “proof” that Americans who happen to be Muslims are a part of America, and that building a cultural center and a mosque near the former WTC is not some nefarious scheme to take over America.  This is exactly the scenario that is now playing itself out in NYC.

WHY A CULTURAL CENTER & MOSQUE & WHY IN THIS LOCATION?

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan want to build an Islamic Cultural Center with many facilities including a mosque, two blocks away from the location of the 9/11 tragedy, on a site which was vacant and shuttered for 9 years until they purchased it, and where 500 worshippers already hold Friday prayers.  There are still many shuttered and vacant buildings in this Tribeca area.  The Center would be called Cordoba House, and the facilities would be a gathering place for the entire downtown community - local residents, tourists, people who work nearby -  open to all, Muslims and non-Muslims and providing important services to the entire community.  The project will be a collaboration between the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative.  Visit their websites and see for yourself what these organizations stand for.

The Cordoba Initiative site states the reasons for wanting to accomplish this task as

Cordoba House is a Muslim-led project which will build a world-class facility that promotes tolerance, reflecting the rich diversity of New York City.  The center will be community-driven, serving as a platform for inter-community gatherings and cooperation at all levels, providing a space for all New Yorkers to enjoy.  This proposed project is about promoting integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture.  Cordoba House will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a center of learning, art and culture; and most importantly, a center guided by Islamic values in their truest form - compassion, generosity, and respect for all.  The site will contain tremendous amounts of resources that otherwise would not exist in Lower Manhattan; a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, , library, a fitness center, public conference rooms, a basketball court, art exhibition spaces, bookstores, restaurants - all these services would form a cultural nexus for a region of New York City that, as it continues to grow, requires the sort of hub that Cordoba House will provide.

The director of the mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Fatima Shama told the New York Times: ‘We as New York Muslims have as much of a commitment to rebuilding New York as anybody.’ 

WHY THE NAME CORDOBA HOUSE?

The Cordoba Initiative is a multi-faith organization whose objective is to heal the relationship between the Islamic World and America. Working through civil dialogue, policy initiatives, education, and cultural programs, the Initiative focuses on Thought, Action and Outcomes.  The story behind Cordoba ... For hundreds of years during the Middle Ages, Cordoba was the capital of Muslim Spain. During its “golden age” from the 8th to 12th centuries, the Cordoba Caliphate witnessed a great flowering of culture, art, and philosophical inquiry amid a remarkable climate of religious tolerance. Religious freedom, although not perfect, was sufficient that many Jewish and Christian intellectuals were attracted to Cordoba, where they lived, wrote and flourished side by side with their Muslim counterparts in a strikingly pluralistic society. The largest of Cordoba’s 70 libraries was believed to contain 400,000 volumes, making it vastly larger than anything else in Europe at the time. 

Update 7/18/10:  It has been announced that the project has changed its’ name from Cordoba House to Park 51.  It is a shame that the organizers of this project feel the need to buckle to pressure in this way.

See also:  Charlton Heston’s ‘El Cid’: A Hero for Our Time , David Shasha http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-shasha/charlton-hestons-el-cid-a_b_679711.html - Mosque’s Name (Cordoba) Isn’t Code for Islamic Conquest, Christa Brown http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=16583  - When the Moors ruled Spain VIDEO - ANDALUSIA: Finally remembering centuries of Muslims, Jews, Christians thriving together, Len Traubman http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/andalusia_finally_remembering_centuries_of_muslims_jews_christians_thriving/  - The Gifts of Al-Andaluz VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGtLJXm9p44&search=islam%20muslim%20muslimah%20allah%20peace%20educate%20learn%20world%20ignorance%20truth%20understand  - Restoring the Andalusian-Arabic Tradition in Western Civilization: An Homage to Maria Rosa Menocal, David Shasha http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/restoring_the_andalusian_arabic_tradition_in_western_civilization_an_homage/  - The Muslim Expulsion from Spain:  An Early Example of Religious and Ethnic Cleansing, Roger Boase http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_muslim_expulsion_from_spain_an_early_example_of_religious_and_ethnic_cl/  - The Expulsion of Muslims from Spain, Prof. T.B. Irving http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_expulsion_of_muslims_from_spain/  - Convivencia or Anti-Semitism?  The Iberian Paradigm of Tolerance and the Slippery Slope of Jewish Revisionary Self-Hatred, David Shasha http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/convivencia_or_anti_semitism_the_iberian_paradigm_of_tolerance_and_the_slip/

LEGITIMATE CONTROVERSY OR BIGOTRY?
 
The organizers of this project (and the entire Muslim community in North America) are being maligned.  It would be understandable if people were asking to know something about Imam Feisal and Daisy Khan and whether or not they were traditional, mainstream Muslims or were extremists.  These are individuals who are part of organizations actively working to counter extremism, and Imam Feisal is the Imam of a local mosque, Masjid al Farah (which is nearby in Tribeca and known to many Muslims as the “happy mosque”).  Masjid al Farah lost many of its members on 9/11.  They have been active community members in NYC for many years, so checking out their bona fides is a very simple matter. 

What we are seeing is very little of this sort of reasonable concern to know who the neighbors might be, but a blizzard of bigotry that paints all Muslims and the entire religion of Islam as being evil.  Here are the sort of statements being made:

an outrage, “Spitting in the Face of Everyone Murdered on 9/11”, the “Cordoba Initiative,” name itself is called “a full affront to Americans”,  “a 13 story monument to the 9/11 Muslims who hijacked those 4 airliners”, “it mocks the dead”, “soft jihad”,  “a real finger-in-the-eye to the families of those who died that awful day – and to the nation”,  “a slap in the face”, “despicable and atrocious”, “I presume that these people aren’t going to be gathering there to plan another attack”,  “offensive”, a “great insult”, “insensitivity to the families of the victims”, “grotesque and repulsive”, “ominous”, “a mosque, the place where jihadis go for spiritual sustenance”, [url=http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/05/mosque-at-ground-zero-equals-victory.php]“a decisive victory over the infidels in Islam’s march to establish it

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