Jonathan Oosting
Muslim cleric promoting NY faith center to open speaking tour in Detroit, calls on moderates of all faiths to battle religious extremism
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Muslim cleric who founded the controversial Park 51 project in New York, is launching a national speaking tour this weekend in Detroit, where he'll deliver the keynote address Saturday at the "Finding Strength Through Diversity" conference sponsored by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan and the Islamic Society of North America.
The forum aims to break down barriers between Muslims, making Detroit a logical location, and Rauf intends to explain the goal of the Park 51 project, which he says opponents have mistakenly branded "the Ground Zero Mosque."
"It is neither at Ground Zero nor is it a mosque," Rauf told host Frank Beckmann this morning on WJR-AM 760, previewing his visit. "It is a multi-faith center which we have proposed." The center, he said, would include spaces for Muslims, Jews, Christians and members of other faith religions to pray.
Listen to Imam Rauf:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Barack Obama have acknowledged the right of Muslims to build the center, but the project has faced a substantial amount of criticsm from those who argue that it would "be a real affront to people who lost their lives" in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.
As Rauf kicks off his speaking tour, two groups opposing the plan -- The Christian Action Network and PRB Films -- will hold their own conference in Dearborn, where they'll screen a film titled "Sacrificed Survivors: The Untold Story of the Ground Zero Mega-Mosque." The film includes survivors and their families who argue against Park 51, along with unfounded claims Rauf and other Muslims are attempting to "plant the seeds of Sharia across the nation."
Acknowledging the unfortunate growth of extremism within the Muslim community over the past 30 to 40 years, Rauf said he believes much of the opposition to his plan comes from a misunderstanding of Islam as a violent religion and those "who have sought to promote that type of misunderstanding."
"The real paradigm shift we need to make is to recognize the battlefront is between the extremists of all religions and the moderates of all faith traditions," he said. "The vast majority of Christians, Jews and Muslims are moderate. But unfortunately, the discourse" of extremists distorts this impression.
While the Park 51 project itself has led to extreme reactions and divisive discourse, Rauf said he continues to push the proposal as a matter of principal. Having lived in Manhattan for 29 years and lost several of his mosque members in the attacks on the twin towers, Rauf said he is "very sensitive to 9/11." But, he said, many members of the local community -- including non-Muslims -- have urged him to fight for the faith center, which he said is intended to focus on commonalities in all faiths.
"This battle against the extremists has to be waged together," he said. "We must amplify our voice and say we will not allow those extremists to hijack the discourse. Extremists feed off each other. It radicalizes people on both sides and creates this vicious downward spiral. We can have a different discourse between us, one that enhances the kind of world we all want to live in."
The "Finding Strength through Diversity" conference opens tonight at the Doulbetree Hotel in Detroit and Rauf will speak Saturday. The "Anti-Ground Zero Mosque Tour," meanwhile, kicks of at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Henry Ford Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.
January 14, 2011, MLive
