Shoaib Choudhury: Stop the Imam Now!

Stop the Imam Now!
By Shoaib Choudhury

Despite series of protests, Kuwait-born Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf is silently getting set in erecting the ‘Tower of Terror’ under the garb of a mosque at Ground Zero site in New York City in United States. The prospective developer of the US$ 100 million 13-story mosque, which will be located just 600 feet from the Ground Zero, projects himself as a moderate Muslim. But, it is recorded that, Faisal Abdul Rauf inherits the notion of Muslim Brotherhood from his father, Dr. Mohammed Abdul Rauf [1917-2004], an Egyptian contemporary of Muslim brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Banna. Dr. Rauf conveyed to his family a long tradition of radicalism which he acquired at Islam’s closest equivalent to Vatican, Al Azhar University in Cairo.

Imam Abdul Rauf, the man behind this controversial mosque is a prominent member of a group that helped sponsor the pro-Palestinian activists who clashed violently with Israeli commandos at sea several weeks back. Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf is a key figure in Malaysia based Perdana Global Peace Organization. Perdana is the single biggest donor [US$ 366,000] so far to the Free Gaza Movement, a key organization of the six-ship flotilla that tried to break into Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza strip.

In the ultimate act of Islamic conquest and callous insensitivity to the victims' families and all Americans who were attacked by Islamic jihad on 9/11/01, the Free Gaza, Jew-killing supporting Imam and his Islamic supremacist wife are ignoring the pleas and cries from millions of Americans, and intend to build their Islamic supremacist mosque. The imam, at Friday prayers two weeks ago, said he didn't understand the hostility of the opposition to the monster mosque, especially since our "children and our grandchildren would be Muslim."

These pro-Jihadist Imam and his deceitful wife speak of "building bridges" and "outreach," yet completely ignore the pain and the pleas of patriots and Americans asking them to stop this divisiveness, this insult, this slap on the national face America.

Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf refuses to describe notorious terrorist group Hamas as a terrorist organization, though according to US State Department’s assessment, "Hamas terrorists, especially those in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings, against Israeli civilian and military targets."

Walid Shoebat, an Arabic speaker who says he found an Arabic-language interview in which Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to make a statement about religious tolerance and reconciliation, and to spite radical Islam - advocates turning America into an Islamic state.

Recently - in fact on May 26 2010, one day after his Daily News column - Abdul Rauf appeared on the popular Islamic website Hadiyul-Islam with even more disturbing opinions. That's the same website where, ironically enough, a fatwa was simultaneously being issued forbidding a Muslim to sell land to a Christian, because the Christian wanted to build a church on it.
In his interview on Hadiyul-Islam by Sa'da Abdul Maksoud, Abdul Rauf was asked his views on Sharia [Islamic religious law] and the Islamic state. He responded:

Throughout my discussions with contemporary Muslim theologians, it is clear an Islamic state can be established in more than just a single form or mold. It can be established through a kingdom or a democracy. The important issue is to establish the general fundamentals of Sharia that are required to govern. It is known that there are sets of standards that are accepted by [Muslim] scholars to organize the relationships between government and the governed.

When questioned about this, Abdul Rauf continued: "Current governments are unjust and do not follow Islamic laws." He added:

New laws were permitted after the death of Muhammad, so long of course that these laws do not contradict the Quran or the Deeds of Muhammad ... so they create institutions that assure no conflicts with Sharia.

In yet plainer English, forget the separation of church and state. Abdul Rauf's goal is the imposition of Shariah law - in every country, even democratic ones like the U.S.

Imam Rauf is dreaming to construct this mosque with his ultimate goal of Islamizing America. But, he possibly forgets one point. When Americans are attacked, they come together as one, under one flag, under one law against a common enemy that they are not afraid to identify. Religious freedom is central to America as a nation - and that is why the location of this project is so misguided. Ground Zero is purely about being American. And, there is no room for anyone to let this sentiment be anyway ignored by anyone.

I precisely understand the reason behind such huge flow of fund for this Tower of Terrorism at Ground Zero site. Many of the radical Muslim nations in the world are willing to give a ‘proper lesson’ to Americans by planting a so-called mosque at the very wound of those family members of the martyrs as well as patriotic Americans.

Secondly this very mosque, like many other large mosques and so-called community mosques in United States will turn into epicenter of Tablighi Jamaat activities. It is well documented that, Tablighi Jamaat preaches Jihad and encourages deceitful conversion of non-Muslims to Islam. Due to decade-long activities of Tablighi Jamaat in Bangladesh, the percentage of religious minorities, including Hundus, Christians and Buddhists are on fast decline. It is feared that, if Tablighis will be able to continue its activities inside Bangladesh for another decade, the country may witness a complete elimination of religious minorities from its population.

While Tablighis are actively working inside United States for Islamizing America, rogue Islamists like Abdul Rauf are not sitting silent. This man is moving ahead with his agenda of constructing the mosque at Ground Zero. Americans need to wake up now. Because, their silence will put America into further risk.

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