Ground Zero Mosque

By Ahmad al-Hilali, TMO

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the construction of al-Farah Mosque near Ground Zero. Everyone either supported the construction of the 30 story building, or supported the demolition of it. The imam of the mosque, Dr. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, faced many hardships when it came to it’s construction, but he still managed to get America to get over it. He visited the Dar al Hikma mosque in Dearborn Heights, Michigan on June 6.

During his speech there, he showed much appreciation towards the Shi’a community and gave a very powerful quote which sparked the room with “Allahu Akbar’s” and “Blessings be on the Prophet and his progeny” Dr Feisal said: “My Father laid down my entire ancestry to me when I was a kid, and when I grew up, I grew up knowing that I was the 40th descendant of Al-Imam Al-Hassan, the son of Al-Imam Ali ibnu Abi Talib.

Why would the American society have a negative outburst towards the construction of the mosque, when America clearly states the freedom of religion in the First Amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,”

If people were to get upset over the construction of a place that allows religion, shouldn’t they also get worked up over Shinto Shrines in Pearl Harbor?

If America is going to deny the construction of a mosque because of the assumption that all Muslims are terrorists because of the 9/11 incident, than shouldn’t America also target the Japanese community for building a Shrine NEAR Pearl Harbor because of what happened there in 1941?

But wouldn’t that be considered bigoted today?

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