3000 Muslims pray at Capitol HillThe following note was posted at Washington Post.As a Muslim, I am pleased with the demonstration of Unity and solidarity with America; however, I found some of the comments to be gratuitous.
One of the Imams in the video wearing the Arab traditional dress invites people to prayers,( links in the article below) it was indeed beautiful, but when he suggests to “lay your idols down and come to pray” was offensive to those who worship the creator in the form of Icons, which he called Idols. The act of denigrating Idol worship reduces Islam to be a faith based on absence of Idols. He knows Islam’s existence is not dependent on vilifying other faiths and the call was un-neccessary, most likely the Imam did not realize that it was inflammatory to others who share the city, state, nation and the world with him.
Thank God, the majority of preachers respect and honor divinity of other faiths as they honor their own. A few, just a few preachers among Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus and others simply have no regard, how the statements they make don’t create goodwill.
You find bigots in your faith as well, they are right there and you know them. The Christians standing and shouting ‘repent’ and asking people to convert to Christianity also cheapens the teachings of Jesus. Jesus would not have approved their act; you win people by showing your goodness, if they had served the Muslims with Halal refreshments, water and helping with parking, they would have earned the good will for future harvesting of the souls.
Religion is not about reciting Mantras and doing rituals, ultimately it is about becoming a good human being. When Jesus said follow me, Krishna says surrender to me, Allah says submit to my will, they are are asking one to be a good human being like the good God who loves and cares about every one of his creation.
Some of these unspiritual religious men are brainwashed with the idea of conversion. It is time we do our individual and group renaissance – and evaluate the value of conversion. Are we open to investigate if Jesus or Mohammad really wanted people to become Christians or Muslims politically numberwise or they wanted the world to be a better place with better humans. Which route is easire to achieve and sustainable with least conflcits?
We scream at the extremists that they cannot think, are we?
Mike Ghouse
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At Capitol, a Day of Muslim Prayer and Unity
3,000 Gather to Combat Fear and ‘Do the Work of Allah’ Amid Christian Protests
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/25/AR2009092502183.html
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At Capitol, a Day of Muslim Prayer and Unity
3,000 Gather to Combat Fear and ‘Do the Work of Allah’ Amid Christian Protests
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Nearly 3,000 people gathered on the west lawn of the Capitol on Friday for a mass Muslim prayer service that was part religion and part pep rally for the beleaguered U.S. Muslim community.
As faint shouts of “Repent!” from Christian protesters floated across the gathering, dozens of long rows of men in robes and white knit caps and women in head coverings prostrated themselves to God, gave praise and listened to sermons as part of the congregational prayer that occurs about noon Fridays.
“Stop being so scared!” thundered Imam Abdul Malik of New York. “You ain’t done nothing wrong. Just do the work of Allah, and believe.”
The service comes as the Muslim community has been rocked by verbal attacks from conservative Christians that have grown stronger since the election of President Obama and by the recent arrests in a terrorism investigation involving several Muslim men, including an imam.
“We wanted to bring people out to show you don’t need to fear America,” said Imam Ali Jaaber of Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth N.J., the service’s main organizer. At the same time, he said, he wanted to remind non-Muslims that “we are decent Muslims. We work; we pay taxes. We are Muslims who truly love this country.”
Across the street from the service, Christian protesters gathered with banners, crosses and anti-Islamic messages. One group, which stood next to a 10-foot-tall wooden cross and two giant wooden tablets depicting the Ten Commandments, was led by the Rev. Flip Benham of Concord, N.C.
“I would suggest you convert to Christ!” Benham shouted over a megaphone. Islam “forces its dogma down your throat.” A few Christian protesters gathered at the rear of the Muslim crowd, holding Bibles and praying.
At one point, organizers asked them to tone it down.
“We would never come to a prayer meeting that you have to make a disturbance,” Hamad Chebli, imam of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey, said from the lectern. “Please show us some respect. This is a sacred moment. Just as your Sunday is sacred, our Friday is sacred.”
The noise from protesters faded somewhat during the final portion of the service, which lasted nearly two hours.
Organizers said this month that they hoped to draw about 50,000 people from mosques across the country for the gathering, billed as a day of unity for the nation’s Muslims. But it failed to attract the support of national Islamic organizations and drew only a fraction of that number. Some people were frightened off by the conservative Christian attacks, said Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam.
Nonetheless, organizers said they were happy with the turnout.
Abdellah had become the focus of criticism in recent days because he was part of the legal team that represented one of the men convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Kia Campbell, a homemaker from Durham, N.C., who came with several members of her family, said they were concerned about their safety.
“It wasn’t going to keep us from coming,” she said. “But it wasn’t that we didn’t feel cautious.”
Takoma Park engineer Mohammed-Amin AbaBiya said he was happy to be at a “historical” event.
“This shows that America is one, that religion is one,” he said, beaming, after the gathering ended and people began to stream off the lawn. “It shows solidarity and brotherhood. In the future, we are going to come more often, I hope.”
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