Background to the Ground Zero Mosque Issue

1. Islam has a hierarchy that goes: religion, family and then (quite a ways behind) state. So strong is this hierarchy that Saudi Arabia (where most of the suicide bombers of 911 came from) has no churches, wats, or temples – only mosques. There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia – and most of the funding for this project will probably come from Saudi Arabia.

Proponents of the mosque cite the US constitution as giving them the right to put the mosque anywhere they want. True enough, but Muslims generally believe in Sharia law, not the US constitution. Sharia law, I regret to say, still up holds the death by stoning for adulterous women (provided you have male witnesses), and it sounds hypocritical when Muslims make the constitutional argument.

2. The Islamic world is very sensitive to any questionable portrayal of their religion. We’ve all seen fatwas (death sentences) called for cartoonist and writers – death sentences! To do otherwise would show a wavering or weakness of faith. I often heard Saudis question the turn-the-other cheek idea as just foolishness.

I don’t see this mosque as adding insult to injury as some have suggested, but it certainly doesn’t show much sensitivity, to American values, either. Of course, showing sensitivity to this issue might be construed as a sign of weakness.

3. The Middle East is not transparent to money transactions. If questions ever arose about individuals or organizations giving money to the center, I don’t think Homeland Security could ever find answers to these questions.

4. The Islamic banking system prides itself on being different (conforming to Islamic laws) than western banks. Religion controls all aspect of life. They don’t, for instance, offer interest on savings accounts. The justification for 911 was in part to rebuke the capitalist system. It seems ironic that they now want to build an Islamic Center in the belly of the beast, so to speak.

5. I know that there will be a mosque on the fifth floor of the center. I would expect this mosque to be nothing more than a big empty room. I give the Muslims credit for this austerity which you see in hospitals, airports and other places. Christian chapels, on the other hand, come complete with dim lights, stained glass windows, altars, crucifixes, etc.

I do have two questions, though. First, from the mosque in the proposed center, what is the qibla or direction to Mecca? Muslims give great importance to this direction and I would be a little uncomfortable if the qibla pointed directly at the new trade center tower.

Second, what is the rest of the building going to be used for? Whoever is handling the PR for the center ought to tell us why we need five floors for a simple empty room? Will there be a soup kitchen or drop-in center for the elderly? Will there be a gymnasium or swimming pool for kids? Will there be classrooms for ESL as well as religious instruction? There’s another mosque nearby, why do we need this new mosque?

I once asked, one by one, 60 or so Saudi college students what they would do if they had a million dollars. To a man they all said, “First, I’d build a mosque.” When you gain in stature or fortune in Islam, the first thing you do is build a mosque. In the west we might give to charity or endow a school, but in Islam you build a mosque. My guess is that this Imam who has been working for the US State Department as an emissary to the Middle now feels he should build a mosque – and one that speaks to his success.

Conclusion:

I am like the President. I can’t make up my mind on this issue, but until I find out what the center will be used for, I think I am in the “no” column.