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Questions for Imam Rauf From an American Muslim
WSJ ^ | September 10, 2010 | M. ZUHDI JASSER

Posted on 09/10/2010 6:55:40 AM PDT by nuconvert

He may not appear to the untrained eye to be an Islamist, but by making Ground Zero an Islamic rather than an American issue he shows his true allegiance.

(excerpt)

Imam Rauf and his supporters are clearly more interested in making a political statement in relation to Islam than in the mosque's potential for causing community division and pain to those who lost loved ones on 9/11. That division is already bitterly obvious.

I must ask Imam Rauf: For what do you stand—what's best for Americans overall, or for what you think is best for Islam? What have you said and argued to Muslim-majority nations to address their need for reform? You have said that Islam does not need reform, despite the stoning of women in Muslim countries, death sentences for apostates, and oppression of reformist Muslims and non-Muslims.

You now lecture Americans that WTC mosque protests are "politically motivated" and "go against the American principle of church and state." Yet you ignore the wide global prevalence of far more dangerous theo-political groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and all of its violent and nonviolent offshoots.

-excerpt-

...most voices in this case have been very clear that for every American freedom of religion is a right, but that it is not right to make one's religion a global political statement with a towering Islamic edifice that casts a shadow over the memorials of Ground Zero.

-excerpt-

Islamists in "moderate" disguise are still Islamists.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: groundzeromosque; imamrauf; jasser; muslim

1 posted on 09/10/2010 6:55:44 AM PDT by nuconvert
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To: nuconvert

I imagine this guy will be recieving death threats from followers of Rauf. At which point Rauf will be standing beside them claiming their constitutional right of free speech.


2 posted on 09/10/2010 6:59:54 AM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like what you say))
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To: nuconvert
Islamists in "moderate" disguise are still Islamists.

Now there's a great FR tagline.

3 posted on 09/10/2010 7:00:47 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (A fearless person cannot be controlled.)
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To: freeangel

You must not be familiar with Dr. Jasser.
Try entering keyword jasser in FR’s search engine


4 posted on 09/10/2010 7:08:21 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: nuconvert

Imam Rauf may not appear to the untrained eye to be an Islamist, but by making Ground Zero an Islamic rather than an American issue, and by failing to firmly condemn terrorist groups like Hamas, he shows his true allegiance.
Islamists in “moderate” disguise are still Islamists. In their own more subtle ways, the WTC mosque organizers end up serving the same aims of the separatist and supremacist wings of political Islam. In this epic struggle of the 21st century, we cannot afford to ignore the continuum between nonviolent political Islam and the militancy it ultimately fuels among the jihadists.


5 posted on 09/10/2010 7:11:56 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: AdmSmith; Valin; Army Air Corps; Vigilanteman; GOPJ; mazda77

pong


6 posted on 09/10/2010 7:13:12 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: Presbyterian Reporter

That last sentence is what most of Washington (and obviously the msm) - repubs & dems alike - just don’t get.
So, I’ll repeat it :

...we cannot afford to ignore the continuum between nonviolent political Islam and the militancy it ultimately fuels among the jihadists.


7 posted on 09/10/2010 7:18:03 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: nuconvert

Above all this is a Public Relations venture for Rauf.

And his target audience is NOT the USA. He couldn’t care less about NY Muslims. This is a project to build his image in the Mid-East. Remember, there is no Vatican in Islam. One becomes an “Imam” or religious leader by simply having followers - and the more you have, the more holy you must be. To get this you also need name-recognition.

What better “street-cred” is there than telling the Muslim World you have built a mosque at the heart of the Great Satan? Also, being able to skim a reasonable profit off $100 million in donations doesn’t hurt either.


8 posted on 09/10/2010 7:30:03 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: nuconvert

The idea that if we(The American People)just bend over and grab our ankles and Everything will bo OK isn’t even NAIVE!


9 posted on 09/10/2010 7:33:27 AM PDT by bandleader
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To: nuconvert

If the most moderate Muslims are like this Imam we have reason to be highly guarded.


10 posted on 09/10/2010 9:55:07 AM PDT by DBCJR (What would you expect?)
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To: nuconvert

Thanks for the heads-up. The writer asks valid questions. Rauf still fails to answer some rather pointed questions. He twist, turns, and dodges. When all else fails, he hints at violence.


11 posted on 09/10/2010 12:18:32 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: nuconvert

Off Topic FYI...

WSJ: A Symposium: What Is Moderate Islam?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575461503431290986.html

The controversy over a proposed mosque in lower Manhattan has spurred a wider debate about the nature of Islam. We asked six leading thinkers—Anwar Ibrahim, Bernard Lewis, Ed Husain, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Tawfik Hamid and Akbar Ahmed—to weigh in.
9/1/10


12 posted on 09/11/2010 12:50:17 PM PDT by Valin
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To: Valin

yup. I posted it last week. ;~ )
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2581375/posts

You might want to skip the replies on the thread though. Most didn’t get beyond the title before commenting.....as expected


13 posted on 09/11/2010 2:54:33 PM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: nuconvert

“You might want to skip the replies on the thread though. Most didn’t get beyond the title before commenting.....as expected”

I find that hard to believe! :-)


14 posted on 09/11/2010 4:03:41 PM PDT by Valin
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