Free Republic

BOSTON – A crowd of hundreds of local Muslims inaugurated a large new mosque last week in Roxbury Crossing. The 68,000 sq foot Islamic Cultural Center in the heart of Boston, designed by Dr. Sami Angawi, and pioneered by board member Dr. Walid Fitaihi, Dr. Osama Kandeel and others, celebrated its inauguration with the historic attendance of the first Muslim in the United States Congress, Keith Ellison, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. This new Islamic cultural center in America is tremendously significant as it resides 5 minutes from the heart of downtown Boston and less than...

Rep slams mosque leader's writings By Jonathan Wells Friday, March 19, 2004 U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano said yesterday he is disturbed by anti-Jewish articles written by one of the leaders of a giant mosque planned for Roxbury and has asked the local Muslim group for an explanation. ``It's pretty inflammatory stuff, and it's stuff I wouldn't want to be associated with,'' Capuano (D-Somerville) told the Herald. ``I want to hear why those types of writings would be associated with that project.'' Capuano was responding to a Herald report last week that quoted Arabic language articles in which Walid A. Fitaihi,...

The bizarre story behind the construction of Boston's most controversial building

BOSTON, Massachusetts - A mosque is rising in the heart of Boston. Not just any mosque, but the largest mosque in the northeastern United States. At a cost of $22 million, the 60,000-square-foot Islamic Cultural Center will be a prominent symbol of the growth of Islam in America. But the project is under fire, as some say it will also be a symbol of radical Islam. The Islamic Society of Boston is under scrutiny for ties to radicalism. But the society says it does not tolerate extremism. And yet, some former and present leaders of the society have been tied...