Posted on 09/27/2007 8:53:27 AM PDT by flutters
Closing a tumultuous chapter in the history of the region's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of Cleveland has hired a permanent replacement for a controversial imam who was deported for falsifying his citizenship application.
Imam Ahmed Alzaree, an Egyptian-born cleric who led a mosque in Omaha, Neb., for the past five years until his contract expired in July, will join the Islamic Center of Cleveland on Nov. 1, leaders of the mosque said.
They said Alzaree, 37, is a scholar whose strengths include working with young people.
Dr. Jalal Abu-Shaweesh, mosque president, said Alzaree should bring a "great deal of stability" to the Islamic Center.
Alzaree confirmed late Tuesday that he is coming to Cleveland, but declined further comment.
Two leaders at the Islamic Center of Omaha praised Alzaree's work there.
"The majority of us loved him out here. Not only is he a good leader, he's a good teacher," said N'Zingah AlShams, a former member of the mosque's board of directors.
Alzaree's selection follows years of turmoil at the Parma mosque that began in fall 2001 when a 1991 videotape surfaced showing then-Imam Fawaz Damra railing against Jews and raising money for Palestinian militant groups such as Islamic Jihad.
Damra, who had been an interfaith leader in Northeast Ohio, apologized for the remarks, saying he made them at a time when he had no interaction with the Jewish and Christian communities. He vowed to show the community he was a peacemaker, but his interfaith work was severely affected, and some members left the mosque in protest.
When Damra was indicted in January 2004 on charges that he lied about ties to Palestinian extremist groups on his citizenship application, the mosque's board of trustees voted to put him on paid leave, but his supporters rallied to have him continue leading worship.
Damra and many mosque members said he was the victim of "œblatant targeting" of Islamic leaders by the government.
In June 2004, Damra was convicted and stripped of his citizenship. He was deported to the Middle East in January this year after more than a year in jail. The Islamic Center had hired an interim imam, Mohamad Altabaa, but the search for a new spiritual leader dragged on through much of this year as tensions persisted.
Last month, Alzaree came for a visit and mosque leaders were so impressed that the center canceled interviews with other outside candidates and decided to offer him the position, Abu-Shaweesh said. In advertising the position, the mosque sought an Islamic scholar, and Alzaree is "very knowledgeable in Islam," Abu-Shaweesh said. Among his skills, Alzaree is a hafiz, someone who has memorized the Koran and can recite it in special intonations.
After so many years of tension surrounding the imam at the Islamic Center, mosque officials are looking forward to a fresh start.
"It's major because they got somebody who is not too old and quite knowledgeable and leaning toward scholarship," said Ahmed Fellague, a member of the Council of Elders. "Everybody likes the new guy."
Dear brothers and sisters, the talk about the Day of Judgment is long and full of things that will confuse the human mind and put fear in the hearts of the faithful. Every day that comes is much more Worse than the day before it as we get closer to the hour. Among the signs of the approach of Day of Judgment is what the messenger of Allah PBUH said: “The hour of judgment shall not happen until the Muslims fight the Jews. The Muslims shall kill the Jews to the point that the Jew shall hide behind a big rock or a tree and the rock or tree shall call on the Muslim saying: hey, O Muslim there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him, except the Gharqad tree which will not say, for it is the tree of Jews.” Agreed upon. This is seemed to be very soon and close now. We ask Allah SWT not to test us so hardly if we live till this horrible moment insha’allah.
http://ohioagainstterror.blogspot.com/
http://www.ico-ne.org/khutbahs/mar07/mar07.htm
First, let me show you youngsters how to make explosives from common household products. The we will look at how to make a special belt you can wear.
Then we will look...
More information on the guy mentioned from Omaha, NE:
The “mosque” is/was actually a house in a residential area. There was only a VERY small parking lot built. Every evening, there were plenty of complaints from the neighborhood that people were parking in their driveways or blocking driveways, etc. for several blocks in each direction. I saw that tickets were given (on occasion), but I don’t believe anything was ever really done about it. I wonder how they got zoning to put it there.
General question:
How can visas/green cards be gotten for foreign imams? You have to prove that it is a job that not enough Americans are trained for. However, when it comes to hating America, there is a lib behind every bush willing to pop out and do it.
ping
Not only is he a good leader, he’s a good teacher,”
Now we just have to see what he is going to teach.
peace or jihad?
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