"Above all, the project will amplify the multifaith approach that the Cordoba Initiative has deployed in concrete ways for years. Our name, Cordoba, was inspired by the city in Spain where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed in the Middle Ages during a period of great cultural enrichment created by Muslims. Our initiative is intended to cultivate understanding among all religions and cultures."
Imam Rauf's NYT Op-ed Completely Ignores Ground Zero Mosque Polls "How could a man claiming his "life's work has been focused on building bridges between religious groups" not recognize in his call for unity the overwhelming opposition to this mosque from the very people he says he wants to build bridges between?"
An ancient echo of NYC mosque debate in Córdoba, Spain "At its height, Córdoba was considered by some to be one of the greatest achievements of the medieval Islamic world – a center of art, architecture, and scholarship.
"For much of the Islamic period, Córdoba was a bastion of tolerance. It ushered in a renaissance for Jews in Spain, who were persecuted by Christian rulers in the 7th century. The great Jewish philosopher and Torah scholar Maimonides was born there around 1134.
"That Maimonides's family fled Córdoba for North Africa when he was a boy after an intolerant Islamic dynasty conquered the city is one of the reasons that US politicians like Newt Gingrich deemed the original name an "insult." There were also periods in which large numbers of Jews or Christians were killed."....
"Likewise today, the disputes – albeit less violent – continue. And while the petition for Muslims to be allowed to pray at the Great Mosque does not appear to be going anywhere, on Sept. 11 this month a group of Muslims, Christians, and Jews plan to form a human chain linking the synagogue with the mosque. It will be difficult to misread the symbolism."
The Cordoba Mosque in New York - “A Symbol of the Islamic Conquest of Christian Lands”
"Be that as it may, I still think Mr. Rauf and his wife should be taken at their word—provided they are also held to it. As a confidence-building measure for those of us who live in the neighborhood, it would help if the pair voluntarily answered some questions about the nature of their beliefs. A sampler:
"Who perpetrated the attacks of 9/11, and what was their religion?
"Does Israel have a right to exist as a Jewish state?
"What aspects of Shariah law, if any, do they repudiate?
"Do they consider the Muslim Brotherhood to be extreme?"
What the Arab papers say "...According to Mr al-Rashed, there is little Muslim demand for a mosque to be built near ground zero:
What Americans don't understand is that the battle with the terrorists behind 9/11 is not their fight, but rather a battle for Muslims, as over twenty Islamic states struggle against terrorism. Some Muslims will consider the construction of a mosque there [by Ground Zero] as a commemoration and immortalization of what the terrorists, who committed their crime in the name of Islam, did. I don't think that the majority of Muslims want to build a symbol or a place of worship that could become a place for terrorists and their Muslim followers to take pride in. Or a building that could become a shrine of hatred against Islam that turns public opinion against it, as seems to be the case at the moment, with claims that a mosque is being built on the bodies of three thousand dead Americans, buried alive as some people shout "Allahu Akbar", the same call which will be heard from the mosque. It is a false battle; [...] there are no devoted Muslims who want a place of worship there."Mr al-Rashed’s article met with criticism in a popular Emirati publication, Al-Khaleej, where Habib al-Sabegh writes a scathing response:"...
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