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West Point opens Islamic worship space as Muslim cadets increase
Muslims at the U.S. Military Academy numbered just two in 2001. This year, there are 32. Now West Point has opened its first space dedicated to Muslims, a worship hall complete with a pulpit facing Mecca. The space officially opened Thursday. "I knew the Army had a policy of religious tolerance, but I didn't know it was to this extent," said first-year Cadet Ahmed Moomin, 20, from the Maldives.
Until now, Friday prayers were held in an increasingly crowded first-floor office, said Imam Asadullah, the academy's Muslim cleric. The number of Muslim cadets jumped by 10 from last year. The new hall is large enough for dozens of followers, he said. West Point's Muslim leaders approached administrators last year for help. "We live in a world where everyone is looking at the United States saying, 'You're anti-Islam.' But here at West Point, that's not what we do," West Point Chaplain Col. John Cook said.
Asadullah said the new hall is a strategic move. "We have cadets here who are going to be the future of tomorrow," he said. "If we treat them differently from other cadets or other faiths, that will be a cause for future confrontation." Some but not all of those Muslim cadets are foreign. There is always a contingent of foreign cadets who do the full 4 year program at the Academy. Many of them become influential leaders back home -- their governments must pay the costs of their time at USMA and only the best are sent. There are also officers and academics who spend time at the Academy from foreign countries, including Muslim ones.
A lot of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish cadets take their religion seriously too. The new Muslim hall fits the Army tradition both of supporting the work of chaplains and also of insisting that soldiers work, fight and relax alongside other soldiers no matter what their beliefs, race or origin might be.
Below: the protestant Cadet Chapel (which stands prominently above the parade grounds), the Catholic Chapel, the original cadet chapel, which is next to the cemetary and is still in use for weddings, funerals and some regular services, and the Jewish Chapel. There is also a post chapel which offers regular protestant services and more musically-oriented gospel services. |
   
| And here is the new Muslim worship hall. Note the black soldier (or cadet - can't tell here) wearing BDUs, the cadets (grey trousers with stripe, white shirt and/or grey jacket) and several blonde women including a cadet. It's possible some of the attendees are not muslims but were there for the opening service. |
Posted by: Fred 2006-10-22 |
