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Home Front: WoT
New US Islamic institute prioritizes outreach, education
2017-05-24
[IsraelTimes] Shiite leader wants to build bridges through interfaith outreach, via preachers who understand American culture.
What are the odds that Iranian money and Iranan spies are not involved in some way?
When the Islamic Institute of America
...the largest mosque in Michigan or maybe America...
bought a Baptist church, the plan initially was to remove the pews -- until the mosque’s leader objected, in part because he saw keeping the benches as a way of showing Islam’s compatibility with its sister faith.

"We’re sending a message to non-Moslem visitors and friends -- particularly our interfaith community and Christians," Imam Hassan Qazwini,
... the very connected, English-speaking Shiite imam who is also listed in our archive as Sayyid Hassan al-Qazwini. He is reportedly Hezb'allah's man in America, a supporter of Hamas, friend of Louis Farrakhan and Ron Paul in antisemitic mode, had a long private talk with Barack Obama in 2008, and was called upon to say the opening prayer for the 108th Congress. There was also a little matter of embezzlement in six figures, but his youth movement made it clear that would have to go away. He talks about refusing Saudi funding and peace a lot...
one of the top Shiite Moslem leaders in the US, said from what is now the institute’s lecture hall.

"We use the same benches you sat on. We’re using the same stage your pastor used to disseminate our message, which is not too different from your message," he added. "The gap that exists between us is not that huge."

Qazwini said reaching out to Christians, Jews and others has never been more important, with a US president who has said Islam hates the US and polls finding most Americans holding negative views of the faith. He sees education and outreach as the primary missions of the Islamic Institute of America in the bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
 suburb of Dearborn Heights, which has one of the largest and oldest Arab-Moslem communities outside the Middle East.

Qazwini, who comes from a family of prominent American Shiite scholars and is of Iraqi descent, said he hopes to quell fears and misunderstandings through regular interfaith gatherings and a media division that will produce short videos and other internet-based programming.
"You will listen. We will tell. Then you will see the light and convert, yes?"
Next year, the center plans to launch a seminary aimed at equipping a new generation of Moslem leaders who can help forge a better understanding of Islam in the West. He said the seminary would not only help produce well-rounded scholars who can engage with the wider world, but also better serve their US-born congregants.
A small step up from using Iran-provided clergy, and of course they will be Shiite rather than Sunni.
"One of the issues we Moslems face in the country is ... the huge gap that exists between leaders coming from the Middle East to lead our Islamic institutions and their congregations. For most of those leaders, including myself, it takes years to adapt with the environment, with the American psyche, mentality and even lifestyle," he said.
About that death-to-apostates thing...
Qazwini’s new institute is just a few miles from the Islamic Center of America, one of North America’s largest mosques and where he served for 18 years before leaving in 2015.

Liyakat Takim, a professor of global Islam at McMaster University in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario, said the US has one or two Islamic educational institutions, but "none with the same vision" offered by Qazwini.
Why is a Canadian academic being consulted on an American issue?
"For the longest time, the Moslem community has imported scholars from abroad or sent them abroad to study," said Takim, who knows Qazwini. "They’re not always conducive to the environment we have in America. This can create a younger generation that can preach a message which is amenable to the American environment."

Takim said Qazwini is "a man of great vision," and delivering on his plans for the institute will be "an exceptional feat and a great challenge," given rising anti-Moslem sentiment.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2014 found Americans view Islam less favorably than other major religions and atheism. Another Pew survey found 38 percent of Americans think Islam is more likely than others to encourage violence among its followers, while 50 percent think it is not more likely.

President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s campaign was marked by anti-Moslem rhetoric and, since being inaugurated, he’s sought to enact a travel ban from several Moslem-majority countries.

Qazwini said perceptions of Islam are hurt by acts of violence or terror committed by people who call themselves Moslem. He criticizes the media for rushing to associate someone’s crime with his religion if that person is or appears to be Moslem. Just because somebody acts "in the name of religion," it "doesn’t mean the religion is acting," he said.

Still, he can understand the fears.

"If I put myself in a non-Moslem’s shoes, I fully understand how they feel," he said. "There’s a massive, massive bombardment of anti-Islamic literature, imagery that leads viewers and readers to believe Islam is not compatible with the 21st century. It is our job as Moslems to change that and to contribute. ... Maybe we can’t do it all, but at least we try."

Qazwini said his institute seeks to educate Moslems and non-Moslems alike, and make them feel comfortable in each other’s company.

"We’re not your enemy," he said.
Posted by:trailing wife

#3  Today's topic - how to improve blast radius.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2017-05-24 13:04  

#2  They are Moslems until a Sunni turns up. Then they are Shiites.
Posted by: phil_b   2017-05-24 05:10  

#1  Outreach? Somebody out to chop off their hands.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2017-05-24 01:51  

00:00