Islamic centre building - Part 2

Several reasons to take proposed mosque-building seriously:

[Ah, yes but Muslims should be allowed to practice their faith.  The first issue is whether or not a mosque should be built in the area they are aiming to build it.  The second issue is about the way in which Islamic is taught and practiced in a proposed mosque. It is not just about Muslims exercising their right to practice Islam, it is about the impact that have on a given area/ community.]

 This article is about stopping planning applications for inappropriate mosques in inappropriate locations.

PART 2 - On an ideological level - "Tolerance at the expense of truth is stupidity"

True multiculturalism should represent the willingness to integrate, the ability & openness of each culture to learn as well as share with others. Generally speaking, blind multiculturalism is the single biggest barrier to trying to understand the ideology pushed out in mosques.  Not so in Islam as unfortunately, time after time, “Orthodox Islam” has shown (throughout its 1400 year history) a distinct lack of respect towards other faiths, including minority Islamic sects.  Mosques, (aka Islamic Centres) are the HQs of Islam as a political system.  

There is a continuing dilemma created by laws governing freedom of religion on the one hand, and laws against inciting violence & sedition.  This has a tendency to complicate matters, particularly with regards to the proposed building of mosques in multi-cultural societies. 

The purpose of an Islamic Centre/mosque is not to help the pious to integrate themselves in the wider community, but rather to promote a certain type of Islam, (e.g. Hanafi, Maliki, Hanbali, Salafi schools) and Islamic supremacism . Furthermore, Islamic Centres are sometimes run by charities.  Often these Islamic run groups of mosques.   Their whole existence is aimed at spreading Islam in the country.

The often quoted in planning applications, on websites, “it will be open to all members of the community” to justify the building of a mosque, should be viewed with extreme caution” as you will that only the cafeteria might be open to all.

"It will become a facility for Muslim prayer and a day care centre. It is a first for Shrewsbury and everyone will be welcome" is an example. It will remain to be seen whether this will happen,

Christianphobia seems to be connected to potential mosques. There are cases of a lack of tolerance shown towards other faiths within the same area, as this disturbing comment shows, “If St Josephs can be lobbied (by the Muslims) to remove a crucifix from outside a church on its own premises, by the same group of zealots that now want to build/erect [its] own holy symbols in its place, then quite frankly anything can be passed in front of us because our local representatives will simply get it wrong”.

 Often the source of the funding comes from the Gulf, especially Qatar and Saudi-Arabia.  This should raise suspicions straight away as unless you live in a cave; you cannot fail to notice the kind of Islam that is practiced in the Gulf region.  This ‘brand’ of Islam is totally incompatible with EU, US, Canadian laws, so what are the chances that it is this going to be the ‘brand’ that will be promoted in the proposed mosque.   This brand of ‘Islam’ is deeply misogynistic, profoundly anti-Semitic, anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh, anti-Christian, anti-gay, anti-animal rights.  This is the hardline Saudi version of Islam, who has financed a lot of mosque constructions worldwide, will be the financial sponsors!

The planners assert that they are peaceful, yet the availability of profoundly violent literature is often present in mosques.   All too often, we read in the press about Imams who give violent sermons, demanding the application of Sharia, (the creation of a “state within a “state”.  All of which is incompatible with Western laws, (Muslim worshippers are being urged byradical clerics to ignore British law).

There are a number of questions to ask, starting with what ties do the mosque’s board of directors have to Islamic extremist groups, such as Hamas, Of course, many of the mosque’s backers will deny having any link to violent groups. It is important for any right thinking person to look into this in more detail BEFORE a mosque is built.  Just look at the example of one mosque in Boston, where there are 9 cases of established links to Islamic terrorism, one of which was a former trustee and another was the first president of the mosque.

If the likely location is close to another non-Muslim place of worship, will there be antagonistic attitudes?  An Australian example: “The mosque, which would be built next to the future headquarters of evangelical church Catch the Fire Ministries, has been hotly debated by residents.” I wonder why this is so? The reaction of the Minister of the church: "I am concerned ... because of what is going to be taught in the mosque based on what is in the Koran," he said.” NOOOOO! and it gets more eye-opening – the minister has apparently (in the words of the local Islamic Council!) “had a long-running legal battle with the Islamic Council..”  Another example is in Camberley, in the UK with a “nearby Christian church” and near to the Sandhurst military academy. Is it a coincidence?

Promoting cultural diversity or community integration is a façade for mosque building.  This ploy should not be taken at face value. Look at this example where a local councillor says: “The existing mosque serves mostly a British Bangladeshi clientele while the new mosque will be for British Pakistani Muslims but also have better facilities for women and families that the Chester Road mosque lacks. (Note to self – clientele???).  Ironic that one group of Muslims (from the same school of Islam) want to be apart from other Muslims due to 'cultural' reasons.  This is a clear example of Muslim self-segregation, within the wider Muslim community. 

"It's the first thing people say, that you're a racist. But it's not about race it is about religion.”  Not wanting a mosque on your doorstep isn’t racism nor it is fascism, it is about being able to freely speak out.  “Why is it that anyone who actually does care about what is best for the whole of the local community is labelled a fascist because they aren't blindly giving Islam carte blanche to do as they will? I am not telling Muslims they cannot have their places of worship and centres of culture. I am just asking that they consider what is best for all of us when they decide where those places should be located. But no one is listening to me.”

“Muslim strongholds”, “Islamic enclave”. “From the UK: "Putting that mosque there is making this a Muslim area. We don't want it to become another Bradford." 

On the issue of antagonism, take the case of the attempts to have a very large mosque in very close proximity to the 9-11 site in New York.  It can be considered to be highly insensitive and inflammatory to say the least – given that at that time there were Muslims who found it quite acceptable to dance in the streets following the murder of more than 2,000 people in the Twin Towers.

The reaction of the Islamic community is astounding, rather than taking objections to mosque-building in a pragmatic and rational way, the typical reaction of the Muslim community to these objections will certainly take the form of:

• The objections are unfair / hysterical.
• They are being discriminated against, "victim  culture"
• Islam is misunderstood by non-Muslims
• There is an underlying level of Islamophobia in society
• Re-apply, re-apply and re-apply again.