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Live blog: Imam behind NYC Islamic center speaks
Editor's note: The imam who plans to build an Islamic center and mosque a few blocks from New York's ground zero spoke to CNN's Soledad O'Brien on "Larry King Live" Wednesday night. The following is a running log of what Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf discussed.
[Updated, 10:04 p.m.] O'Brien's last question was whether Rauf could unequivocally say that the center would be built at the currently planned location, a few blocks from ground zero.
"We certainly hope to build a Cordoba House vision of a multifaith center that will build relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims," he said.
[Updated, 9:59 p.m.] Rauf was asked about the pastor in Florida who plans to burn Qurans this weekend, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
"I would plead with him to seriously consider what he is doing. It is going to feed into the radicals in the Muslim world," Rauf said.
He noted that U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus has warned that the burning would endanger U.S. troops overseas.
"It's something which is not right to do on [those] grounds," Rauf said.
"We have freedom of speech, but with freedom comes responsibility. ... This is dangerous for our national security, but also it is the un-Christian thing to do," he added.
[Updated, 9:48 p.m.] When asked if the State Department was correct in saying Hamas is a terrorist organization, Rauf said: "I condemn everyone and anyone who commits acts of terrorism, and Hamas has committed acts of terrorism."
When asked what he thought about the 9/11 hijackers claiming they were doing what they did in the name of Islam, he said:
"That is a travesty. Just as the inquisitors in Spain were committing a travesty [against] the teachings of Jesus Christ. We do have people in our communities who [commit travesties] against Islam."
[Updated, 9:40 p.m.] O'Brien asked about his interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," shortly after the 9/11 attacks, in which he said the United States' policies "were an accessory to the crime."
O'Brien asked twice, but Rauf deflected the question.
"The work we have to do now is not about pointing fingers," he said, as part of his response.
[Updated, 9:32 p.m.] Rauf, the imam at the center of the controversial proposed Islamic community center and mosque in New York, said that "nothing is off the table" when asked whether he would consider moving the site.
"We are consulting ... various people about how to do this so that we negotiate the best and safest option."
[Updated, 9:28 p.m.] Rauf reiterated that the issue about what to do with the center going forward is important for national security.
"If we don't do this right, anger will explode in the Muslim world," Rauf said. "... If we don't handle this crisis correctly, it could become something very dangerous indeed."
He said moving the project to another location would strengthen Islamist radicals' ability to recruit followers and will increase violence against Americans.
He said again that if he knew ahead of time the controversy this would create, he wouldn't have made the plans to build the center at the currently planned site.
[Updated, 9:21 p.m.] Rauf said that if he knew how controversial the project would be, he "never would have done this - not have done something that would create more divisiveness."
However, he said he is convinced he shouldn't move the center now because "our national security now hinges on how we negotiate this, how we speak about it and what we do."
By that, he said, he means that if the controversy forces a move, "it means the radicals … will shape the discourse on both sides."
[Updated, 9:15 p.m.] Asked whether he was surprised by the controversy, Rauf said he was.
He pointed out that news of the plans to build the Islamic center and mosque was published in The New York Times in December, and "no one objected" at the time. He said the issue was politicized later.
[Updated, 9:13 p.m.] Asked why he wanted to build the center on the planned spot, Rauf noted he's already run a mosque about 10 blocks from ground zero for many years.
When asked about the feelings of families of 9/11 victims - such as those who might claim that their relative's remains have yet to be found at the site, Rauf said: "This is not that spot. This is not ground zero proper. No one's body is in that location."
"I'm very sensitive to those feelings," he said. "As an imam - as any religious person does - we have to minister to the pain and hurt ... in our communities. This is part of our intention."
He said he intends to put a 9/11 memorial in the center.
[Updated, 9:07 p.m.] O'Brien asked why Rauf was quiet during the recent uproar while he was overseas. He said wanted to wait until he got back to his home country, America.
"I didn’t think is was appropriate for me to speak about this while I was overseas," he said.
He said people in the Middle East "have been very concerned about this" issue.
"The concerns of people there are about both what this means in the United States, but what this means also for them, because the United States is the only global superpower today, and what happens here has an enormous impact over the rest of the world," he said.
[Original post, 8:54 p.m.] The imam who plans to build a community center and mosque within blocks of New York's ground zero will be interviewed live at 9 p.m. ET on CNN's "Larry King Live."
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf will talk with CNN's Soledad O'Brien about his decision to move ahead with the plan. As the interview happens, this blog post will be updated with portions of what Rauf says.
Opponents of the plan say the center would be too close to the site of the 2001 terror attacks and is an affront to the memory of those who died in the al Qaeda strike. Backers cite, among other things, First Amendment rights and the need to express religious tolerance.
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We Americans want "Moderate" muslims to speak out but we don't want to listen to them. Anything they have to say is construed the wrong way.
We 9/11 families want sensitivity from muslims but we do not spare a thought for the thousands killed as collateral damage in the so called War on terror.
We Americans act as if we don't have our share of disturbed individuals willing to kill them selves and those around them....remember Columbine my friends
We Americans don't want to be lumped together as Islamaphobic or racists yet we lump all muslims as terrorists.
Please America take a look at yourselves....so called champions of human rights and freedom. ..
Agreed, it's really pathetic how intolerant people who pride themselves on tolerance can be.
I dont think all muslims are terriosts. Your and idiot and a bigot my friend. You speak as if you speak for all. Wate the F*%## up!
sam if you don't think all Muslims are terrorist they why are you opposed to an islamic center being built near Ground Zero? Because if you can see a distinction between Terrorists and Muslims you can see a distinction between the people who did the 9/11 attacks and Muslims.
CordobaHouseMeansIslamicRuleLOOKITUP
This imam wants to build a Cordoba House vision of a multifaith center that will build relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims," -referring to the grand mosque at Cordoba, Spain! “Cordoba,” in Islamic symbolic terms, means Islamic rule in the West. It does not mean “coexistence,” unless coexistence is interpreted as referring to Islamic rule. Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs cites the article (original in Arabic) published by Iraqi-American Khudhayr Taher on 18 May, in which Taher explains the following:
We must note that a hostile and provocative name [Cordoba] has been chosen for this mosque…Choosing the name ‘Cordoba House’ for the mosque to be constructed in New York was not coincidental or random and innocent. It bears within it significance and dreams of expansion and invasion [into the territory] of the other, [while] striving to change his religion and to subjugate him.
Building on your street in the way of your Mosque? Want to build a mosque but lack the funds. Then blow up a building, a mosque will amazingly appear a few years later.
Your comment does nothing to further the dialog on this topic. Your suggestion certainly does not appear to be true and I think this is where much of the problem generates from – a lack of understanding. I understand that this is a very passion-driven subject, but you should approach this with a more open-mind. That's not to say that I agree with the placement of the Mosque, only that I think everyone should educate themselves on the topic and make an informed decision. It is too easy to take a close-minded approach to this and defend your initial beliefs because they were just that – your initial beliefs.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf:
“we've got to be fair; we've got to really mean what we say and what our values are all about”
in response to the “sacred ground” argument of the 9!! site.
The point is that as a religious person, he assumes that non-religious hallowed ground would exclude strip clubs and maybe also delicatessens. Yet he fails to understand that a different code exists for religious projects than for commercial ones.
Americans value FREE ENTERPRISE more than any other thing. To suggest that a strip club is not as legitimate a business as a dry cleaner or a sandwich shop is an indication of a conservative religious position.
As if s e x is something dirty.
Consumers vote with their wallets, and if a strip club is somehow UNHOLY, then I am sure that Americans would let the businessperson know that. And the American consumer does NOT need another religious man telling us that the female body is somehow d_irty.
The Hallowed Ground spoke of here is the battleground where Muslim extremists invited Americans to a cultural war. The sacredness of this ground emerges not from s e x, but from the most egregious crime ever committed by Muslims in the modern world.
We know where you'll be commemorating the victims of 9-11.
Muslims need to stop apologizing or defending. This is their right. This is USA not Middle East. This is a secular country not a theocracy like Iran. If these Christian fundamentalist want to make USA a Christian theocratic state and Palin their Queen and go back to middle ages and burning witches and slaving people then they should say so and work for it. Don't be hypocritical.
This country made progress because of the separation of church and state. All religions and no religions are free in USA. This is just a propaganda for midterm and no one will remember after November about this. Politicians should be ashamed of them self. Same for the 70% who are listening to this 24×7 propaganda.
This imam wants to build a Cordoba House vision of a multifaith center that will build relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims," -referring to the grand mosque at Cordoba, Spain! “Cordoba,” in Islamic symbolic terms, means Islamic rule in the West. It does not mean “coexistence,” unless coexistence is interpreted as referring to Islamic rule. Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs cites the article (original in Arabic) published by Iraqi-American Khudhayr Taher on 18 May, in which Taher explains the following:
We must note that a hostile and provocative name [Cordoba] has been chosen for this mosque…Choosing the name ‘Cordoba House’ for the mosque to be constructed in New York was not coincidental or random and innocent. It bears within it significance and dreams of expansion and invasion [into the territory] of the other, [while] striving to change his religion and to subjugate him.
We must also note that people can be easily miss led by spending 10 minutes searching Google.
The Taliban love seeing a guy like the imam Rauf on the ropes. He's an enemy to them because of his life's work. His work takes away their reason for being.
It would be interesting how soledad would handle the interview if she is to interview BLACKWATER. Thing is, a lot of americans like soledad dont see it both ways.
Christianity and Islam have fought each other for centuries. so, this is nothing new.
Maybe America should start embracing non-violent religions
The attack of 9/11 was NOT an attack by all Muslims against America. I find it shocking that people don't get that. I also find it shocking that more Muslims don't point this out. It was a very small group of people. Suppose you are Muslim and lost a loved one on 9/11. Wouldn't you want a mosque nearby so you could go and pray?
I always thought of O'brien as a fair reporter. What the hell happened? Most biased interview I've ever seen. Thought I was watching Fox for a second.
SOLEDAD, you should be ashamed of yourself, you are a DISGRACE to the respectable CNN Network. I always regard CNN as an unbiased source of news and journalism. Maybe SOLEDAD was hoping for an employment in FOX to replace Limbah or Beck. How I wish never to watch you again....and yes, I am a Catholic.
Hot Air| Ground Zero imam: I never would have done it if I knew it would create tensions
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/09/08/ground-zero-imam-i-never-would-have-done-it-if-i-knew-it-would-create-tensions/
Wow, I could never live in America again. I've never seen so many bigoted, racist, Islamophobic comments in my life. Twisting around the words this nice many said.
He and all of his followers and every Muslim in America should leave America and go live in a country where they ARE treated with respect, where they WILL be treated like human beings and where they will NOT have to put up with this disgusting American racism.
America, you deserve all the hatred the world directs at you. You sow what you reap and America is sowing some serious karma.
Soledad's interview is full of emotions and I hate to say this... she's mad. I don't know why Larry King praised her saying 'a great job' or something like that. I can see the Imam getting distracted every time she cuts him off; for a man in true fairness with decent honesty, for a man who came over and granted their invitation interview, and not forgetting CNN getting their exclusive and high rating... Soledad is NOT the right person to sail that boat. 71% needs not to be mentioned all the time. We heard it, but every time after the break, shoe would repeat it. And a body (rest in peace), will never fly from ground zero to where the center is proposed to be... she is the one who does not respect peace. It's okay to be a tough woman, but not your style. CNN correspondents did express the same observation... she is full of emotions and disgust!
Yes Muslim women can drive as long as there is an immediate male relative along with her. BTW nobody cares about how they treat their women. What matters is how they treat other cultures. Would they allow a church/temple/synagoge anywhere in Middle East. Would they allow preaching of other religions in their countries? Would they allow conversion from their religion to other religion? Would they acknowledge the need for reform? Would they acknowledge that there are what appears to be hateful verses in Koran and should be interpreted correctly?