Centering Belief Amber Warden/ Avery P2

Feisal Abdul Rauf’s “Building on Faith” confronts America’s diminishing capabilities to

accept the rights of others, granting toleration and freedom of worship. He forces us to consider
our personal level of religious tolerance, and expects us to develop it further. Only when people
start to accept other’s beliefs and rights, can we begin to live in peace and unity.
President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg both spoke on the issue,
supporting the building of the Cordoba center. A Christian president and a Jewish Mayor are
both supporting the rights of Muslims, that should set an example for the rest of us to put aside
our differences. However, in today’s times, it is not interoperated that way. In order to encourage
global religious tolerance and recognition of our rights, we must have the “desire to build on this
positive movement,” and stop creating postulations based on fear.
So consider this- why are we all so critical? The reason our ancestors settled in this
country was to escape religious persecution, and with that came a need for religious freedom as
citizens of a new country. Yet we continue to build this idea that religions other than our own are
instable and incorrect, because we are scared and uninformed. So how do we cope? Today, we
criticize. We refuse to accept the given equality of humanity.
The building of Cordoba center is a perfect example of people’s religious prejudice. The
public heard an utterance about building a Mosque at “ground zero”, and it seemed to be like
putting match to oiled paper. Flame burst forth, and in voicing their opinions, the people fail to
take into account what the real purpose of the center is- in fact, Rauf never even mentions said
“Mosque” in his article. He uses careful syntax to give equal recognition to all religions, and to
never use accusatory language. Based on the two fundamental commandments common to
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the center would encourage us “to love the Lord our creator
with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength; and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.”
Think about it. “To love our neighbors as we love ourselves…” doesn’t that sound more
appealing than this unnecessary hostility over belief we don’t see as common?
Rauf’s tone is inspiring and passionate. His life-long dedication to “building bridges
between religious groups” gives him an insight to bigotry’s mass chaos. He states “I therefore
call upon all Americans to rise to this challenge.” Can we rise to his standards, and in doing so,
accept others as our equals? He elevates our anger and shame, as we consider our past
misdoings, encouraging us consider (and crave) the possibility of a world of “shalom.”
In identifying the desire of people to recognize their rights, Rauf brings into effect a
global desire to heal relations and bring peace. With this, we see a need for change. As we cease
to be critical of others, we have the opportunity to practice “shalom,” and continue to live
together, rather than as a cult of suspicion, assumption, and detestation.
 Centering Belief Amber Warden/ Avery P2

Building on Faith
By FEISAL ABDUL RAUF
Published: September 7, 2010

AS my flight approached America last weekend, my mind circled back to the furor that has broken out over plans to
build Cordoba House, a community center in Lower Manhattan.I have been away from home for two months, speaking abroad
about cooperation among people from different religions. Every day, including the past two weeks spent representing my country
on a State Department tour in the Middle East, I have been struck by how the controversy has riveted the attention of Americans,
as well as nearly everyone I met in my travels.
We have all been awed by how inflamed and emotional the issue of the proposed community center has become. The
level of attention reflects the degree to which people care about the very American values under debate: recognition of the rights
of others, tolerance and freedom of worship.
Many people wondered why I did not speak out more, and sooner, about this project. I felt that it would not be right to
comment from abroad. It would be better if I addressed these issues once I returned home to America, and after I could confer
with leaders of other faiths who have been deliberating with us over this project. My life’s work has been focused on building
bridges between religious groups and never has that been as important as it is now.
We are proceeding with the community center, Cordoba House. More important, we are doing so with the support of
the downtown community, government at all levels and leaders from across the religious spectrum, who will be our partners. I
am convinced that it is the right thing to do for many reasons.
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.
Our broader mission — to strengthen relations between the Western and Muslim worlds and to help counter radical
ideology — lies not in skirting the margins of issues that have polarized relations within the Muslim world and between non-
Muslims and Muslims. It lies in confronting them as a joint multifaith, multinational effort.
From the political conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians to the building of a community center in Lower
Manhattan, Muslims and members of all faiths must work together if we are ever going to succeed in fostering understanding and
peace.
At Cordoba House, we envision shared space for community activities, like a swimming pool, classrooms and a play space for
children. There will be separate prayer spaces for Muslims, Christians, Jews and men and women of other faiths. The center will
also include a multifaith memorial dedicated to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
I am very sensitive to the feelings of the families of victims of 9/11, as are my fellow leaders of many faiths. We will
accordingly seek the support of those families, and the support of our vibrant neighborhood, as we consider the ultimate plans for
the community center. Our objective has always been to make this a center for unification and healing.
Cordoba House will be built on the two fundamental commandments common to Judaism, Christianity and Islam: to
love the Lord our creator with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength; and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We
want to foster a culture of worship authentic to each religious tradition, and also a culture of forging personal bonds across
religious traditions.
I do not underestimate the challenges that will be involved in bringing our work to completion. (Construction has not
even begun yet.) I know there will be interest in our financing, and so we will clearly identify all of our financial backers.
Lost amid the commotion is the good that has come out of the recent discussion. I want to draw attention, specifically, to the
open, law-based and tolerant actions that have taken place, and that are particularly striking for Muslims.
President Obama and Mayor Michael Bloomberg both spoke out in support of our project. As I traveled overseas, I saw
firsthand how their words and actions made a tremendous impact on the Muslim street and on Muslim leaders. It was striking: a
Christian president and a Jewish mayor of New York supporting the rights of Muslims. Their statements sent a powerful message
about what America stands for, and will be remembered as a milestone in improving American-Muslim relations.
The wonderful outpouring of support for our right to build this community center from across the social, religious and
political spectrum seriously undermines the ability of anti-American radicals to recruit young, impressionable Muslims by falsely
claiming that America persecutes Muslims for their faith. These efforts by radicals at distortion endanger our national security
and the personal security of Americans worldwide. This is why Americans must not back away from completion of this project.
If we do, we cede the discourse and, essentially, our future to radicals on both sides. The paradigm of a clash between the West
and the Muslim world will continue, as it has in recent decades at terrible cost. It is a paradigm we must shift.
From those who recognize our rights, from grassroots organizers to heads of state, I sense a global desire to build on
this positive momentum and to be part of a global movement to heal relations and bring peace. This is an opportunity we must
grasp.
I therefore call upon all Americans to rise to this challenge. Let us commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 by pausing to reflect
and meditate and tone down the vitriol and rhetoric that serves only to strengthen the radicals and weaken our friends’ belief in
our values.
The very word “islam” comes from a word cognate to shalom, which means peace in Hebrew. The Koran declares in its
36th chapter, regarded by the Prophet Muhammad as the heart of the Koran, in a verse deemed the heart of this chapter, “Peace is
a word spoken from a merciful Lord.”
How better to commemorate 9/11 than to urge our fellow Muslims, fellow Christians and fellow Jews to follow the
fundamental common impulse of our great faith traditions?

Feisal Abdul Rauf is the chairman of the Cordoba Initiative and the imam of the Farah mosque in Lower Manhattan.