I was only 17 when, accompanied by my father, I visited for the first time in my life the awe-inspiring city of Makah. It was for an Umra, which is a miniature Hajj outside the Hajj period.
There are three things I remember about the trip. The first is the sense one feels when one visits a place of worship surrounded by human humility. As sparse as the number of worshippers were on that hot summer day (In the thousands instead of millions), the inescapable heavy air of submission had a magical effect on the spirit. On a smaller scale, the Western Wall in Jerusalem has similar effect; when I visited it in 2007, upon seeing so many people, bound by their spiritual duties, commit collectively to a greater purpose than oneself.
The second thing I remember is that my visit to Makah was preceded by meeting King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Because my father was a political advisor in the King’s Court, the event was uneventful for my father but not for a 17-year old. My father asked me, before the public audience took place at King Faisal’s summer palace in the city of al-Taif, to bow and take his hand to kiss it. All went according to plan except when I tried to kiss King Faisal’s hand, he pulled it away. To this day, I still cannot figure out why because I have seen others, much older than me, bow and kiss his hand very often on TV or even during later visits. It may have been out of respect for my father and his position.
The third thing I remember was rather strange to me at the time but it has to do with today’s controversy of building the Mosque few blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan. On the outskirts of Makah, there was a blockade erected by the Saudi Government to inspect the religion of those entering the city. Forbidden to all, except Muslims, and proven by an identity card, a passport, or, I was told later, the short Shahada recital if neither were conclusive in their finality of your religious identity.
Constructing of what I call a Grand Mosque two blocks from Ground Zero is indistinguishable from raising the flag of the Crescent on the tombs of more than 3,000 Americans and foreigners who lost their lives on 9/11 claiming them, not as victims, but as trophies. Regardless of whether the Imam running the Mosque is a moderate Muslim or not, the issue goes to the heart of why I was asked to prove I was a Muslim before I was able to enter Makah. If my religion is intolerant of all other religions, is it too much to expect that other religions would treat Islam with the same tone, approach, and expectations? I don’t think so. If we want people to be tolerant towards Muslims, we should start by demolishing our own glass house ourselves. All the work of any Muslim organization in the US is but vapor if we cannot explain why in 2010 no Christian or Jew can practice his religion freely in Saudi Arabia. Consider this concept: The same country whose three royal princes funded the 9/11 terror cannot accept others who never supported one violent act against Saudis or the country of Saudi Arabia. It’s not about who is right or who is wrong; it is about the conquering religion of Islam.
Newt Gingrich just weighed-in on the matter on his Website and I agree with all that he said. Newt is helping Islam to look at itself in the mirror but of course, it will be misunderstood and he will be attacked for his correct views. The Mosque at Ground Zero is intended to be a victory lap of sort. It is, in fact, like raising a flag over the United States as a symbol of Islamic superiority over Christianity and Judaism. As a Muslim, this is intolerable to me. If a Rabbi gives me the privilege to pray in his Synagogue in Potomac, Maryland and the Maronites of Lebanon welcomed me in their Churches in Tayouneh, Furn al-Shoubak, and Ashrafieh when I lived amongst them, then I should reciprocate by welcoming Jews and Christians not only in my house of worship but on lands forbidden for them to live-in whether in Israel, Iraq (The Assyrians of Iraq), or Egypt (The Copts of Egypt).
Mr. Bloomberg, as a Muslim, I am against building the Mosque in New York if Saudi Arabia does not build a Synagogue and a Church near my Makah. (Picture by Google Earth erasing all details of Makah)
9 Responses to A Muslim Voice: No Synagogue in Makah, No Mosque in NY
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No Foreign Oil
'THERE IS NO CURE, FOR THIS ARAB/MOSLEM SICKNESS'…….
TORONTO SUN SALIM MANSUR……. 03/10/09…….
It is really sad that being a Muslim, you have written such an anti-islamic comments. Do you know how many people the USA has killed in Iraq in the name of finding 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'? which was a lie?
Do you know the number of people killed by USA and UK in Afghan who were merely 'innocent civilians' in the name of 'War on Terror' ? Also do you know that Taliban were used as proxy by USA previously in its cold war against USSR to meet its selfish end ? 'Muslims' are the biggest victims of USA foreign policies and its war for various reasons!! At least Saudi is safe now because of its strict laws and also because it is oil rich ….You should go down to Afghanisthan and Iraq to see how our own Muslim brothers die for no fault of theirs in lakhs …so let us not degrade Islam ..It is true some extremist elements kill innocents by calling it 'Jihad'…but as a Saudi citizen who have been to Iraq and seen the plight of the common man there..I really feel sad for your insensitive comments ..Allah give you the enlightment
Do you know how many Muslims the US saved in the Kosovo conflict? Or the pressure it exerted on Bashir of Sudan, a Muslim, to stop killing his own Muslim people? Do you know how many acts of terror we Muslims have committed in the name of Allah since 9/11? Do you know that the US saved Kuwait, a Muslim country, from annihilation by another Muslim country? Do you know how many times the Taliban hid behind innocent women and children it has no regard for just so it exposes US killings? Do you know why we Muslims killed Daniel Pearl by slaughtering him like a lamb when the US treated the Gitmo prisoners, except under necessity and for vital information, with the most human ways? May Allah open your eyes.
Dear Farid,
I, also, appreciate your candor. Your follow up comment about the right to bear arms is also timely and illustrative. However, I believe ultimately we have to fight for what we believe in, but fight intelligently.
First off, although I'm sure many of the visitors to the Community Center and Mosque will be expatriates and visitors from other foreign nations, many more are surely going to be American citizens by birth. We keep forgetting that, sometimes, Americans choose to become Muslim. We also forget that some Muslims are born in America. Under those circumstances, we cannot and should not expect them to accept discrimination against them based on their religion, particularly as it violates their rights as citizens.
In addition, the last time I checked, New York is not Vatican City, nor is this country Israel. To compare the WTC site to Saudi Arabia is to give more importance not to the event, but to its perpetrators, and is therefore contra-indicated.
Finally, with all due respect to the slaughtered thousands who are essentially buried where the WTC stood, the honor they have gained in death is separate from that of soldiers who take up arms to defend a cause. If the Center were to be built on the same block as the former WTC, I would certainly agree it shouldn't be built there. No, more than that: I do see the problem. The issue is emotional and triggering knee-jerk reactions that are perfectly understandable. In all honesty, perhaps there are some Muslims who see the issue as exactly what you have described: raising a flag over a conquered people. In fact, especially now that we have said this out loud, I'm convinced the terrorists are doing just that… and gloating. Nonetheless, this is America; the Center would be two blocks away; and the only people actively waging a religious war are the Islamic militants.
I believe we need to keep setting the example for tolerance. Christ said to turn the other cheek, after all. To retaliate by decrying the presence of a mosque in the vicinity of the WTC is to do the opposite, in my opinion.
Thanks for reading.
What business does a Jew have in our lands but to obey his blood; to cause all possible mischief for us? He has none. Farid Ghadry, sadly you’ve allowed yourself to ignore the pathological loyalty, to Israel, the Jews demonstrate. Deep in them all they have no sincere regard for the dignity, life or property of Gentiles – Palestine is an example of how these hideous people behave when dealt the upper hand. Also, each one of these beasts is a potential Mossad agent, and as such is a threat to our security. It’s as simple as that. And King Fahad was right to withdraw his hand.
It saddened me to read your comment. Partly because it demonstrates that we have no tolerance for others even though they lived in these lands thousands of years ago. Remember Abd that Islam celebrates 1,431 Hijri years but Judaism celebrates 5,770 years today. Jews have been around for over 4,000 than we have. Israel is their land.
The other reason is the energy we spend trying to exercise a right we do not have on people who are superior to us in every field of sciences imaginable. That’s how stupid we have become. Do you want to spend your life fighting Israelis or spend your time helping your own people prosper and have better standards of living? You have no idea how much trying to throw the Jews in the sea harms us and the worst part, we will fail because the developed world stands by them. The same world we cannot even manufacture a sandal without their know how, technology, machinery, and often aid. Hope you wake up and see the future of your own people competing with Israelis instead of fighting to throw them out only to find yourself you need them because nothing you own they did not have a part in inventing or manufacturing. The day we become as good as the Israelis, then you can write the above comment. Before then, all Arabs and Muslims are fools.
Hello Farid. I appreciate your perspective and candor.
As as Jew, I have the initial, emotional reaction to this issue that is in complete agreement with your point: why should people who are unwilling to grant freedom be given it? Not only can I not enter Makah, I can’t even enter the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem (and I did try) or the Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa Mosque!
On the other hand, I take a step back and wonder, especially as an American: shouldn’t our actions, especially in upholding religious freedom, be better than those we are pitting ourselves against? I mean, if we are here saying that the Saudis are intolerant of other religions and we are better, then shouldn’t we act better and grant them (or anyone) the ability to build a house of worship anywhere? If we don’t, then aren’t we doing the same bad thing that we are complaining that the Saudis are doing? Wouldn’t that make us hypocritical? It might not be hypocritical for the Saudis since they are not governing on a basis of religious freedom, but we are.
Take care,
Solomon…
Solomon.. You make a very good argument in relation to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But the counter-argument to this highly important issue is: At what point when the very laws you help draft to save your own communal existence become threatened enough that continuing on the same path might make them eventually invalidated by your own making? Another example would be the right not to bear arms, but you face a killer at your own home one night. As he slowly kills your loved ones, you bow down and continue saying out loud I WILL NOT BEAR ARMS. I WILL NOT KILL. I WILL RESPECT THE RULES I SET FOR MYSELF AND FAMILY.
At what point do you stop adhering to your own laws just so you can save them? Thank you for your comment.. Farid
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