 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
USA TODAY –March 8, 2004 Muslims see new opposition to building mosques since 9/11 By Donna Leinwand Some Muslim groups seeking to build mosques to accommodate their growing numbers of followers are encountering vehement opposition in communities across the nation. In some cases, the conflicts are similar to those that for decades have pitted residents against expansion plans by large churches. Neighbors in communities from New Jersey to Arizona have protested Muslim groups' proposals for mosques by raising classic "not-in-my-backyard" arguments that have focused on the sizes of planned buildings, parking, lighting and other factors that can affect property values. But the debates over mosques in several U.S. cities during the past two years occasionally have led to name-calling and allegations of bigotry — a reflection of some residents' mistrust of Muslims since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by radical Muslims. Last year in Voorhees, N.J., a suburb of Philadelphia, a Muslim group's proposal to turn a commercially zoned building into a mosque led anonymous critics to distribute fliers that warned residents that extremists "with connections to terrorists" might worship there. The fliers also claimed that the mosque run by the Muslim American Community Association, a group of about 15 families, would attract hundreds of worshipers for prayers five times a day. After local churches and synagogues joined the Muslim group in denouncing the allegations, some residents raised objections about the parking, traffic and landscaping plans, says the Rev. Melanie Morel Sullivan of the Unitarian Universalist Church in nearby Cherry Hill, N.J. Sullivan's congregation organized a multi-faith coalition to help the Muslim group. Some of the mosque's critics "got media savvy," Sullivan says, because most residents didn't believe the mosque would pose a threat. The critics "realized they weren't gaining any media points by saying things like, 'The mosque would harbor terrorists.' They maintained there was no prejudice and that some of their best friends are Muslims." In November, members of the local zoning board unanimously approved the mosque plan after their attorney told them that there was no legal reason to reject it. The Muslim Civil Rights Center in Hickory Hills, Ill., has received several recent reports of opposition to planned Islamic centers, says Ahmad Tansheet, the center's community outreach coordinator. "It's kind of new after Sept. 11," he says of the heightened tension. "We don't have statistics because it's something new. I hope ultimately it will die down." Even before the attacks, building a mosque in America "wasn't the easiest thing" to do, says Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on Islamic-American Relations. Now, he says, it can be more difficult. "Usually there's a lot of talk of parking and traffic and other things that are sometimes seen as a smoke screen for the real issue," Hooper says. "You'll also get overt bigotry coming to the surface." The new conflicts over mosques come as Islam is gaining adherents in the USA. Islamic groups generally agree that the number of U.S. Muslims who associate with a mosque is about 2 million, up from about 500,000 two decades ago. (Islamic groups estimate that, in all, there are 6 million to 7 million Muslims in the USA.) There are more than 1,200 U.S. mosques; 60% of those opened during the past 20 years. For years, new Muslim congregations bought old churches or schools and put mosques in them, says Ahmed ElHattab, director general of the Islamic Society of North America Development Foundation in Plainfield, Ind. Now, ElHattab says, mature congregations want their own spaces specifically designed as mosques with traditional architecture such as domes, minarets and large prayer rooms. Usually, ElHattab says, communities welcome mosques. Like those seeking to open churches and synagogues, Muslims who want to open mosques in residential areas are protected by a law Congress passed in 2000 that bans cities from using zoning laws to fight such plans. But the act doesn't immunize houses of worship from land-use codes as long as the codes don't discriminate against religious groups. http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2004-03-08-mosque-opposition_x.htm |