Feisal Abdul Rauf
Encyclopedia
Feisal Abdul Rauf is an American Sufi imam
, author, and activist whose stated goal is to improve relations between the Muslim world
and the West
. From 1983 to 2009, he served as Imam of Masjid al-Farah, a mosque
in New York City
.
He has written three books on Islam
and its place in contemporary Western society, including What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America, and founded two non-profit organization
s whose stated missions are to enhance the discourse on Islam in society. He has condemned the 9/11 attacks as un-Islamic and called on the U.S. government to reduce the threat of terrorism by altering its Middle Eastern foreign policy. Author Karen Armstrong
, among others, has praised him for his attempts to build bridges between the West and the Muslim world.
In 2010, Sufi Imam Rauf received national attention for his plans to build Park51, a Sufi Islamic Community Center, two blocks from Ground Zero
in Lower Manhattan
.
. His father, Egyptian Imam and Sunni scholar Muhammad Abdul Rauf (1917–2004), moved with the younger Rauf to New York City in the 1960s. The elder Rauf assisted with efforts to create the multimillion dollar Islamic Cultural Center of New York
, the first building designed as a mosque in New York City, which took 25 years to complete and opened in 1991. His father, Abdul Rauf, was actively involved in the American Civil Rights Movement with Malcolm X
.
Rauf studied physics at Columbia University
, where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in nuclear engineering in 1969, before earning a master's degree in plasma physics at Stevens Institute in Hoboken, New Jersey
.
Rauf has written three books on Islam and its place in contemporary Western
society, including What's Right with Islam, which was later printed in paperback with the changed title What's Right with Islam is What's Right with America. Rauf served as imam of Masjid al-Farah at 245 West Broadway in New York City's Tribeca
district between the years 1983 and 2009.
Rauf worked to build bridges between American society, the American Muslim community and the wider Muslim world. In 1997, he founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement (originally named the American Sufi Muslim Association), a civil society organization aimed at promoting positive engagement between American society and American Muslims. The organization is now headed by his wife. He is a member of the Council of 100 Leaders (C-100) on West-Islamic World Dialogue at the World Economic Forum (WEF)
and has received both the Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution’s annual Alliance Peacebuilder Award and The Interfaith Center of New York’s annual James Parks Morton Interfaith Award (2006). He was a major speaker at the 2009 Parliament of the World's Religions
in Melbourne, Australia.
In 2003, Rauf founded the Cordoba Initiative, another registered nonprofit organization with offices in both New York and Kuala Lumpur
, Malaysia. As CEO of Cordoba Initiative, Rauf coordinates projects that emphasize the bonds that connect the Muslim world and the West.
Rauf is a friend of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order
, and in 1983 was appointed prayer leader at their New York City mosque, Masjid al-Farah. In 1997 he founded the American Sufi Muslim Society (ASMA), which has since been renamed the American Society for Muslim Advancement.
British author Karen Armstrong said in the introduction to Rauf's book:
Fareed Zakaria
praised Rauf for speaking of "the need for Muslims to live peacefully with all other religions", for emphasizing the commonalities among all faiths, for advocating equal rights for women and opposing laws that in any way punish non-Muslims.
Walter Isaacson, head of The Aspen Institute, says Rauf "has participated at the Aspen Institute in Muslim-Christian-Jewish working groups looking at ways to promote greater religious tolerance. He has consistently denounced radical Islam and terrorism, and promoted a moderate and tolerant Islam."
However, some U.S. politicians have voiced concerns about his views, referring to comments Rauf made when interviewed by Ed Bradley
on CBS
60 Minutes
on September 30, 2001. Rauf's website says he was referring to the US CIA in the 1980s "financing Osama Bin Laden and strengthening the Taliban." Columnist Jonathan Rauch
wrote that Rauf gave a "mixed, muddled, muttered" message after 9/11. Nineteen days after the attacks, he told CBS
's 60 Minutes
that fanaticism and terrorism have no place in Islam. Rauch said that the message was mixed, however, because when then asked if the U.S. deserved the attacks, Rauf answered, "I wouldn't say that the United States deserved what happened. But the United States' policies were an accessory to the crime that happened." When the interviewer asked Rauf how he considered the U.S. to be an accessory, he replied, "because we have been accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. In fact, in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden
is made in the USA." Although this CIA-Osama bin Laden controversy has been brought up by many others, Rudy Giuliani
, Peter T. King
, Rick Lazio
, and Sarah Palin
expressed concern about these remarks when discussing Rauf as the driving force behind the Park51 project. As Daisy Khan, Rauf's wife, explained on August 15, 2010 on This Week with Christiane Amanpour:
At National Review
, Dan Foster wrote:
In 2004, he said the U.S. and the West must acknowledge the harm they have done to Muslims before terrorism can end. Speaking at his New York mosque, Rauf said:
radio in June 2010, Rauf declined to say whether he agreed with the U.S. State Department's designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization. Responding to the question, Rauf said, "Look, I'm not a politician. The issue of terrorism is a very complex question... I am a peace builder. I will not allow anybody to put me in a position where I am seen by any party in the world as an adversary or as an enemy." Sarah Palin and Lazio criticized his refusal to agree with the assessment of the United States that Hamas is a terrorist organization, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani alleged that Rauf had supported radical causes that sympathized with Islamic terrorism.
New York's Mayor Bloomberg was asked to comment on whether Rauf is a man of peace, given his background "where he's supposedly supported Hamas, [and] blamed the U.S. for 9/11 attacks". Bloomberg responded:
However, when interviewed on CNN September 8, 2010, Rauf had this to say about Hamas:
reported on the plans for an Islamic center to be established at 45 Park Place, two blocks from Ground Zero:
, the 92 Street YMCA
or the Jewish Community Center
:
Sharif El-Gamal
, chairman and chief executive of Soho Properties
, bought 45 Park Place in July, 2009. "It’s really to provide a place of peace, a place of services and solutions for the community which is always looking for interfaith dialogue."
Later, the interfaith community center was named Cordoba House, after the Great Mosque of Córdoba, a mosque built in Spain during the Islamic occupation after being converted by the Umayyad Moors
from the Visigothic Christian church.
According to the September 8, 2010 statement by Park51:
Plans for the project include a mosque which would accommodate 1,000–2,000 Muslims in prayer. Rauf won support from the local Community Board
, and received both support and opposition from some 9/11 families, politicians, organizations, academics, and others. The initiative was supported by some Muslim American leaders and organizations, including CAIR
, and criticized by some other Muslims such as Sufi mystic
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz
, director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington. Supporters of the project point out that two mosques already have firm roots in Lower Manhattan
and that one of them was founded in 1970, pre-dating the World Trade Center.
Controversy over the location ensued, and in an interview with Larry King
on September 8, 2010 Rauf was asked "...given what you know now, would you have said, listen, let's not do it there? Because it sounds like you're saying in retrospect wouldn't have done it." Rauf answered:
On September 12, 2010 on This Week
with Christiane Amanpour
, Abdul Rauf repeated that if complaints had been raised in December 2009 when the project was front page news in The New York Times
, he would have moved it, but at that time there was broad support for it, which did not change until May. He furthermore expressed concern that a move would be used by radicals internationally to claim that "Islam is under attack in the Western world".
On January 14, 2011, Park51 developer Sharif el-Gamal surprised Rauf by unilaterally announcing that Rauf would no longer speak for or raise money for Park51, replacing him with Imam Abdallah Adhami. The split was attributed to a number of differences in vision for the project—Rauf had wanted a larger interfaith center named Cordoba House, but el-Gamal had changed the name to Park51, wanted it to primarily serve Muslims, and wanted it to have a local rather than global scope. The removal of Rauf from this leadership role raised concerns that the project would be unable to raise the necessary funds to build the planned center. On January 29, Rauf announced that he would move the Cordoba House to a different site if one were offered to him and if the new site was "on par, or even better" than the current Park51 site. He also discussed differences between himself and el-Gamal, saying ""Mr. Gamal is more focused on the Islam aspect than on the multifaith aspect of it. . . He came at this from the point of view of wanting to establish an Islamic center."
wrote in the National Review
:
Before President Barack Obama
's planned visit to Turkey
, Imam Feisal, writing in the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad on March 31, 2009, stated of Sharia Law:
, including four in Union City
, and one in North Bergen, in which he lives. By 2010, numerous residents of Rauf's properties in Union City had alleged that those properties have fallen into disrepair over the course of the prior several years, with some of the residents attributing this to time Rauf spends on his activities in Lower Manhattan
. One resident in particular described Rauf's property at 2206 Central Avenue as "horrible" and a "mess", describing a two-week period during the winter of 2009 in which the residents lacked hot water following the malfunction of the building's boiler. Residents have also cited rat and bed bug infestations, and have complained that such issues can take up to six months to be resolved. Union City spokesperson Mark Albiez confirmed that multiple health violations have been leveled against Rauf's properties. These allegations have added to the controversy over Park51. On September 8, 2010, Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack, who criticized Rauf as a "slumlord", announced court actions to have a custodial receiver take over management of these properties, and the creation of a Quality of Life Task Force to identify 15 apartment buildings in need of renovations, including Rauf's. A September 15, 2010 hearing revealed that following a September 7 inspection that determined imminent hazards, police began monitoring two of Rauf's buildings, due to inoperable fire alarms and sprinklers, and failure on Rauf's part to hire a private fire patrol. Judge Thomas Olivieri gave Rauf's lawyers until September 23 to produce plans and evidence of efforts to address these violations, lest Rauf face loss of control over the buildings. Some Union City residents questioned why the timing of these actions against Rauf's properties did not become an issue in New York City and national media, and why the long-standing problems faced by these properties were not addressed until the larger controversy over Park51 came to light, particularly given that Stack became mayor in 2000. On November 9, Judge Olivieri placed the Central Avenue property into temporary custodial receivership, with $7,000 in rent payments held in escrow
from Rauf's attorney set aside to pay for the repairs.
According to 2010 reports by the Bergen Record, Rauf met with U.S. Senator Robert Menendez
around 1991 when Menendez was Mayor of Union City, to request state funds to renovate three of his properties. As a result, Rauf received $80,000 in city funds, $384,000 from the Union City Community Development Agency, $1.3 million in construction loans from Hudson County's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and $630,900 from the state. Rauf was also sued for fraud in 2008 by his one-time business partner, James Cockinos, over a $250,000 mortgage that Cockinos gave Rauf for his Central Avenue property, ownership of which Rauf then transferred to Sage Developments for a second $650,000 mortgage. Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, made payments to Cockinos for 11 years, but ceased after a fire damaged the property. The two parties settled out of court. The Record also reported that records beginning thirty years previous indicated that Rauf owned an apartment in North Bergen and in Palisades Park
. Though records indicate Rauf owns a home on 78th Street in North Bergen, a neighbor indicated that Khan is there more often than the frequently traveling Rauf, and it is unclear if he still owns the Palisades Park property.
, India
is a professional interior architect
, but since 2005 has worked full-time for the two non-profit organizations founded by Rauf, and at times functions as his spokesperson. They live in North Bergen, New Jersey
.
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
, author, and activist whose stated goal is to improve relations between the Muslim world
Muslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
and the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
. From 1983 to 2009, he served as Imam of Masjid al-Farah, a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
He has written three books on Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and its place in contemporary Western society, including What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America, and founded two non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
s whose stated missions are to enhance the discourse on Islam in society. He has condemned the 9/11 attacks as un-Islamic and called on the U.S. government to reduce the threat of terrorism by altering its Middle Eastern foreign policy. Author Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong FRSL , is a British author and commentator who is the author of twelve books on comparative religion. A former Roman Catholic nun, she went from a conservative to a more liberal and mystical faith...
, among others, has praised him for his attempts to build bridges between the West and the Muslim world.
In 2010, Sufi Imam Rauf received national attention for his plans to build Park51, a Sufi Islamic Community Center, two blocks from Ground Zero
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
.
Early life
Rauf was born in KuwaitKuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
. His father, Egyptian Imam and Sunni scholar Muhammad Abdul Rauf (1917–2004), moved with the younger Rauf to New York City in the 1960s. The elder Rauf assisted with efforts to create the multimillion dollar Islamic Cultural Center of New York
Islamic Cultural Center of New York
The Islamic Cultural Center of New York is a mosque and Islamic cultural center in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is located at 1711 Third Avenue, between East 96th and 97th Streets. The Islamic Cultural Center was the first mosque built in New York City...
, the first building designed as a mosque in New York City, which took 25 years to complete and opened in 1991. His father, Abdul Rauf, was actively involved in the American Civil Rights Movement with Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
.
Rauf studied physics at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in nuclear engineering in 1969, before earning a master's degree in plasma physics at Stevens Institute in Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
.
Career
After his studies, Rauf focused on his religious aspirations, and became a popular leader of a New York City mosque. He also held jobs in teaching, as a salesman and in real estate.Rauf has written three books on Islam and its place in contemporary Western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
society, including What's Right with Islam, which was later printed in paperback with the changed title What's Right with Islam is What's Right with America. Rauf served as imam of Masjid al-Farah at 245 West Broadway in New York City's Tribeca
TriBeCa
Tribeca is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York in the United States. Its name is an acronym based on the words "Triangle below Canal Street", and is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street...
district between the years 1983 and 2009.
Rauf worked to build bridges between American society, the American Muslim community and the wider Muslim world. In 1997, he founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement (originally named the American Sufi Muslim Association), a civil society organization aimed at promoting positive engagement between American society and American Muslims. The organization is now headed by his wife. He is a member of the Council of 100 Leaders (C-100) on West-Islamic World Dialogue at the World Economic Forum (WEF)
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
and has received both the Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution’s annual Alliance Peacebuilder Award and The Interfaith Center of New York’s annual James Parks Morton Interfaith Award (2006). He was a major speaker at the 2009 Parliament of the World's Religions
Parliament of the World's Religions
There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World’s Religions, most notably the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, the first attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993...
in Melbourne, Australia.
In 2003, Rauf founded the Cordoba Initiative, another registered nonprofit organization with offices in both New York and Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia. As CEO of Cordoba Initiative, Rauf coordinates projects that emphasize the bonds that connect the Muslim world and the West.
Rauf is a friend of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order
Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order
The Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order is a modern dervish order of Sufism. It is a branch of the Halveti-Jerrahi Tariqah of Istanbul, Turkey, and was founded in the early 1980s by American Sufis Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi and Fariha al-Jerrahi after they received direct transmission from their teacher,...
, and in 1983 was appointed prayer leader at their New York City mosque, Masjid al-Farah. In 1997 he founded the American Sufi Muslim Society (ASMA), which has since been renamed the American Society for Muslim Advancement.
British author Karen Armstrong said in the introduction to Rauf's book:
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf ... is a bridge figure because he has deep roots in both worlds. He was educated in Egypt, England, Malaysia and the United States, and his mosque in New York City is only a few blocks away from the World Trade Center. After September 11, people often asked me, "Where are the moderate Muslims? Why are they not speaking out?" In Imam Rauf, we have a Muslim who can speak to Western people in a way they understand."
Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist and author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International. In 2010 he became Editor-At-Large of Time magazine...
praised Rauf for speaking of "the need for Muslims to live peacefully with all other religions", for emphasizing the commonalities among all faiths, for advocating equal rights for women and opposing laws that in any way punish non-Muslims.
Walter Isaacson, head of The Aspen Institute, says Rauf "has participated at the Aspen Institute in Muslim-Christian-Jewish working groups looking at ways to promote greater religious tolerance. He has consistently denounced radical Islam and terrorism, and promoted a moderate and tolerant Islam."
Post-9/11 comments
Following the September 11 attacks, Rauf conducted training and speeches for the F.B.I. and U.S. State Department.However, some U.S. politicians have voiced concerns about his views, referring to comments Rauf made when interviewed by Ed Bradley
Ed Bradley
Edward Rudolph "Ed" Bradley, Jr. was an American journalist, best known for twenty-six years of award-winning work on the CBS News television program 60 Minutes...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
on September 30, 2001. Rauf's website says he was referring to the US CIA in the 1980s "financing Osama Bin Laden and strengthening the Taliban." Columnist Jonathan Rauch
Jonathan Rauch
Jonathan Charles Rauch is an American author, journalist and activist. After graduating from Yale University, Rauch worked at the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina, for the National Journal magazine, and later for The Economist magazine and as a freelance writer.Currently a senior writer and...
wrote that Rauf gave a "mixed, muddled, muttered" message after 9/11. Nineteen days after the attacks, he told CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
that fanaticism and terrorism have no place in Islam. Rauch said that the message was mixed, however, because when then asked if the U.S. deserved the attacks, Rauf answered, "I wouldn't say that the United States deserved what happened. But the United States' policies were an accessory to the crime that happened." When the interviewer asked Rauf how he considered the U.S. to be an accessory, he replied, "because we have been accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. In fact, in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
is made in the USA." Although this CIA-Osama bin Laden controversy has been brought up by many others, Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, Peter T. King
Peter T. King
Peter T. "Pete" King is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. King's central Long Island district includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties....
, Rick Lazio
Rick Lazio
Enrico Anthony "Rick" Lazio is a former U.S. Representative from the state of New York. Lazio became well known nationally when he ran against Hillary Rodham Clinton for the U.S. Senate in New York's 2000 Senate election...
, and Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
expressed concern about these remarks when discussing Rauf as the driving force behind the Park51 project. As Daisy Khan, Rauf's wife, explained on August 15, 2010 on This Week with Christiane Amanpour:
KHAN: It was a longer interview, and in the longer interview, he talked about the CIA support specifically to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. And...
AMANPOUR: You mean that...
KHAN: Yes, in the '80s.
AMANPOUR: ... against the Soviet Union.
KHAN: The Soviet Union. And how this was, you know, in CIA terms, a blowback of that. That's what he meant.
At National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, Dan Foster wrote:
When you say that the United States was "an accessory to the crime" of 9/11, as he did, it tends to blunt my ability to pick up the subtleties of what comes after. That interview was equivocal at every turn, and when moral equivalences are trotted out re: 9/11, the tie goes to "you're either with us, or with the terrorists." In other words, we are perfectly entitled to suspect that the "accessories to the crime" bit represents the investment, while the "condemning terrorism" bit is merely the hedge.The editors of the magazine wrote "While he cannot quite bring himself to blame the terrorists for being terrorists, he finds it easy to blame the United States for being a victim of terrorism."
In 2004, he said the U.S. and the West must acknowledge the harm they have done to Muslims before terrorism can end. Speaking at his New York mosque, Rauf said:
The Islamic method of waging war is not to kill innocent civilians. But it was Christians in World War II who bombed civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima, neither of which were military targets.He also said that there could be little progress in Western-Islamic relations until the U.S. acknowledged backing Middle East dictators, and the U.S. President gave an "American Culpa" speech to the Muslim world, because there are "an endless supply of angry young Muslim rebels prepared to die for their cause and there [is] no sign of the attacks ending unless there [is] a fundamental change in the world".
Views on Hamas
During an interview on New York WABCWABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
radio in June 2010, Rauf declined to say whether he agreed with the U.S. State Department's designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization. Responding to the question, Rauf said, "Look, I'm not a politician. The issue of terrorism is a very complex question... I am a peace builder. I will not allow anybody to put me in a position where I am seen by any party in the world as an adversary or as an enemy." Sarah Palin and Lazio criticized his refusal to agree with the assessment of the United States that Hamas is a terrorist organization, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani alleged that Rauf had supported radical causes that sympathized with Islamic terrorism.
New York's Mayor Bloomberg was asked to comment on whether Rauf is a man of peace, given his background "where he's supposedly supported Hamas, [and] blamed the U.S. for 9/11 attacks". Bloomberg responded:
My job is not to vet clergy in this city.... Everybody has a right to their opinions. You don't have to worship there.... this country is not built around ... only those ... clergy people that we agree with. It's built around freedom. That's the wonderful thing about the First AmendmentFirst Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
—you can say anything you want.
However, when interviewed on CNN September 8, 2010, Rauf had this to say about Hamas:
I condemn everyone and anyone who commits acts of terrorism, and Hamas has committed acts of terrorism.
Park51
In 2009, The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported on the plans for an Islamic center to be established at 45 Park Place, two blocks from Ground Zero:
A presence so close to the World Trade Center, "where a piece of the wreckage fell", said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the cleric leading the project, "sends the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11. We want to push back against the extremists...The location is not designated a mosque, but rather an overflow prayer space for another mosque, Al Farah at 245 West Broadway in TriBeCa, where Imam Feisal is the spiritual leader."It was considered to be akin to the Chautauqua Institution
Chautauqua Institution
The Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit adult education center and summer resort located on 750 acres in Chautauqua, New York, 17 miles northwest of Jamestown in the western part of New York State...
, the 92 Street YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
or the Jewish Community Center
Jewish Community Center
A Jewish Community Center or Jewish Community Centre is a general recreational, social and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities...
:
Joy Levitt, executive director of the Jewish Community Center, said the group would be proud to be a model for Imam Feisal at ground zero. “For the J.C.C. to have partners in the Muslim community that share our vision of pluralism and tolerance would be great,” she said. Mr. El-Gamal agreed. “What happened that day,” he said, “was not Islam.”
Sharif El-Gamal
Sharif El-Gamal
Sharif El-Gamal is a New York City real estate developer. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of Soho Properties, a Manhattan-based real estate company...
, chairman and chief executive of Soho Properties
Soho Properties
Soho Properties is an American real estate company that arranges and participates in real estate investments. It was founded by Sharif El-Gamal in 2003.-Management:...
, bought 45 Park Place in July, 2009. "It’s really to provide a place of peace, a place of services and solutions for the community which is always looking for interfaith dialogue."
Later, the interfaith community center was named Cordoba House, after the Great Mosque of Córdoba, a mosque built in Spain during the Islamic occupation after being converted by the Umayyad Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
from the Visigothic Christian church.
According to the September 8, 2010 statement by Park51:
“Park51 is the name of the planned Muslim community center being built in lower Manhattan. Park51 is also the name of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity that has already been established, which will fund and oversee this initiative. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf will be the spiritual leader of the Cordoba House which will be the interfaith and religious component of the center and will reside within Park51.”
About Park51: Park51 is a nonsectarian community, cultural and interfaith spiritual center along with a Muslim prayer area and a monument to honor all those we lost on 9/11.
Plans for the project include a mosque which would accommodate 1,000–2,000 Muslims in prayer. Rauf won support from the local Community Board
Community Boards of New York City
The Community Boards in New York City are the appointed advisory groups from various districts throughout each of the Five Boroughs of New York City. All of the boards consist of fifty volunteer individuals named by the relevant Borough President except for sitting City Council members who serve...
, and received both support and opposition from some 9/11 families, politicians, organizations, academics, and others. The initiative was supported by some Muslim American leaders and organizations, including CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is America's largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization that deals with civil advocacy and promotes human rights...
, and criticized by some other Muslims such as Sufi mystic
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (journalist)
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz is an American Muslimjournalist, columnist, and author. He has been published in a variety of media, including The Wall Street Journal. He is the executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism...
, director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington. Supporters of the project point out that two mosques already have firm roots in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
and that one of them was founded in 1970, pre-dating the World Trade Center.
Controversy over the location ensued, and in an interview with Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
on September 8, 2010 Rauf was asked "...given what you know now, would you have said, listen, let's not do it there? Because it sounds like you're saying in retrospect wouldn't have done it." Rauf answered:
If I knew this would happen, this would cause this kind of pain, I wouldn't have done it. My life has been devoted to peacemaking.
On September 12, 2010 on This Week
This Week (ABC TV series)
This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...
with Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour, CBE is anchor of ABC News's This Week and formerly chief international correspondent at CNN, where she worked for 27 years. She is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Early years:...
, Abdul Rauf repeated that if complaints had been raised in December 2009 when the project was front page news in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, he would have moved it, but at that time there was broad support for it, which did not change until May. He furthermore expressed concern that a move would be used by radicals internationally to claim that "Islam is under attack in the Western world".
On January 14, 2011, Park51 developer Sharif el-Gamal surprised Rauf by unilaterally announcing that Rauf would no longer speak for or raise money for Park51, replacing him with Imam Abdallah Adhami. The split was attributed to a number of differences in vision for the project—Rauf had wanted a larger interfaith center named Cordoba House, but el-Gamal had changed the name to Park51, wanted it to primarily serve Muslims, and wanted it to have a local rather than global scope. The removal of Rauf from this leadership role raised concerns that the project would be unable to raise the necessary funds to build the planned center. On January 29, Rauf announced that he would move the Cordoba House to a different site if one were offered to him and if the new site was "on par, or even better" than the current Park51 site. He also discussed differences between himself and el-Gamal, saying ""Mr. Gamal is more focused on the Islam aspect than on the multifaith aspect of it. . . He came at this from the point of view of wanting to establish an Islamic center."
Statements on religious relations and Sharia Law
Some have referred to Imam Feisal's statements about Sharia Law and the role of other religions in the Islamic communities as "radical", "worrying", "equivocal" and "deceptive". Ibn WarraqIbn Warraq
Ibn Warraq is the pen name of a polemical author of Pakistani origin who is critical of Islam, and who founded the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society . He is a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry focusing on Qur'anic criticism...
wrote in the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
:
Before President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's planned visit to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Imam Feisal, writing in the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad on March 31, 2009, stated of Sharia Law:
Rental properties
Rauf owns several apartment buildings in Hudson County, New JerseyHudson County, New Jersey
Hudson County is the smallest county in New Jersey and one of the most densely populated in United States. It takes its name from the Hudson River, which creates part of its eastern border. Part of the New York metropolitan area, its county seat and largest city is Jersey City.- Municipalities...
, including four in Union City
Union City, New Jersey
Union City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census the city had a total population of 66,455. All of the city is on land, an area of...
, and one in North Bergen, in which he lives. By 2010, numerous residents of Rauf's properties in Union City had alleged that those properties have fallen into disrepair over the course of the prior several years, with some of the residents attributing this to time Rauf spends on his activities in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
. One resident in particular described Rauf's property at 2206 Central Avenue as "horrible" and a "mess", describing a two-week period during the winter of 2009 in which the residents lacked hot water following the malfunction of the building's boiler. Residents have also cited rat and bed bug infestations, and have complained that such issues can take up to six months to be resolved. Union City spokesperson Mark Albiez confirmed that multiple health violations have been leveled against Rauf's properties. These allegations have added to the controversy over Park51. On September 8, 2010, Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack, who criticized Rauf as a "slumlord", announced court actions to have a custodial receiver take over management of these properties, and the creation of a Quality of Life Task Force to identify 15 apartment buildings in need of renovations, including Rauf's. A September 15, 2010 hearing revealed that following a September 7 inspection that determined imminent hazards, police began monitoring two of Rauf's buildings, due to inoperable fire alarms and sprinklers, and failure on Rauf's part to hire a private fire patrol. Judge Thomas Olivieri gave Rauf's lawyers until September 23 to produce plans and evidence of efforts to address these violations, lest Rauf face loss of control over the buildings. Some Union City residents questioned why the timing of these actions against Rauf's properties did not become an issue in New York City and national media, and why the long-standing problems faced by these properties were not addressed until the larger controversy over Park51 came to light, particularly given that Stack became mayor in 2000. On November 9, Judge Olivieri placed the Central Avenue property into temporary custodial receivership, with $7,000 in rent payments held in escrow
Escrow
An escrow is:* an arrangement made under contractual provisions between transacting parties, whereby an independent trusted third party receives and disburses money and/or documents for the transacting parties, with the timing of such disbursement by the third party dependent on the fulfillment of...
from Rauf's attorney set aside to pay for the repairs.
According to 2010 reports by the Bergen Record, Rauf met with U.S. Senator Robert Menendez
Robert Menendez
Robert "Bob" Menendez is the junior United States Senator from New Jersey and a member of the Democratic Party. In January 2006, he was appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jon Corzine, who resigned upon being elected Governor of New Jersey. Menendez was elected to his own full...
around 1991 when Menendez was Mayor of Union City, to request state funds to renovate three of his properties. As a result, Rauf received $80,000 in city funds, $384,000 from the Union City Community Development Agency, $1.3 million in construction loans from Hudson County's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and $630,900 from the state. Rauf was also sued for fraud in 2008 by his one-time business partner, James Cockinos, over a $250,000 mortgage that Cockinos gave Rauf for his Central Avenue property, ownership of which Rauf then transferred to Sage Developments for a second $650,000 mortgage. Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, made payments to Cockinos for 11 years, but ceased after a fire damaged the property. The two parties settled out of court. The Record also reported that records beginning thirty years previous indicated that Rauf owned an apartment in North Bergen and in Palisades Park
Palisades Park, New Jersey
Palisades Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 19,622....
. Though records indicate Rauf owns a home on 78th Street in North Bergen, a neighbor indicated that Khan is there more often than the frequently traveling Rauf, and it is unclear if he still owns the Palisades Park property.
Personal life
Rauf's first wife was an American woman who converted to Islam. Rauf later married a Malaysian woman. Rauf has two children with each of his first two wives. He has been married to his third wife Daisy Khan since the late 1990s. Khan, a native of KashmirKashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
is a professional interior architect
Interior architecture
Interior Architecture is truly a marriage of three distinct design disciplines: interior design, architecture, and industrial design...
, but since 2005 has worked full-time for the two non-profit organizations founded by Rauf, and at times functions as his spokesperson. They live in North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township had a total population of 60,773. Originally founded in 1843, the town was much diminished in territory by a series of secessions. Situated on the Hudson Palisades, it is one...
.
Books
- Feisal Abdul Rauf, What's Right with Islam: a New Vision for Muslims and the West (HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, 2004) ISBN 978-0060582722, reissued as What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America (HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, 2005) ISBN 9780060750626. (An Indonesian language edition was published in 2007, titled Seruan Azan Dari Puing WTC: Dakwah Islam di Jantung Amerika Pasca 9/11, which translates as A Call to Prayer from the WTC Rubble: Islamic DawahDawahDa‘wah or Dawah usually denotes the preaching of Islam. Da‘wah literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation", being the active participle of a verb meaning variously "to summon" or "to invite"...
from the Heart of America Post 911) - Feisal Abdul Rauf, Islam: A Sacred Law (Threshold Books, 2000) ISBN 978-0939660704
- Feisal Abdul Rauf, Islam: A Search for Meaning (Mazda Publishers, 1996) ISBN 978-1568590370
- Feisal Abdul Rauf and Laleh Bakhtiar, Quran for Children (Kazi Publications, 1985) ISBN 978-0935782080
Other writings
- "Building on Faith", The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. September 7, 2010. - "Need for some cultural sensitivity", The StarThe Star (Malaysia)The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...
(Malaysia). May 12, 2010. - "Using Qur'anic Narratives in Pursuit of Peace", Common Ground News Service, March 4, 2010.
- "Putting the faith back", The StarThe Star (Malaysia)The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...
(Malaysia). December 30, 2009. - "Religion must be part of the Afghanistan solution", The StarThe Star (Malaysia)The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...
(Malaysia). October 12, 2009. - "Sharing the core of our beliefs", Common Ground News Service, March 31, 2009.
- "Religious organisations are key to Mideast peace", Common Ground News Service, March 5, 2009.
- "Preventing Chaos", The StarThe Star (Malaysia)The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...
(Malaysia). March 9, 2008. - "Asceticism in Islam", Cross Currents. Winter, 2008, (vol. 57 No. 4) ed. by Pederson, Kusumita.
- "The Ideals We Share", NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. July 31, 2007. with Khan, Daisy. - "The End of Barbarism: The Phenomenon of Torture and the Search for Common Good", Pursuing the Global Common Good: Principle and Practice in US Foreign Policy. Washington, DC: Center for American ProgressCenter for American ProgressThe Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action." It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.Its President and Chief...
. 2007. with Schulz, William F., ed. by Steenland, Sally, et al. video - "What is Sunni Islam?" in Voices of Islam: Voices of Tradition, vol. 1 of 3, ed. Cornell, Vincent J. Westport: Praeger. 2007.
- "Al-Qaeda's Greatest Fear may be US Leaving Iraq". Aspen TimesAspen TimesThe Aspen Times is an 11,500-circulation, 7-day-a-week newspaper in the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado with a history dating back to 1881.-History:...
. October 11, 2006. with Bennett, John. - "Arab Reform Final Report". New York: Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
. 2005. with Albright, Madeleine, et al. - "Bringing Muslim Nations into the Global Century", FortuneFortune (magazine)Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
. October 18, 2004.
External links
- Biography at the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA)
- Biography at Cordoba Initiative
- Feisal Abdul Rauf "On Faith" column archives at Washington Post/NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
(2008 to present) - Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf at BeliefnetBeliefnetBeliefnet is a large multi-faith e-community that aims to provide a free forum for religious information and inspiration, spiritual tools, and discussions and dialogue groups. Beliefnet provides information about various religious and spiritual beliefs, ranging from Christian denominations to...
, includes columns - Appearances on C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
- Collected news and commentary at NPR
- Collected news and commentary at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Interview, Muslims, PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
Frontline documentary