Building West-Muslim Bridges

Sitting firmly in his seat with a determined look in his eyes, American Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf appears resolved to bridge the gap between the West and the Muslim world.

"My purpose is to spread harmony and peace between the West and the Muslim world," Imam Abdul-Rauf, chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, told IslamOnline.net in an exclusive interview.

"My role is to see how can my work help improve this relationship."

With that in mind, the American imam founded the Cordoba Initiative in 2003 to clear mutual mistrust.

"First (we seek) to identify the sources of conflict between the Muslim world and the West," he said.

"We have developed under this initiative a number of projects which we believe are effective in creating this discourse about these particular arenas," he said, citing projects in political, religious and cultural arenas.

"(They aim) to help reduce the conflict inshaAllah and solve it as well."

According to its website, the Cordoba Initiative aims to achieve a tipping point in Muslim-West relations within the next decade, steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect and away from heightened tension.

Born in 1948, Imam Abdul-Rauf is a well-known figure in the field of West-Muslim relations.

In 1997, he founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), reportedly the first Muslim organization committed to bringing US Muslims and non-Muslims through programs in academia, policy, current affairs and culture.

An imam of Masjid al-Farah in New York, Abdul-Rauf also sits on the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Center of New York and serves as an adviser to the Interfaith Center of New York.

He authored three books on Islam and its place on contemporary Western society.

Support

Imam Abdul-Rauf is currently on a State Department-sponsored tour to build bridges.

"This is part of it as the work is huge and can't be done by one person or one organization," he said.

"It is also to share people like yourself the work that we do. We need people in the media and we need people to talk to understand what we do."

He defended the US government's support for his organization.

"If I don't have the ears of people in the political power, I would not engage in the issues of today," he said.

"So if you want to solve the problems, you have to have the anchor of each place.

"As an American citizen and as an American organization, we have to comply with American laws, not doubt. But unless I get involved in the big issues of today, we can't solve them."

Imam Abdul-Rauf does not think such relation with the US government could create suspicions about him or his initiative.

"My Cordoba Initiative is supported by both the West and the Muslim world," he insisted.

"My work has drawn the attention of governments of many countries," he said, naming Malaysia, Qatar, the Netherlands and Britain.

"We are looking to get the initiative like the United Nations. The UN has the support of all countries but to serve a common purpose of peace."

Protected Muslims

As part of his bridges-building efforts, Imam Abul-Rauf is championing a project to build an Islamic Center two blocks from Ground Zero in New York.

"We would like to have our center equipped with (state-of-the-art) technology," he added.

"We would like our center in some aspects to have this technology so we can display and show what Muslims today are doing in the common bonds of civilizations."

Imam Abdul-Rauf believes American Muslims are continually improving all the time and credits that to the system in America.

"This is the societal system of law, the principle of civil rights, the civil rights protection and the freedom of religions. These are things that are built in the legal American structure."

Many believe American Muslims, estimated at between six to seven million, have become sensitized to an erosion of their civil rights since 9/11.

Imam Abdul-Rauf does not seem to agree.

"The American legal structure and political structure is to ensure that these individual rights of the people are not breached or eroded.

"And because we enjoy these protections the situation of Muslim Americans are always improving."

To Ban or Not to Ban…Iraqis Divided

Authorities first decided to disqualify hundreds of mostly Sunni politicians from running in the March elections, angering Sunni Arabs who saw in the move an attempt to sideline their community politically.

Then authorities decided to allow the politicians to contest the vote until their appeals are looked into, this time angering Shiites, the new rulers of post-invasion Iraq.

"Iraqis want a break from the dictatorial period and allowing their supporters to run in the elections goes against any human rights decision," Hussein Wafe’e, a senior government official in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr district, told IslamOnline.net.

A judicial panel decided last week to allow nearly 500 politicians disqualified on accusations of links to the ousted Baath party of Saddam Hussein to contest the elections.

Among the list of candidates who had been banned from elections were prominent Sunni politicians including Saleh Mutlak who is a preference in the poll in many governorates in central and western of the country.

"The Iraqi court had to follow the country’s law to ban any person who has any involvement with Saddam’s party but instead they lifted it and gave them the chance to get seats in the most important political level of Iraq," fumed Wafe’e.

But according to Hamdiya al-Husseini, a member of the Independent High Electoral Commission, the appeal case was not dismissed but only delayed till after the polls.

"The appeal has been accepted and banned candidates can now return to their campaigns but the case will be analysed after elections," she told IOL.

"Those who win and have their support proved through investigations would lose their seat."

The judicial panel's decision angered Shiites politicians who argue this would open the doors for Baathists to join parliament.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government also criticized the decision as "illegal," and ordered that parliament be recalled.

MPs are expected to meet later Monday to discuss the contentious issue.

The March 7 general election will be the second since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Polarized

Demonstrations against the overturn of the ban are being organized in many Shiite-majority areas in Baghdad and the southern cities of Basra and Najaf.

"We want justice and will demonstrate during the coming days at streets asking for the reversion of the appeal decision," said Wafe’e.

Hundreds gathered outside Baghdad provincial government headquarters Sunday, carrying banners that read "No to the return of criminal Baathists."

Members of Maliki’s Dawa party are participating in many protests and are stoking feelings by recalling the suffering of many Shiites during Saddam.

"It is our duty to prevent Iraqis from suffering again at the hands of Saddam’s supporters," Salah Abdul-Razzaq, the Baghdad provincial governor and a senior member of Dawa party, said during Sunday’s protest.

"We cannot accept any more mass graves in this country or families losing their loved ones for expressing themselves."

The March elections are seen by many as a test of reconciliation between Sunnis who ruled under Saddam and Shiites who came to the helm of power following the invasion.

But the row over vote disqualification has left the country polarized and divided.

"We had a change of sides," noted Abdel-Rahman al-Soudan, a political analyst and professor at Baghdad University.

"During the ban, Sunnis revolted and attacks against Shiite community increased," he told IOL.

"Now we started to see a change of anger. Shiites are reluctant to accept the lifting and threats have been reported, especially against Sunni communities in the southern provinces."

Politicized

The political expert questioned the timing of the government's decision to go after alleged Baathists.

"It is important to pursue Ba’ath support but the government had years to look into it and decided to make a precipitated decision a few months before elections, showing an image of possible destabilisation."

Soudan fears the current turmoil could spill over into sectarian violence.

"The government is heating protesters who since yesterday went out to the streets calling for the ban lifting to be cancelled," he charged.

"Maliki has to be careful because many times when we want to destabilise someone, it could have serious collateral effects."

Soudan says many politicians, experts and locals are afraid from violence and sectarian disputes in volatile governorates.

He believes that if the ban had not been lifted many Sunnis would have called for boycotting the March vote and a wave of violence would have overshadowed the vote.

"They are calling Sunni resistance for a fight that will have just innocent civilians as victims."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has welcomed the decision to reinstate the disqualified candidates and urged all parties not to undermine the legitimacy of vote.

The Obama administration considers the election a crucial test before a complete withdrawal of its troops, currently estimated at 107,000, by the end of 2011.

Funding Hinders Serbia Islamic Education

Facing a dearth of donations over government pressures, Muslim education institutions in Serbia are risking to shut down over the lack of funding.

“Our educational institutions are facing a financial crisis that hampers them from delivering their message,” Sheikh Muamer Zukorlic, the Grand Mufti and Head of the Islamic Sheikhdom of Serbia, told IslamOnline.net.

“The crisis facing our institutions is the result of a political standoff between the Sheikhdom and Serbian authorities.”

Zukorlic blamed the standoff on government attempts to restrict the expansion of Sheikdom institutions.

“The government has adopted a policy to dry financial sources feeding our projects and institutions,” he lamented.

The government has suspended aid to the Sheikhdom though Serbian laws allow aid to religious organizations.

“It is also pressuring businessmen funding the Sheikhdom projects to stop funding, resulting in a dearth of donations as they fear harm to their businesses,” he said.

“Authorities are also launching media campaigns against the Sheikhdom to blemish its image and lose the people’s confidence.”

The Sheikhdom is overseeing seven kindergartens catering 1,000 children and three secondary schools catering 500 students.

It is also running a faculty for Islamic studies as well as the International University of Novi Pazar, which has 4,000 students.

“Though we need to expand our educational institutions to preserve our identity, the crisis has forced us to halt our new projects,” Zukorlic said.

The Muslim leader appealed to Muslims abroad to provide help to the Sheikhdom to overcome the financial crisis.

“There is no other option but to rely on foreign help in order to keep our education institutions running.”

Serbia has a Muslim minority of nearly half a million, mostly ethnic Bosniaks and Albanians.

Urgent Help

The Islamic Studies Faculty is one of educational institutions at the risk of closure over lack of funding.

“The faculty is facing financial problems that threaten it to get shut,” dean Almir Pramenkovic told IOL.

“The faculty professors have not been paid for months,” he said.

The faculty has 300 students and 45 professors.

“The crisis, which started two years ago, has escalated in recent months,” said professor Hajrudin Balic.

“The faculty staff could be forced to seek another job if the crisis continued,” he warned.

The lack of funding is also leaving its impact on the GAZI ISA BEG secondary school.

“Many generations have graduated from the school,” said headmaster Mustafa Fetic.

Built in the 16th century, the school is considered the oldest in the Sanjak region.

It has 328 students and 95 staff.

“In order to allow the school to keep playing its role, it urgently needs help to pay teachers, who have not been paid for months,” said Fetic.

“The school is at risk of shutdown.”

Pramenkovic, the dean of the Islamic Studies Faculty, also appeals for help.

“We need urgent help in order to continue our educational role in accordance with moderate Islamic teachings.”

China Matchmaking Market

Amid worries over gender imbalance in the world’s most populous country, a Beijing supermarket is helping unwed Chinese to find their marriage partners.

"The love supermarket was not created to satisfy a holiday need," Gao Shan, the market’s manager, told Reuters on Tuesday, February 9.

"It was created so that singles can have the opportunity to leave behind their single life."

Launched in November, the “I’m Looking for You” supermarket offers young Chinese the opportunity to find their soul-mates.

Members list their basic info, such as name, age, income and occupation, along with a picture, and this profile is available for others to view.

They are also asked what they would like in a partner.

The market has attracted more than 1,000 clients and successfully matched more than 50 couples.

The move comes amid growing worries over gender imbalance in the world’s most populous country.

State media estimates that more than 24 million Chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without spouses in 2020.

A government-backed study blames the imbalance on the one-child policy, which pushes many Chinese to seek baby boys rather than girls.

China is the world’s most populous country, with 1.3 billion population.

Matchmaking

Qu Hui, a 25-year-old teacher, has signed up to the market to find her soul-mate.

"I wish I could find my better half, that is my greatest hope,” he said.

“But if that doesn't happen, I hope I can use this place to meet more friends. After all.”

Many single Chinese complain that hectic work and school schedules in the highly competitive society leave them with little time to socialise.

“I am a teacher, so the people that I can meet and socialise with are very limited," said Qu.

Some clients went to the marriage supermarket under family pressures.

"My ideal woman would be someone who I can get along with, who is kind-hearted, and who is responsible,” said government employee Wang Jiaohong.

“My mother says that the reason why I haven't found her yet is because I'm too picky," said the 35-year-old.

"But in reality, I believe it's because I just haven't yet found my match. There are however some outstanding women here."