Feisal Abdul Rauf

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Feisal Abdul Rauf

Feisal Abdul Rauf ( Arabic فيصل عبد الرؤوف, DMG Fayṣal ʿAbd ar-Raʾūf ; * October 23, 1948 in Kuwait ) is an Egyptian - American imam , author and a personality of interdenominational dialogue . He is the founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Cordoba Initiative and the founder of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA). He was Imam of the al-Farah Mosque in Lower Manhattan , New York .

Life

Abdul Rauf was born in Kuwait to an Egyptian Islamic scholar who held various teaching and administrative positions at universities and Islamic institutions around the world. Abdul Rauf's pious upbringing, travels, and early introduction to theological debates shaped his later views on Islam and religious pluralism . After stays in the United Kingdom , Egypt and Malaysia , Abdul Rauf moved with his family to New York City in 1965. In 1969 he graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in physics and completed his master's degree in plasma physics at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1972 . In 1983 he became an imam at the Masjid Al-Farah, a progressive Sufi mosque in Manhattan . In 1997 he founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement in the hope of fostering interreligious dialogue between Islam and the United States . After the attacks of September 11, 2001 , Abdul Rauf wrote a book on the relationship between Islam and the West, gave cultural courses at the FBI and went on lecture tours in the Middle East on behalf of the US State Department .

He was one of the 138 signatories of the open letter a common word between us and you ( Engl. A Common Word Between Us and You ), the personalities of Islam to "leaders of Christian churches everywhere" (English: "Leaders of Christian Churches, everywhere ... “) (October 13, 2007).

Controversy about "Park51"

In July 2009, a group of Muslim investors acquired an empty building just two blocks away from Ground Zero to house an Islamic community center run by Abdul Rauf . A 13 to 15-story cultural center called Park51 was planned , which would have a Muslim prayer room, sports facilities, a day care center and a non- denominational memorial for the 9/11 attacks. Abdul Rauf emphasized that the center was open to both Muslims and non-Muslims and that interreligious programs and events should take place there.

Protests against the planned community center on August 22, 2010

The planned community center was praised by advocates such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a symbol of religious tolerance, but it also met with considerable resistance from conservative activists and politicians. The Islamic community center near Ground Zero would insult the victims of the attack and mean a victory for Islamic extremists. Families of the victims were divided on the proposed center. In 2010 the demonstrations for and against the construction of the Islamic Community Center peaked and sparked a heated, media- fueled, nationwide debate. Abdul Rauf defended the cultural center, saying that moving it to another location would strengthen Islamic extremist groups, as they believe that Muslims are discriminated against in the US.

After a disagreement over project details between Abdul Rauf and the property developer Sharif El-Gamal , Abdul Rauf was dismissed as the head of the community center in 2011.

Works (selection)

  • Moving the Mountain: Beyond Ground Zero to a New Vision of Islam in America
  • What's Right with Islam: a New Vision for Muslims and the West

Web links

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c d e Feisal Abdul Rauf , in: Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ↑ acommonword.com: A common word between us and you (summarized short form) (PDF; 186 kB)
personal data
SURNAME Feisal Abdul Rauf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Feisal Abdul Rauf; Fayṣal ʿAbd al-Ra'uf; Feisal Abdul-Rauf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Egyptian-American imam, author and a figure of interdenominational dialogue
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Kuwait