These days, the world is talking vociferously about a plan to build a mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero, a place where the WTC twin towers in New York were destroyed by the al-Qaeda terrorist organization on Sept. 11, 2001. The sudden attack claimed about 3,000 innocents.
The project plan was initiated by The Cordoba Initiative, which is an organization whose name makes reference to what was, 1,000 years ago, one of the world’s most advanced cities, Cordoba, Al-Andalus (Spain). This was a city that was politically and religiously dominated by Islam, and a city that was conquered by jihad (holy war).The institution has purchased the land near Ground Zero for US$4.85 million in cash, and recently is raising an additional $100 million for the construction. It might be intending to restore some of Islam’s lost glory by making Ground Zero the site of the rebirth of Islam’s holy war in the West.
Unfortunately, the project plan is opposed by the majority of the American people, who perceive the proposed project as insensitive to the Sept. 11 victims and provocative at a time when Muslims are pressing for wider acceptance in the US. Maybe, the American people are still dealing with the trauma, as nine years since the incident is too short a time to erase the anguished memories.
The Ground Zero mosque issue grew into a more heated debate after President Barack Obama made a remark backing the plan. He said, “I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”
In the wake of distrust and suspicion between the West (read: America) and the Muslim world, one has to appreciate Obama’s remarks. I see he was not just paying lip service or making a hypocritical statement, but it was from his conscience, to mend the trust and to heal the wounds. It is not just once that he has delivered such a statement, as we remember his speech during his inauguration as the president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2009, saying: “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth…To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect”.
The open statement that specifically addressed Muslims, again, was the fulfillment of his promise to make America friends with Muslims in any corner of the world. Whether Obama will successfully implement his dream, we will see later.
Meanwhile, the man who will play the key role to nod or shake his head on the project, is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. On an official trip to Pennsylvania, he said: “I happen to believe that it is the most important right that we have to say what we want to say, which includes praying to whomever we want in any place we want, in any manner we want”. Referring to the 9/11 incident he continued: “You know, our firefighters and police officers ran into the Twin Towers, they didn’t ask anybody what they believed. They just went in.” Bloomberg is of Russian Jewish descent. His support of the planned project is surprising, in particular to the Muslim community across the world that has been stigmatizing Jews as the number one enemy.
How did the two leaders dare take a position against the mainstream? Obama was even forced to swallow a bitter pill when his people began to question his faith and accused him of being a Muslim. For this, the White House had to issue a clarification to convince Americans that Obama was a devout Christian. The point that I see in this is — how he did not care about any attempt that could ruin his image for the sake of peace.
There are tough challenges ahead for Obama and Bloomberg, but one day the world will remember their brave stance to promote inter-religious tolerance and appreciation as a basic right of everyone — something which is very hard and almost impossible to achieve in Indonesia, a country where the leader prefers to keep quiet on any issue of minority rights.
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Serpong, 21 Aug 2010
Titus J.
