In America's Heartland, Building One Home For Three Faiths

ONE PLACE - 3 FAITH

God is indeed a public property and not for sale to private ownerships, unfortunately a few among each one of our groups want to own God as their exclusive slave. Thanks to the leadership of Omaha, Nebraska to come up with this great idea of building a Synagogue, Church and a Mosque together.  There is another one going up in Germany, may God bless them all to free the slave God from any one�s ownership and be a free God.

However, I would appeal to the group to add another sanctuary to allow people of other faiths to use the facility. Ideally, there should be a symbolic place for all religions, one place for many to worshipping the creator in their own way. God bless the leadership.

Here is a partial answer to build integrated societies.  This is dream come true for me and many like me, indeed, the role of religion is to bring people together, and not divide. If our clergies don�t get that right, they need to visit all places of worship and admire the devotion of the people.

Thanks Ilan Leibowitz? my friend for sharing this, the full story is at - http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2015/12/in-americas-heartland-building-one-home.html 

Courtesy NPR News

Construction has begun on the Tri-Faith Initiative's new campus on the edge of of Omaha, Neb. Here, a view of Temple Israel.

Frank Morris/KCUR

A mosque, a church and a synagogue go up on the site of an old Jewish country club ...

It sounds like the setup to a joke � but it's not. It's actually happening in Omaha, Neb. The Tri-Faith Initiative may be the first place in history where these three monotheistic faiths have built together, on purpose, with the intention of working together.

Leaders Of Tri-Faith Initiative Discuss Their Dream Of A Shared Religious Space

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The project has inspired some, and antagonized others.

In a tony suburban section of Omaha, kids at Countryside United Church of Christ are singing Away in a Manger. They're getting ready for the upcoming Christmas program.

Upstairs, in the church's expansive, modern coffee shop, the Rev. Eric Elnes says this is going to be one of the congregation's last Christmases at this location.

"We love our building. There is literally no good reason to move whatsoever, except to follow this Tri-Faith Initiative, which has really, absolutely moved our hearts," Elnes says.

But the congregation will move � to a hilly, 38-acre plot bisected by a creek near the edge of Omaha. The church will sit in one corner, with a mosque in another, facing a beautiful new synagogue, built with stone quarried in Jerusalem.

"This is something God wanted us to do a long time ago, and we were completely blinded by doing other things," says Aryeh Azriel, the rabbi at Temple Israel.

Azriel says Jews, Christians and Muslims have a history of working together here. On Sept. 11, he and his congregants helped protect one of the city's mosques. When Temple Israel voted a decade ago to move to the suburbs, leaders envisioned a multiworship campus. Almost a micro do-over of the Middle East.

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Aryeh Azriel, the rabbi at Temple Israel, says the shared space is "something God wanted us to do a long time ago."

Frank Morris/KCUR

"It's not a very good neighborhood in the Middle East, but Omaha is a unique place where those kind of relationships can exist," Azriel says.

The American Muslim Institute, located in a small suburban office building, is the Islamic leg of the Tri-Faith stool. Karim Khayati helped establish it in part to promote interfaith cooperation.

"This is a challenging time, and I think it's an invitation to work, and to love and to educate," Khayati says. "And that's what we're doing."

But this temporary mosque doesn't attract many of Omaha's 6,000 or so Muslims � or reflect the anxiety that some, like Bassim Al-Ebadi, feel about mixing religions.

"I believe it is not a good idea," says Ebadi, who runs the Green Land Market, a Middle Eastern grocery in an Omaha strip mall. He worries Tri-Faith could backfire, damaging the city's civil vibe.

"Maybe something happen like in Israel, like in Iraq, or like everywhere. And then, maybe they will bring all the problems to America," he says.

Another immigrant, Mark Christian, who converted to Christianity from Islam, worries that setting up a place dedicated to promoting cooperation among Muslims, Christians and Jews could provoke terrorists.

"It is completely against the beliefs of Islam," Christian says. "And it is going to set my community and my city of Omaha as a target."

All the more reason that it feels right, says Doug Dushan, a member of Countryside Church. He says attacking the foundation of extremist, separatist, ideology isn't just dangerous � it is exhilarating.

"It does reinforce that I think any development in any faith have happened against the grain," Dushan says.

A mosaic in the sidewalk in front of Countryside United Church of Christ in Omaha. "We love our building. There is literally no good reason to move whatsoever, except to follow this Tri-Faith Initiative," says the Rev. Eric Elnes.

Frank Morris/KCUR

Similar initiatives are underway elsewhere. One in Berlin would house all three religions in a single building. Elnes, the minister at Countryside, says it's part of a growing movement.

"Right now, worldwide, what we see when we look at the three Abrahamic faiths," he says, "is that the progress end of all three of those faiths actually have more in common with each other than they may have in common with the extreme ends within their faith."

Syed Mohiuddin agrees. A cardiologist, he heads the American Muslim Institute and is excited to complete the Tri-Faith campus, which should happen in the next few years.

"We'll have music. We'll have parties," Mohiuddin says. "Food, food brings everybody together" � that is, after they work out the various dietary restrictions and hundreds of other small issues.

The name of the stream running through middle of the campus, for instance, is Hell Creek. Azriel wants that changed as soon as possible, but Mohiuddin likes the symbolism. So as members of the Tri-Faith Initiative coalesce around high ideals and a historic mission, the devil may still be in the details.

Women attending the Masjid

 

The Masjid is known as the �house of Allah� as it symbolises the place where God is worshipped. This is the place of devotion and proclamation of his Greatness and Majesty. Although the Prophet (peace be upon him) declared that �the entire earth has been made a masjid for me�, in other words we can pray anywhere. However, the Masjid has a special place in Muslim society. This spot of land designated as the Masjid is �the best place on earth� (prophetic tradition).

�The person who visits the Masjid is God�s guest and divine hospitality is forgiveness� said the Prophet (peace be upon him). The one who prays in congregation in the Masjid gets his reward multiplied twenty seven times (Hadith). �Whoever waits in the Masjid for the next prayer is protected as he is in a Ribat (fortress) which gives protection from the attacks of the devil and ones ego� (Hadith). The serene, quiet and simple environment of the Masjid lifts the spirit, which helps the worshipper to focus and get absorbed in divine thoughts.

Scholars have likened the Masjid to a �magnifying glass� since it focuses the sun rays onto a single spot, similarly the rays of Divine Mercy are focused in the Masjid on the worshipper. The Masjid is the house of Allah, the best place on earth and it is a fortress. Whoever visits the Masjid is indeed Allah�s guest, graced with Divine hospitality; he is honoured as a true believer. It is the place for enriching one�s spirituality and building social relations. Is this exclusively for men? Is it a men�s club? Do women have no share in this wonderful spiritual place?

In this article I present Hadith evidence to show that women have full right to attend the Masjid. The merciful Master (peace be upon him) did not make it compulsory for them to visit the Masjid but as we will see he kept telling men not to stop them. Here I will not comment on why some later �jurists� banned women from the Masjid. I will confine myself to some of the Ahadith narrated by Imam Bukhari and Ibn Hajar�s (d. 761 AH) commentary.

The virtues of attending the Masjid

Abu Huraira narrates the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) as saying, �Shall I not tell you about that which will obliterate your mistakes and bring your near to Allah?� They replied, � Yes! Surely O Messenger.� He said, �it is to perform the ablution properly in difficult circumstances. A lot of foot steps to the Masjid and waiting for the next prayer after performing one that is the Ribat. That indeed is Ribat� (Muslim).

In the Muslim community the Masjid is the centre of Islamic activities. It is a place of worship and learning, a place for meditation, devotion, service and remembrance of Allah. In the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) it even had the role of the supreme court where the Chief Justice (peace be upon him) would issue his legal injunctions. It was also the military headquarters where the Messenger (peace be upon him) would plan the Jihad against the forces of unbelief. This Hadith directs us to the Masjid in order to have our minor sins erased and spiritual station raised, the Prophet (peace be upon him) orders us to do the wudu properly too. �The wudu is the key to the prayer and the prayer is the key to the heavens� (Hadith).

This state of physical purification is a prerequisite for a state of spiritual purification. After offering his devotion and humble prayer he sits in the Masjid waiting for the next prayer, this is spiritual vigilance, in Allah�s house absorbed in His thought. He is far from the temptations of the devil, the whispers of the uncouthed self and the lures of the glittering world. �This is Ribat, indeed the Ribat�, says the Prophet (peace be upon him). Ribat is the fort from where the soldiers use to keep a watch. The blessed Messenger (peace be upon him) equates this Ribat to the sitting in the Masjid waiting for the next prayer.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is recommending a perfect method for self-purification and defining the limits of Islamic asceticism, i.e. solitude and austerity. Not to abandon life, home, family and friends but to live amongst them, yet find time for solitude and communion with Allah. The one who attends the Masjid regularly has been praised by the Mustafa (peace be upon him) in these words:

�Whoever you see coming and going to and from the Masjid, you must give testimony of his faith being complete�. He then recited, �surely the one who builds the masjid is the one who has faith in Allah, the hereafter and fears no one except Him. They are the one who are rightly guided� (Tirmidhi).

In another tradition narrated by Abu Haraira he (peace be upon him) says: �Whoever attends the Masjid, Allah prepares a special hospitality for him� (Muslim).

Praying with the Congregation

Abu Darda says he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying, �When there are three people in a village or in the desert and they do not pray as a group the devil takes control of them. You must be with the group. Surely the wolf attacks the sheep that is alone and separate from the flock� (Abu Dawud).

We have already read that the prayer is one of the most important qualities of the believer. It is the flavour of faith, the food of the soul and gives peace of mind. It is a personal devotion but should be offered in a congregation. This Hadith is emphasising this group aspect of the prayer.

How valuable it is to offer the prayer in congregation is explained by the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said, �the group prayer is twenty seven times superior than the individual prayer� (Muslim).

The Hadith under discussion instructs that even when there are only three people they should pray together as a group rather than pray separately. The Prophet (peace be upon him) then gives the similitude of the lone sheep cut off from the flock. The devil who is depicted here as the wolf attacks the lone wanderers, those who are not with the Muslim community or those who live only at its peripheries not taking active part in its affairs.

The congregational prayer has many benefits such as; fostering love and compassion for fellow Muslims, thus strengthening the bonds of brotherhood, equality, since everyone stands humbly together whether he is a pauper or wealthy, big or small. Prayer gives training in being punctual and regular in ones daily affairs. Congregational prayer is one of outstanding features of Islam, the row upon row of believers standing humbly, bowing in unison and then prostrating together, it is a moving experience for any onlooker. The congregational prayer also teaches obedience to a leader (Imam) and gives the sense of belonging to the community.

From Bukhari and Ibn Hajar

Chapter 162- Women going to the Masjids at night and darkness

Abdullah ibn Umar narrates the messenger (peace be upon him) said �When your women seek your permission to attend the Masjid at night then give them permission� (Hadith no. 865).

Ibn Hajar Asqalani (d.761 AH) is perhaps one of the greatest commentators of Bukhari. Here is a summary of his commentary on this topic:

1. The permission to attend the Masjid hints to the fact that it is not compulsory, since if it was there would be no need to seek husbands permission.

2. He quotes another Hadith from Muslim. Abdullah ibn Umar narrates the Messenger (peace be upon him) said �don�t stop women from getting their share of the Masjid when they seek your permission�. Bilal (his son) said �By God we certainly will stop them�. According to Tabarani Bilal said �I will not let my wife and whoever wishes can let his wife do as she likes�.

3. According to the narration in Muslim, when Bilal said this to his father Abdullah ibn Umar, he was furious at him, he turned to him and cursed him three times and thereafter never spoke to his son until he died.

4. Ibn Hajar comments on this �father and son fight� by saying that �Bilal saw mischief in some women of his time and that made him react in that way to protect his sense of honour and self respect and Abdullah disapproved because he was clearly opposing the Prophetic tradition�.

Chapter 164- Women�s prayer standing behind men

Umm Salma said �when the Prophet (peace be upon him) finished his prayer by saying salaam the women would get up and leave. He would stay for a while in his place. This was done so that women could leave before the men could see them�.

Anas said, �The Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed in Umm Sulaim�s house, I and an orphan stood behind him and Umm Sulaim behind us� (Hadith no.874).

Chapter 165- The quick departure of women after Morning Prayer and their short stay in the Masjid

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said �the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray morning prayer in darkness, Muslim women used to come and go without being recognised in the dark� (Hadith no. 872).

Abdullah Ibn Umar said �There was a woman who used to attend the Morning and night prayer with the congregation in the Masjid. It was said to her why do you come yet you know that Umar does not like that. She said he has not stopped me! She said the Prophet (peace be upon him) said �Don�t stop God�s maids from attending the Masjids� (Hadith no. 900).

Commenting on these two Ahadith Ibn Hajar says �if women are permitted to attend Masjids at night despite that night is time of suspicion, the permission during daytime is even foremost�.

Source

CONTEXT of the "Women Pray at Home" Hadith - Nouman Ali Khan

Me and the Mosque

Me and the Mosque by Zarqa Nawaz, National Film Board of Canada

Mosques and Massacres

Orthodox Christians may wish to study and share this fine summary of the linkage between mosques and outbursts of Muslim jihad terror attacks. We must face and admit the undeniable fact that there is murderous evil at the core of Islam. It is commanded in the Quran, was lived by Muhammad, is preached in the mosques, and is the cause behind the new age of martyrdom we have entered into.

Related: Challenging Mosque Expansions - The Time is Now (Includes direct links to four recent studies showing 80% of mosques in the U.S. teach offensive jihad and Islamic supremacism) 

Mosques and Massacres
by William Kilpatrick, Crisis Magazine � July 28, 2015

On June 26, Saif Rezgui walked on to a beach in Tunisia and opened fire on German, British, and Irish sunbathers in front of the Imperial Marhaba resort hotel, killing 39 and wounding dozens more. If various world leaders are to be believed, the massacre had nothing to do with Islam. In response to the attack which left thirty British citizens dead, Prime Minister David Cameron said the terrorism �is not in the name of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace.� A day later, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott assured the world that �what�s being done by Daesh [the Islamic State] has nothing to do with God, it has nothing to do with religion.�

There was one notable exception to the usual nothing-to-do-with-Islam mantra. Immediately after the attack, Tunisia�s prime minister, Habib Essid, ordered the closing of 80 mosques.

Of course, the leader of a 98 percent Muslim country can�t be expected to understand Islam nearly as well as the leaders of Britain and Australia. Nevertheless, Essid�s action provides food for thought. Mosques, after all, do have something to do with Islam. �Some mosques continue to spread their propaganda and their venom to promote terrorism,� Essid reportedly said. �No mosque that does not conform to the law will be tolerated.�

According to a Reuters report, Rezgui was �a dedicated student from a stable family who enjoyed partying and practiced break dancing.� Until, that is, �he appeared to have come into contact with extremist preachers about six months ago.�

Where do you meet extremist preachers? In extremist mosques, of course�the same sort of places attended by the two terrorists who two months previously had killed 21 foreign tourists at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. According to Reuters, �the two Bardo gunmen were also radicalized in their local mosques by hardliners.�

Another indication that the beach massacre might have had something to do with Islam is that Rezgui only targeted foreigners. As he pursued the tourists, he shouted to Tunisians to �get out of the way.� Might that have had something to do with the fact that the Tunisians were likely to be Muslims and the tourists were likely not? One other confirmation of the religious motivation for the attack came from the Islamic State. A spokesman for IS praised the attack as an operation against a �bordello��a reference to the immodest dress of the beachgoers. Apparently, cartoons of Muhammad are not the only thing that hardline Muslims consider as provocation sufficient to warrant murder.

Not all mosques are centers of extremist radicalization. On the other hand, it�s likely that the average Westerner grossly underestimates the percentage of radical mosques. Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, an Egyptian Jesuit who is also an expert on Islam, writes:

In many Muslim countries � the mosques are monitored by the police on Friday. There is a simple reason for this: many political decisions start from the mosque during the Friday khutba [sermon]. Historians of Islam know that many riots and revolutions were launched from the mosques and that jihad is often proclaimed during the khutba.

Not coincidentally, many of the Arab Spring demonstrations in 2011 were set in motion from mosques following Friday prayers. And again, it�s probably no coincidence that Rezgui scheduled his massacre for a Friday during the holy month of Ramadan.

It�s tempting to think that the mosque-mayhem connection is something that�s peculiar to Arab societies, but four separate studies of American mosques revealed that about eighty percent of them provide extremist literature and occasionally feature extremist preachers. While this doesn�t mean that every American mosque is a hotbed of terrorism, it does suggest cause for concern. For example, two very prominent American mosques which have long been thought to be of the moderate mainstream kind are now known to be connected with numerous terrorists, some of them of the high-profile variety. Major Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood jihadist, was mentored at the Dar Al-Hijra Mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. So were three of the 9/11 hijackers. And the person who was mentoring them was Anwar Al-Awlaki, who later became one of the chiefs of operations for Al-Qaeda in Yemen. Meanwhile, the Islamic Society of Boston has two mosques (one in Boston and one in Cambridge) which were attended by the Tsarnaev brothers and nearly a dozen other known terrorists, including the founder of Boston�s Islamic society, Abduraham Alamoudi, who is currently serving a twenty-three-year prison term for terror-related activities.

Christians assume that mosques, like churches, are simply places of prayer. Many of them are, but many mosques are also places of recruitment and radicalization�staging areas for jihad. Subsequent to the beach massacre, weapons caches were found in forty Tunisian mosques. As a popular Muslim poem puts it, �The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets, and the faithful our soldiers.�

Not all Muslims think of mosques in this way, but as Prime Minister Essid understands, a not insignificant number do. He is not alone in this assessment. As Fr. Samir notes, Muslim governments have historically kept a close eye on mosque activities. Muslim leaders may give lip service to the notion that violence has nothing to do with Islam, but their actions tell a different story. Western leaders need to start paying attention.

Muslims from across Turkey demand Hagia Sophia be turned back into mosque

Timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Muslim defeat of Constantinople in 1453. More Islamic supremacism in rapidly re-Islamizing Turkey. 

Related:

• End of Days: A Lamentation for Constantinople
• Thousands call for Hagia Sophia to be converted into mosque in Istanbul rally
• Muslim Prayers at Hagia Sophia: A Sign Calling Us to Repent

Morning prayer held before Hagia Sophia to demand re-conversion into mosque
H�rriyet Daily News, May 31, 2015 (via Jihad Watch)

A group of devout Muslims from across Turkey prayed before the city�s historic Hagia Sophia on the 562nd anniversary of the Turkish conquest of Istanbul, demanding that the site be turned back into a mosque.

Men and women from across the country gathered before the Hagia Sophia museum early May 31, as part of an event organized by the Anatolian Youth Association (AGD) with the motto �Break the chains, Open Hagia Sophia,� and prayed the morning prayer with a call for the reconversion of the museum into a mosque.

Designed as a Christian basilica in the sixth century by Anthemios of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, Hagia Sophia is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Hagia Sophia remained a center of Orthodox Christianity until 1453, when the city was conquered by Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, known as the Conqueror of Istanbul. After 916 years of service as a church, he ordered Hagia Sophia to become a �victory mosque,� symbolizing the Muslim conquest. The mosaics of the church were covered with plaster, but they were successfully restored in the 20th century.

Hagia Sophia was used as a mosque for 482 years. Following the Ottoman Empire�s collapse, it was converted into a museum by republican officials in 1935.

Islamic State has 30,000 foreign jihadis from over 100 countries

"None of them existed in a vacuum before they joined the Islamic State. They learned their Islam somewhere."

Related: EU Underestimates Number of Westerners Fighting for Jihad

via Jihad Watch � May 29, 2015

The ISIS victory parade after the capture of Ramadi

30,000: that�s an awful lot of Muslims who fell for this Nothing-To-Do-With-Islam form of Islam. How to explain so many misunderstanders? After all, none of them existed in a vacuum before they joined the Islamic State. They learned their Islam somewhere. Are we to believe that the slickness of the Islamic State�s video presentations alone was enough to induce this throng to throw over the true, peaceful Islam it learned down at the corner mosque and join up with the hijackers of their religion? We live in an age of infantile analysis.

�ISIS has 30,000 foreign fighters from more than 100 countries,� 

by Abdelhak Mamoun, Iraqi News, May 29, 2015:

(IraqiNews.com) According to a report to the UN Security Council, nearly 30 thousand foreign fighters were recruited currently in the ISIS ranks. They came from 100 countries around the world including countries that had been untouched by the activity of terrorist groups such as Chile and Finland.

The members of the Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss a report on �foreign terrorist fighters� and consider possible measures to combat this threat.

This is the first report of its kind in the United Nations, which addresses the issue of �foreign fighters�, and includes countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, in addition to North African countries such as Libya.

The report indicated that the number of recruits in ISIS ranks has increased by about 70% during the past nine months.

This sudden rise poses concern about the spread of extremism phenomenon globally, and breadth of its geographical scope to include several countries experiencing the stability, including European countries.

The report indicates that the flow rate of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria is currently higher than ever before, with the emergence of signs of an accelerating growth of ISIS organization in Libya.

US officials said earlier this year that 3,400 people from Western countries, including 150 from the United States have traveled to Iraq and Syria to join militant groups.

British officials have estimated that more than 700 British have traveled to Syria during the past three years, nearly half of them returned to their country.

The report describes Iraq, Syria and Libya as �real finishing school� for terrorists, pointing out that Tunisia, Morocco, France and Russia, in particular, may contribute in terrorist attacks in the future due to the number of fighters from these countries.

Mosque to be built in Athens, Greece - Parliament Amends Law

"This serves as a support to the plan of islamization of the country... to say nothing of the uncontrolled settling of Muslim immigrants...  And then it results in slaughter and bloodshed inside a criminal caliphate that inspires islamists to preach Islam anew."  � Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus

AXIOS Metropolitan Seraphim! Allowing Islam a beachhead in Athens will inevitably and quickly lead to serious problems, as can be seen wherever Islam spreads.

Mosque to be built in Athens, Greece - Parliament Amends Law

Pravoslavie � May 21, 2015

(Athens, May 20, 2015)  The Parliament of Greece has made amendments to the state�s legislation allowing the building of a mosque in Athens. The changes were made by the ruling Syriza party (the Coalition of the Radical Left).

In connection with this Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus addressed his flock with his arch pastoral speech, reports Romfea:

�The Greek Parliament has once again made Islam a pressing problem, trying to legalize this religion whose law presupposes a death penalty for apostasy (conversion from Islam to another faith).

�The Majority of the Parliament�s parties have voted for construction of a mosque in Athens, while there are already 150 mosques in the Attica basin (Lekanopedio Attikis), including a megamosque in the Moschato district (south of Athens). All this serves as a support to the plan of islamization of the country, prepared for us by the Zionist lobby of Mr. Rothschild and the local government financed by him.

�This is to say nothing of the uncontrolled settling of Muslim immigrants under the pretext of �human rights� and tolerance. And then it results in slaughter and bloodshed inside a criminal caliphate that inspires islamists to preach Islam anew.

�And these things are occurring at the very time when the pious veneration of relics of holy God-bearing martyrs for faith, who protected our nation�s self-identity under the Muslim yoke, is called �idolatry�, and the bringing of precious relics to the Church of St. Sabbas at the cancer detection centre for all those wishing to venerate them is ridiculed and called �medieval customs�.

�Muslim propaganda leaflets with materials from the Greek Muslim website are being spread in our diocese, which is why we have issued this message for reading in all the churches of the Metropolis of Piraeus on the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, to inform all the faithful about the activity of the �new Arian heresy� of Islam.�

VIDEO: Obama's Model Mosque in Boston linked to a Dozen Jihad Terrorists

Powerful, truth-telling 1-minute video ad banned in Boston.

Related:

• Challenging Mosque Expansions - The Time is Now
• Book of Jihad (In the Vast Majority of Mosques in America)
• Islam Analyst: ISIS in America - Estimated 1.5 million practicing Muslims present real internal threat to U.S.

The Dirty Dozen � President Obama�s Model Mosque

CounterJihad � May 15, 2015

Banned in Boston. The local FOX and NBC television stations in Boston refused to play our ad. That is certainly their right, but sadly indicative of a culture now where messages about the dangers from the Global Jihad Movement are being suppressed. We don�t think that is healthy for a our liberty or security. So our policy is See Something, Say Something.

There are jihadists in our midst. There are mosques where they congregate. Many of these mosques hand out jihadist literature and the worst of them preach it openly. But we are supposed to stay quiet, we are told that pointing this out is Islamophobia. Keeping quiet led us to the horror of the Boston Marathon bombing, and a mosque in Boston has not just the Tsarnaev brothers, but a Dirty Dozen jihadists associated with it.

Yet this very Mosque, the Islamic Society of Boston, was singled out by President Obama as an example of how his Countering Violent Extremism program is keeping us all safe. He invited members if its leadership to the White House to participate in a summit earlier this year.

Americans for Peace and Tolerance have documented just how bad an example of countering violent extremism this mosque actually is.

Federal agencies in Boston are working with the Islamic Society of Boston and its political arm, the Muslim American Society, which both have links to many extremists who are either in jail, in flight from federal authorities, or have been killed during terrorist attacks. Indeed, as APT research has shown, both the ISB and the MAS are Muslim Brotherhood entities that indoctrinate their followers with radical Islamist ideology. Far from being a model, Boston should serve as a cautionary tale � about deception and denial.

It is long past time to keep quiet about the known wolves in our communities. One shooter in the Garland Texas attack was well known to law enforcement well before his failed attempt to slaughter a room full of peaceful, law abiding citizens.

It appears that this attack is yet another case of what I have termed �known wolf� syndrome, when the suspect is already known to law enforcement and intelligence. Virtually every terror attack in the West over the past year has been by one of these �known wolf� suspects. 

The Dallas Morning News reports:

�Simpson was well known to the FBI, ABC News reported. Five years ago he was convicted for lying to federal agents about his plans to travel to Africa, �but a judge ruled the government did not adequately prove he was going to join a terror group there.�

We have been handcuffing our law enforcement and national security agencies in their efforts to investigate and stop these infiltrators for decades. Now in the wake of Garland we are being told that we shouldn�t do or say things that make the jihadists angry. There is nothing in our Constitution that says we have to tolerate those using religion to hide indoctrination into violence or be silent in the face of attempted censorship.

Secure Freedom has launched the CounterJihad Campaign and we will speak freely. We will expose the concerted and organized efforts to use our freedoms against us. We will name the Global Jihad Movement as our enemy, and we will call them out whether they wear fatigues and fly the black flag or business suits and fly the banner of the Muslim Brotherhood and its assorted front groups.

The truth is not hate speech, so if you See Something, Say Something.

Algerian Muslim Leader: Turn All Churches Into Mosques

Salafi campaign against Algerian churches calls for the transformation of the nation�s most important churches into mosques.

by Raymond Ibrahim � May 11, 2015

According to Abdel Fattah Zarawi, the Muslim leader of the Salafi party, also known as the Free Front of Algeria, any and all Christian churches remaining in the north African nation must be closed and reopened as mosques.

Although the closure, destruction, or transformation of Christian churches into mosques is nearly as old as Islam itself � Algeria was Christian-majority when Islam invaded and conquered it in the seventh century � the Salafi leader tried to portray his proposal as a �reaction,� or �grievance� against rising anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe, especially France.

Launched on social media and networks, the Salafi campaign against Algerian churches even calls for the transformation of the nation�s most important churches into mosques � including the Church of Notre Dame d�Afrique in Algiers, the Church of St. Augustine in Annaba, and the Church of Santa Cruz in Oran �  since �they have no relation whatsoever to the religion of Algerian Muslims.�

Turkey offers to allow restoration of Halki Seminary in exchange for opening a Mosque in Thessaloniki

The Turkish Muslims are holding the shuttered Halki Seminary hostage in order to extort Greece to capitulate and enable the building of mosques in Athens and Thessaloniki. Allowing any mosques in either city would set a dire precedent, and would only bring strife, crime and open jihad to the already struggling Hellenic state.

For background on Turkey's efforts to establish a beachhead mosque in Greece, see Greek Parliament Surrenders to Islam, Orthodox Bishop and Citizens oppose mosque in Athens, as well as my posts here, here and here. 

For more on the historic Halki Seminary, see here, here and here.

The Greek Orthodox were conquered and enslaved by Muslims once already. Let's hope and pray they hold firm against this form of stealth jihad. For resources on resisting mosque expansions, see my post, Challenging Mosques: Tools for Education and Legal Resistance.

Turkey offers to allow restoration of Halki Seminary in exchange for opening a Mosque in Thessaloniki
Pravoslavie � May 12, 2015

(Ankara, May 11, 2015) The Orthodox seminary on the island of Halki (Turkey) may be restored in exchange for opening of a mosque in Thessaloniki, Greece. This condition was laid down by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to Blagovest-info, this information was spread by the H�rriyet Turkish newspaper with the reference to editor-in-chief of one history journal who had discussed the matter with Erdogan in person. The Turkish President said that he was ready to give his consent on reopening of the Orthodox seminary on Halki; however, he added, Greece was not intending to open mosques on its territory at all. Later Metin Kulunk, Member of the Erdogan�s Justice and Development Party, specified that the President meant the Fethiye Cami Mosque in Athens, and not a mosque in Thessaloniki.

Closure in 1971 of the Orthodox seminary on Halki (one of the Princes Islands in the Sea of Marmara near the coast of Istanbul) deprived the clergy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople of most of the theological preparation in Turkey. Lack of an Orthodox theological school on the territory of Turkey is worsening the position of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in general: according to the Turkish laws, only citizens of Turkey have a right to hold top posts in the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and now they can obtain a theological education only abroad.

The seminary on Halki was founded in 1844 by the Ecumenical Patriarch German IV. For the period between 1844 and 1971 the theological school issued 930 certificates of degrees. Although the majority of its students were members of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, there were also Orthodox Christians from other countries among them, as well as Catholics and Protestants who attended postgraduate courses.

In 1964 the authorities prohibited acceptance of foreign students to the seminary, and in 1971 the theological school was closed completely.

Turkey Renovates Byzantine Church Into Mosque

A 900-year-old Christian church in Turkey is to be renovated into a functioning mosque�despite former governmental assurances that it would likely be renovated into a museum.

Update on this story. which gives some historical background.

Related:

• Qur'an read inside Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years
• Ninth Hagia Sophia Church converted into mosque in Turkey
• Muslim Prayers at Hagia Sophia: A Sign Calling Us to Repent
• More posts on 'Hagia Sophia'...

by Raymond Ibrahim � May 11, 2015

Foundations General Director Adnan Ertem argues that the building was a �sanctuary that was consecrated as a mosque�.  It is a foundation that can be put into service in line with its foundational charter. Thus its function will be preserved.�

Enez�s Hagia Sophia, the name of the ancient church, is located inside the city of Ainos, along the border with Greece and stationed atop a hill, visible to all.

Another several-hundred-year-old church, Hagia Sophia in Trabzon along the Black Sea, although a museum for many years, was reopened in July 2013 as a mosque.

For many Muslims, the ultimate Islamic triumph will come when the primary Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople), which is currently a museum, is transformed into a mosque�as Turkish leaders recently threatened when Pope Francis acknowledged the Armenian Genocide.