The blind leading the blind...Muslim center not a mosque, director says � Daily Journal of Commerce(Portland, Ore)
Imam Muhammad Najieb, director of the Muslim Community Center of Portland, wants to make one thing clear about the Northeast Portland project his organization is planning: it’s not a mosque.
Shauku abd’Hafidh Mlimaji, director of youth and community events, said he and Najieb were nervous going into their first meetings with the city of Portland to discuss construction of a new community center at North Vancouver Avenue and Killingsworth Street.
“The fear was that people would hear about our project and factor in negative stereotypes of Islam or call it fundamentalism,” Mlimaji said. “But those fears were quickly dismissed. City staff kept calling it a mosque, and once we clarified that this is a community center, we saw a cloud being lifted from their faces.”
“Mosques are for praying only,” Najieb said. “Our former leader has said that we need to get away from the concept of our center being only a place for Muslims. This will be an Islamic-based place that’s open to everyone.”
FULL STORY: http://djcoregon.com/news/2009/12/11/planned-muslim-center-not-a-mosque-director-says/
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Islam Glossary: taqiyya: lying -- Lying is permitted in Islam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqiyya