There are several points worth noting. One is the interest in being part of the local community, not being apart from it. Another is the unequivocal rejection of terror, not one couched in saying "Israel does it also". Another is the abjuring from the Sunni=Shi'ite schism. This seems to be a model for Muslim development in the West. It depends, however, on integration, as opposed to multiculturalism.

There are reactionary forces that would exclude even these as "icky brown people". That is intolerable bigotry, that every American should be ashamed of.

Excerpts below:

Muslims look to plant roots in northern Westchester

By GARY STERN AND ELIZABETH GANGA
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: July 23, 2007)
NEW CASTLE - It was 10 years ago that a group of highly educated, affluent Muslims who had been drawn to the comfortable lifestyle and top-ranked schools of northern Westchester began to pursue a vision of a new community.

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Dr. Saleem Mir, 64, of Cortlandt, a former chairman of the Westchester Muslim Center in Mount Vernon, said the newer group's many American-born professionals are well-suited to help develop a new type of American Muslim mosque that can connect with the larger community.

Members of the UWMS already take part in several interfaith groups.

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Rabbi Joshua Davidson, president of the Chappaqua Interfaith Council, which includes the UWMS, said there was nothing unusual about the mosque's goals.

"They want the same things for their families that we want for ours," said Davidson, who leads Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester in Chappaqua.

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Most worshippers who come to the mosque are Sunni Muslims. But the Sunni-Shiite split that is so important in Iraq and much of the Muslim world is largely meaningless to a multiethnic, American start-up mosque.

"We try not to make any distinctions between sects," said Anees Shaikh, 35, of Yorktown, vice president of the society and an IBM employee.

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The UWMS released a statement July 6 condemning the attempted terrorist bombings in England. It read, in part: "We, along with the vast majority of Muslims, view those who commit terror crimes in the name of religion as only trying to hijack religion and destroy the goodness of the human race."

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Ali wanted to make the point that American Muslims do not obsess over international events, as others might think.

"I'm always answering questions about violence and religion," he said. "I spend much less than 1 percent of my time thinking about these things. Growing up in Chappaqua, I saw buses taking kids to Catholic school and Temple Beth El. That's the goal, to have what those kids have."

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Upper Westchester Muslim Society members say they moved to northern Westchester for the same reasons as the mosque's new neighbors and want to protect the town's character. They only want what other religious groups already have, they say.

[ 26 July 2007: Message edited by: nycndp ]

[ 26 July 2007: Message edited by: nycndp ]