NYC: A Quick Visit to the Park 51 Mosque

After attending the City Council Walmart meeting on Thursday, a couple of friends and I went for a walk. After walking several blocks one of them said there was a Mosque nearby but was not exactly sure which building it was in. But once we turned the corner it was more than obvious which one housed the Mosque. It was the one that was gated off and had a policeman guarding it.

Once inside one of my friends asked if there were prayers going on. The security guard said yes, but she would have to take her shoes off if she wanted to go into the prayer room. She then asked if she had to wear a headscarf. He said she should and that he would supply her with one, but it was not necessary. While she continued to talk to him I noticed a table off to the left and walked over and took all of the literature it had on it. Then we left.

One of the brochures that was on the table was an advertisement for an “Eradicating Islamophobia” conference which took place on January 14-15 in Atlanta Georgia.

The website of the conference had the following video on it. The video shows us a speech from Imam Abdul-Malik who says that Muslims in America have one of the greatest opportunities in the history of Islam in this country to push Islam forward. He also says that Allah created America and Muslims here should not be afraid of anyone or anything, and that no one can defeat Islam!

There was also a video from the disturbing the peace Brooklyn Imam Wahhaj.

Another piece of literature that I picked up was a flyer asking for donations and plugging the new Park 51 blog.

On their vision page you will see that they state their Muslim identity before being an American.

Vision

Inspired by Muslim values and heritage, Park51 is a center dedicated to providing cultural, social and recreational programs and services to the Lower Manhattan community, and to helping weave the Muslim-American identity into the pluralistic fabric of the United States.

The sad part about Islam marching across America is that it is being aided by non-Muslims.

A Welcome Letter from John, a member of the Park51 Team

My name is John Lichten and I have been working at Park51 since September 2010. I was raised Episcopalian and have been attending church (on and off) for most of my life. Maybe this surprises you, as you might imagine Park51 as a purely Muslim organization – or maybe, you imagine it to be the so-called “Ground Zero Mega Mosque!” To the contrary, the presence of non-Muslims like myself in the Park51 community hasn’t been a disruption; we view our presence here as something to be expected.

Of course you and the other non-Muslims working there have not been a disruption. That is because they are using you in their quest to create the Islamic State of America. This is not hard to see.

SNIP

Even with Park51‘s Muslim foundation, I don’t find myself out of place in the organization. I’ve played an important role in finalizing our vision and mission and organizing and filming many of our interim services to begin this year. My voice can be found on this website, in our press releases, and in many other places within Park51 communications. Of course, it’s not just me that you read; these texts are collaborations amongst all of us at Park51. But if you ever thought, “who is this John Lichten on Facebook wishing Allah would reward all my efforts,” you were reading the work of me and my co-workers (FYI, Allah is not a “Muslim god,” it’s simply the name for God in Arabic).

John, most people think of Islam when the word “Allah” is mentioned. Do you realize that the God of Islam calls for your dominance and the ultimate destruction of your religion?

While several of my co-workers are Muslim, including my boss, Sharif El-Gamal, my Christian background has never affected our interactions at work. Sharif is interested in my faith on a personal level, but what is most important to him is that I produce high-quality work. Additionally, aside from the occasional breaks some co-workers take to pray, and a bit less ham in my sandwiches at lunch, the office is like any other in America.

Sorry John you can try and spin it anyway you want to try and justify you working there, but most offices are not promoting a religion/ideology that wants to overthrow our government.

When I reflect upon my conversations with my co-workers, and I think about the progress we have made, I realize the importance of our diversity to the success of the project. In our offices are Muslims, Christians, a Jew, and a Hindu. So while Park51 was conceived by Muslims, and it will reflect Muslim tradition, it is truly non-sectarian, like any other community center in this city. I invite you to come and be a part of it, too!

Did your Muslim boss tell your Jewish co-worker that the Islamic scriptures call for Muslims to fight and kill Jews to reach judgement day?

Muslim Hadith Book 041, Number 6985:

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

Did he tell your Hindu co-worker about the history between Islam and India? In which 10’s of millions of Hindus were slaughtered in the name of Islam.

Of course he didn’t, and I’ll pass on your invitation to help Islam take over America. For those who wish to speak to John about this issue he can be reached @ john.lichten@park51.org

The final flyer that I picked up was a survey on what the prayer space should be named.

The Park51 blog provides us with some more information on the space.

Prayer Space

Located at 49-51 Park Place, PrayerSpace is a separate non-for-profit, independent of Park51.

Upon completion, it will have the capacity to accommodate approximately 2,000 people. It will offer a range of services and religious programming, including Qur’an classes, Qur’anic recitation [tajwid], Islamic sciences, Arabic, and others.

Currently, PrayerSpace is open for daily prayers, and well as Jummah Friday prayers.

Operation hours: 12:45-6:45 PM

The Islamic onslaught continues….

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