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Tens of thousands of Muslims plan to pray "for the soul of America" outside the U.S. Capitol later this month in what is being described as a first-of-its-kind event.
The mass prayer, spearheaded by the Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, N.J., will not include political speeches or placards, just prayer, said Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam and a main organizer of the Sept. 25 event.
"Most of the time, when Muslims go to Washington, D.C., they go there to protest," Abdellah said. "This is not a protest. Never has the Islamic community prayed on Capitol Hill for the soul of America. We're Americans. We need to change the face of Islam so people don't feel every Muslim believes America is 'the great Satan,' because we love America."
A permit from the U.S. Capitol Police allows access to the area by the west front of the Capitol from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 25, but the main gathering will occur at 1 p.m., for the Friday prayer service.
Abdellah said he hopes to draw 50,000 attendees from mosques around the nation, though non-Muslims are welcome, too. About 400 people are expected from his own mosque, which is raising money from donors to help pay the cost of the event, expected to surpass $200,000.
The gathering will occur by the site where presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. In fact, it was President Barack Obama's words at his inauguration in January, and then his speech in Egypt in June, that led Abdellah
"For the first time in my lifetime," Abdellah said, "I heard someone of his stature speaking about Islam and Muslims not in an adversarial sense, but in the sense of being welcome and acknowledging we are integral citizens in the society -- that we're gainfully employed, we're educated."
"He said he had his hand open to the Islamic world," Abdellah said. "The Islamic world wants to open their hand and shake it."
Organizers said they have not decided who will lead the prayer and give the sermon at the event, but that it is unlikely to be a major figure in the American Muslim world.
"This is not about personalities," Abdellah said. "We don't want personalities involved. The personality for this event is the Prophet Muhammad."
Aly A. Aziz, president of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey, which is helping to organize the event, said too many Americans automatically associate Islam with terrorism, and that the event is a way to "expose Americans ... to how the Muslims pray."
Shakoor Mustafa, a Newark resident who attends Masjid As'Habul Yameen, a mosque in East Orange, N.J., said he has donated money to the event and hopes to go to Washington if his workload allows.
"It's historical," he said, adding that in his opinion, the mere granting of permission to hold the event reflects a dramatic post-9/11 change in how many Americans view Muslims:
"Yesterday I was viewed as a terrorist," he said, "and today I've been given a permit on Capitol Hill to come and pray in a spirit of unity."
Washington » President Barack Obama highlighted the contributions of Muslim Americans this week during his first iftar dinner marking the observance of Ramadan.
"Islam, as we know, is part of America," he said, addressing, diplomats, faith leaders and members of Congress gathered in the State Dining Room for the feast that traditionally breaks the daily fast during the monthlong holiday. "Indeed, the contribution of Muslims to the United States are too long to catalog because Muslims are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country."
The president cited examples of Muslim Americans' roles in U.S. culture, from Kareem Khan, a soldier from New Jersey who died in Iraq, to Nashala Hearn, an Oklahoma student who fought in court for the right to wear a hijab, or head scarf, to school.
Obama said he was pleased the dinner was attended by people of a range of faiths -- including Christians, Jews and Hindus, as well as prominent Muslims.
"Together, we have a responsibility to foster engagement grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect," he said. "And that's one of my fundamental commitments as president, both at home and abroad."
Religion News Service
The Web site set up for the prayer, islamoncapitolhill.com, features a logo with a red, white and blue hand shaking a light brown hand, with the words to the preamble of the U.S. Constitution and a page of Arabic text in the background.
