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| The Ground Zero Mosque? It's actually a rabat | |
| 2010-09-11 | |
by Amir Taheri Should there be a mosque near Ground Zero? In fact, what is proposed is not a mosque -- nor even an "Islamic cultural center." In Islam, every structure linked to the faith and its rituals has a precise function and character. A mosque is a one-story gallery built around an atrium with a mihrab (a niche pointing to Mecca) and one, or in the case of Shiites two, minarets. Other Islamic structures, such as harams, zawiyyahs, husseinyiahs and takiyahs, also obey strict architectural rules. Yet the building used for spreading the faith is known as Dar al-Tabligh, or House of Proselytizing. This 13-story multifunctional structure couldn't be any of the above. The groups fighting for the project know this; this is why they sometimes call it an Islamic cultural center. But there is no such thing as an Islamic culture. Islam is a religion, not a culture. Each of the 57 Muslim-majority nations has its own distinct culture -- and the Bengali culture has little in common with the Nigerian. Then, too, most of those countries have their own cultural offices in the US, especially in New York. In fact, the proposed structure is known in Islamic history as a rabat -- literally a connector. The first rabat appeared at the time of the Prophet. The Prophet imposed his rule on parts of Arabia through a series of ghazvas, or razzias (the origin of the English word "raid"). The ghazva was designed to terrorize the infidels, convince them that their civilization was doomed and force them to submit to Islamic rule. Those who participated in the ghazva were known as the ghazis, or raiders. After each ghazva, the Prophet ordered the creation of a rabat -- or a point of contact at the heart of the infidel territory raided. The rabat consisted of an area for prayer, a section for the raiders to eat and rest and facilities to train and prepare for future razzias. Later Muslim rulers used the tactic of ghazva to conquer territory in the Persian and Byzantine empires. After each raid, they built a rabat to prepare for the next razzia. | |
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| #6 The tide is turning , deus volente Are you sure you don't mean "deus volat" (God wills)? If you meant "god willing" I'm thinking that would be "deo volente". Of course, I could be wrong, Latin classes were SO long ago. |
| Posted by: Secret Asian Man 2010-09-11 20:56 |
| #5 Well , they certainly pulled the rabat out of the hat The tide is turning , deus volente |
| Posted by: Oscar and MacNails(Anitpodean now) and our dear families 2010-09-11 20:42 |
| #4 If they really wanted to make bridges and foster understanding, why don't they start by working to remove hatred and intolerance in their own countries first? Because that's not their goal at all. Rauf himself has repeatedly stated that his goal is to make America understand Islam. Get that? Make us. Look him up on MEMRI -- he's a sneaky SOB. When he wrote The Call of Azan from the Rubble of the World Trade Center: Islamic Da'wa in the Heart of America Post-9/11 (Azan is the muezzin's call to prayer), he spelled it out: He plans to use our Constitution and Declaration of Independence to introduce sharia-compliance into our way of life. It's like a puzzle, but after hours and hours of reading about this clown, one begins to figure it out...to see how the pieces all start to fit together. He even admits he started this plan decades ago. What we rarely see is how hard he is laughing at us for not figuring it out. |
| Posted by: Infidel 2010-09-11 20:14 |
| #3 Good luck with that. Haha. They spend too much time listening to Obama and Bloomberg and all of the hollowed out souls of elitism. Americans are not weak. They have a long fuse and they are good people. But they are not weak nor defeated. Well, I guess some people need to keep learning their lessons the hard way. |
| Posted by: Martini 2010-09-11 19:03 |
| #2 If they really wanted to make bridges and foster understanding, why don't they start by working to remove hatred and intolerance in their own countries first? Instead, they demand to build it on hallowed ground of a place where jihadis of their religion committed mass murder. |
| Posted by: miscellaneous 2010-09-11 16:21 |
| #1 Rabat? Think of it as a rabid bat habitat. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-09-11 15:38 |