US Visa Mishap, Teens Lead Tarawih
Islamonline.net & Newspapers
Asking for clarifications on scholars' deportations, Awad said US Muslims need to groom their own imams.
CAIRO — The detention and later deportation of some scholars who were invited by American Muslims to lead Tarawih prayers during Ramadan have upset plans by several Islamic centers for the holy fasting month, though some lessons are being driven.
"We need to get answers from our government," Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told the Washington Post on Sunday, October 1.
A number of Muslim scholars and imams invited by local American Muslims to lead the Ramadan prayers have been denied access into the country without explanation.
Ismail Mullah, described as soft-spoken scholar born in India's Gujarat state and based in South Africa, was turned away after his arrival at Dulles International Airport.
The same happened with at least four other scholars prompting CAIR, the largest Islamic civil liberties group in the US, to demand clarifications.
"We want people to be abiding by the law. We want to protect our country ... At the same time, we just want to make sure we do not step on people's rights and that we continue to be an open and welcoming society," said Awad.
CAIR wants to know why the government waited until the men arrived in the country instead of denying their visas early enough for the mosques to find replacements.
Since 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US has denied visas to famed Muslim and Arab professors and intellectuals over suspicions of supporting groups on American terrorist lists.
American academics and civil liberty organizations has recently blasted the Bush administration's "ideological exclusion" of prominent Swiss-based Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan.
Ramadan, one of the world's leading scholars on Islam, is being accusing of having donated some 600 euros (765 dollars) to a registered French charity offering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in 2000.
In 2005, late internationally-renowned British Muslim scholar Zaki Badawi was refused entry at New York's JFK airport after he had arrived to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution on law and religion in society.
The US later apologized and lifted a visa ban, allowing him to visit the country anytime.
Prominent British Muslim Yusuf Islam, formerly known as pop singer Cat Stevens, was denied entry to the US in September of 2004.
Home-grown
The last minute access denial has pushed many Islamic centers and mosques to the corner after having designed their Ramadan programs around the invited scholars.
After Mullah was denied access, the Islamic Community Center of Northern Virginia, which had paid thousands of dollars for his airfare, had to look for an alternative.
After few days of frustration in search of a replacement, they had to settle for two local teenagers who had memorized the entire Qur'an by heart to guide the congregation through the 30 days of the holy month.
"I thought, how am I going to do this?" said 13-year-old Aman Chhipa.
"I was nervous. I was thinking I wouldn't be able to do it," echoed the other young imam Uzair Jawed, 16.
Mosque goers are grateful for the boys. Still, they know they lost something when Mullah's entry was denied.
In addition to leading the prayer, Mullah would have guided donations and doled out advice if needed.
"A young kid and a grown priest is a big difference," said Fahad Mirza, 29.
He asserted that the boys are "wonderful" but "they are there just because we have no choice."
Awad said the episode is a testament to the post-9/11 need for US Muslims to stop depending on scholars from other countries.
"I think it's important that we develop our own."
Aman's father, Nasir Chhipa, a director at the center, agreed.
"We learned a lesson from this … We have to produce our own scholars."
Islamonline.net & Newspapers
Asking for clarifications on scholars' deportations, Awad said US Muslims need to groom their own imams.
CAIRO — The detention and later deportation of some scholars who were invited by American Muslims to lead Tarawih prayers during Ramadan have upset plans by several Islamic centers for the holy fasting month, though some lessons are being driven.
"We need to get answers from our government," Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told the Washington Post on Sunday, October 1.
A number of Muslim scholars and imams invited by local American Muslims to lead the Ramadan prayers have been denied access into the country without explanation.
Ismail Mullah, described as soft-spoken scholar born in India's Gujarat state and based in South Africa, was turned away after his arrival at Dulles International Airport.
The same happened with at least four other scholars prompting CAIR, the largest Islamic civil liberties group in the US, to demand clarifications.
"We want people to be abiding by the law. We want to protect our country ... At the same time, we just want to make sure we do not step on people's rights and that we continue to be an open and welcoming society," said Awad.
CAIR wants to know why the government waited until the men arrived in the country instead of denying their visas early enough for the mosques to find replacements.
Since 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US has denied visas to famed Muslim and Arab professors and intellectuals over suspicions of supporting groups on American terrorist lists.
American academics and civil liberty organizations has recently blasted the Bush administration's "ideological exclusion" of prominent Swiss-based Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan.
Ramadan, one of the world's leading scholars on Islam, is being accusing of having donated some 600 euros (765 dollars) to a registered French charity offering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in 2000.
In 2005, late internationally-renowned British Muslim scholar Zaki Badawi was refused entry at New York's JFK airport after he had arrived to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution on law and religion in society.
The US later apologized and lifted a visa ban, allowing him to visit the country anytime.
Prominent British Muslim Yusuf Islam, formerly known as pop singer Cat Stevens, was denied entry to the US in September of 2004.
Home-grown
The last minute access denial has pushed many Islamic centers and mosques to the corner after having designed their Ramadan programs around the invited scholars.
After Mullah was denied access, the Islamic Community Center of Northern Virginia, which had paid thousands of dollars for his airfare, had to look for an alternative.
After few days of frustration in search of a replacement, they had to settle for two local teenagers who had memorized the entire Qur'an by heart to guide the congregation through the 30 days of the holy month.
"I thought, how am I going to do this?" said 13-year-old Aman Chhipa.
"I was nervous. I was thinking I wouldn't be able to do it," echoed the other young imam Uzair Jawed, 16.
Mosque goers are grateful for the boys. Still, they know they lost something when Mullah's entry was denied.
In addition to leading the prayer, Mullah would have guided donations and doled out advice if needed.
"A young kid and a grown priest is a big difference," said Fahad Mirza, 29.
He asserted that the boys are "wonderful" but "they are there just because we have no choice."
Awad said the episode is a testament to the post-9/11 need for US Muslims to stop depending on scholars from other countries.
"I think it's important that we develop our own."
Aman's father, Nasir Chhipa, a director at the center, agreed.
"We learned a lesson from this … We have to produce our own scholars."
