Feisal Abdul Rauf
Feisal Abdul Rauf
Feisal Abdul Raufis a Kuwaiti American Sufi imam, author, and activist whose stated goal is to improve relations between the Muslim world and the West. From 1983 to 2009, he served as Imam of Masjid al-Farah, a mosque in New York City. He has written three books on Islam and its place in contemporary Western society, including What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America, and founded two non-profit organizations whose stated missions are to enhance the discourse on...
NationalityEgyptian
ProfessionTheologian
CountryEgypt
ideas fundamentals bears
The fundamental idea which defines a human being as a Muslim is the declaration of faith: that there is a creator, whom we call God - or Allah, in Arabic - and that the creator is one and single. And we declare this faith by the declaration of faith, where we... bear witness that there is no God but God.
best tradition
You take the best of our tradition as a start, and I'll take the best of Christianity ... From there we can build.
country groups sacred strip truth
We've got to be fair. You can't say a place that has strip joints is sacred ground. We've got to be just. We've got to speak the truth. We've got to have justice for everybody. We're a country of justice for all, not justice for non-Muslims only or some groups and not for others.
prayer practice america
One of the misperceptions that exists in the Muslim world, which needs to be fixed, is the perception that Muslims in America are - are - are living in - in very, very, very bad circumstances. They cannot practice religion freely. It is not the truth at all. The fact is, we are practicing. We fast, we pray, we do our prayers.
doctors america bankers
We are Americans. We - we - we are - we are doctors. We are investment bankers. We are taxi drivers. We are store keepers. We are lawyers. We are - we are part of the fabric of America. And the way that America today treats its Muslims is being watched by over a billion Muslims worldwide.
college class people
In Malaysia, where Western culture was extremely influential, I'd grown up listening to Elvis and the Beatles and watching American movies. People wanted to be like Americans. In contrast, when I got here, I saw prosperous middle-class American college students wanting to somehow join the Third World.
world today well-known
Yusuf Qaradawi is probably the most well-known legal authority in the whole Muslim world today.
hands toys harmony
We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony.
war struggle mean
'Jihad' can mean holy war to extremists, but it means struggle to the average Muslim.
country facts polls
In spite of the polls, the fact is that American Muslims are very happy and they thrive in this country.
christian people responsible
If Muslims curse the Christians, then the Christians will curse the Muslims. And people will curse Allah, and Allah will hold us responsible for that.
real america enemy
Our enemy is not Islam. Islam is not the enemy of America; Americans are not the enemy of Islam. Our real enemy is extremism and radicalism.
islamic law damage
Islamic law is clearly against terrorism, against any kind of deliberate killing of civilians or similar 'collateral damage.'
islam terrorism fanaticism
Fanaticism and terrorism have no place in Islam.