When Rick Isserman found out last month that St. Louis County wouldn’t allow a group of Muslims to build a new mosque in south St. Louis County, the story sounded too familiar.
Forty-eight years earlier, Isserman’s grandfather, Rabbi Ferdinand Isserman, fought to move his congregation, Temple Israel, from the city to the county, where the Jewish population had been relocating for some years. The city of Creve Coeur cited zoning problems and tried to block the move, but the rabbi and his flock took the case to the Missouri Supreme Court and prevailed.
The case, Congregation Temple Israel v. City of Creve Coeur, produced what is considered a landmark religious-freedom decision that says Missouri municipalities can invoke only health or safety issues in denying a religious group the zoning required to build houses of worship.
In the spring, the St. Louis County Council refused the Islamic Community Center’s request to rezone a 4.7-acre parcel it bought a year before for $1.25 million. The Muslims - mostly Bosnian immigrants - planned to build a second mosque and community center in addition to the current mosque and center off South Kingshighway in St. Louis.
When Khalid Shah, a member of the mosque and a friend of Isserman’s, told him about the council’s decision, the 53-year-old Department of Agriculture employee began making the connection to his family’s legal legacy.
“I’m fighting the same battle as my grandfather 50 years ago,” Isserman said. “It’s a different community and a different place, but it’s the same issue.”
Whenever I hear of any such incident, the verse of Quran comes to my mind. Jews and Christians can never be your friend. So we should be nice and promote peace with them but also remain carefull to protect ourselves from all possible " Sazishein"
Whenever I hear of any such incident, the verse of Quran comes to my mind. Jews and Christians can never be your friend. So we should be nice and promote peace with them but also remain carefull to protect ourselves from all possible " Sazishein"
Whenver you hear of such incidents one would think you'd have joy in your heart instead of this darkness that all non-Muslims are evil. If that is the way you feel, I'd suggest a different screen name that more reflects your true nature.
Whenever I hear of any such incident, the verse of Quran comes to my mind. Jews and Christians can never be your friend. So we should be nice and promote peace with them but also remain carefull to protect ourselves from all possible " Sazishein"
Quran's verse is true but that does not mean that Jews and Christians cannot be your "waseela" to acomplish certain tasks in this world.
There is another Ayat in Quran which allows you to marry their women. That means that you will have a jew or christian "Susral". Which means that you will have a worldly realtionship with them and that is OK.
The best bet in above situation would be to extend an equal favor to that Jew person, so you are not obligated by his courtesy, anymoore
Whenever I hear of any such incident, the verse of Quran comes to my mind. Jews and Christians can never be your friend. So we should be nice and promote peace with them but also remain carefull to protect ourselves from all possible " Sazishein"
That verse of Quran has different context. They cant be our freinds in every context?
Submission to peace: those verses refer to specific historical incidents that took place. They shouldn't be taken to mean that you can never, as an individual, in your individual circumstances, accept help that a Jewish person gives to you.
Otherwise, the Prophet sure didn't know what he was doing when he made deals with the Jews of his time.
I mean, really, you're basically calling the Prophet a direct disobeyer of God, then, aren't you?
Ok, I appologise if my views seemed offensive to anyone, may be it is just my understanding of the verse or I didn't convey my view clearly.
Let me explain it a bit more. When I read that verse I get the feeling that Allah is saying that it is good if you are friendly and well mannered with "Jews and Christians" and sign peace treaty with them, but after that don't become careless by always expecting good from them. Just do your complete homework by making sure that you don't leave a weak area in your defense from where anyone of them might suddenly attack you while you are relaxed by neglecting all possibilities of a conspiracy.
In short terms "Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst"
This is just my understanding and I might be wrong (Allah forgive me). Kindly do correct me in that case as I don't have very good knowledge and want to improve myself by learning.
I would like to add that as per my knowledge, unfortunately you won't find many examples in the history in which the Jews had extended their hand to muslims for friendship and there was absolutely no conspiracy behind that act.
But in another place in the Quran Allah also orders about the Christians, from which I understand that do discuss common terms with the learned people among the Christians as they would listen to you and would response to you reasonably.
Kindly correct me if I am wrong. I would be grateful to you for this act of kindness.
Let’s not get carried away…There’s a difference in ‘helping build’ and ‘sympathising’…I can sympathise with a lot of things, doesn’t mean I help it grow…Like many Muslims can sympathise with Islam and Muslims yet it hardly means they are helping them…
Well, at least this sympathy is HUGE compensation for Umar personally settling 70 Jewish families in Jerusalem and building their temples after conquering that city and after they had been almost wiped to extinction by the Christians over there…
It is also a HUGE compensation for when Salahuddin Ayubbi :rehm: rebuilt the city of Jerusalem’s Jewish temples and Masajid which were used by the Christians as stables and toilets…
It is a HUGE compensation for when Muslim’s protected and secured the native Andalusian Jews from slaughter by the hands of Christians in Spain…
Thanks to all the Jews in the world for this great, awesome and unbelievable act of recompense to all Muslims around the world…
I think the jews would have ulterior motives in helping the muslims in constructing the mosque. They would have planted cameras to know what muslims are doing.The jews should not be trusted.
I think the jews would have ulterior motives in helping the muslims in constructing the mosque. They would have planted cameras to know what muslims are doing.The jews should not be trusted.
Yes, because the Muslims are so powerful that they'll destroy the big bad Jews...
Some of the replies here just amaze me. You know, there's also a concept in Islam that if someone helps you, you should appreciate it and say thank-you. I mean, its pretty intuitive right?
You people are so unappreciative. No wonder no one cares about our halaat at the moment.
I find it amazing that people are going back hundreds of years looking for compensation for treating people as they should have been treated. Listen, if you are going to do something for somebody, don't expect their ancestors to be paying for it centuries later. That isn't much of a "favor".
and hey, the sense of entitlement based on a tenuous link to an ancient ancestor isnt specific to Muslims. palestinians have been on the recieving end of that for a while.
Ok, I appologise if my views seemed offensive to anyone, may be it is just my understanding of the verse or I didn't convey my view clearly.
Let me explain it a bit more. When I read that verse I get the feeling that Allah is saying that it is good if you are friendly and well mannered with "Jews and Christians" and sign peace treaty with them, but after that don't become careless by always expecting good from them. Just do your complete homework by making sure that you don't leave a weak area in your defense from where anyone of them might suddenly attack you while you are relaxed by neglecting all possibilities of a conspiracy.
In short terms "Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst"
This is just my understanding and I might be wrong (Allah forgive me). Kindly do correct me in that case as I don't have very good knowledge and want to improve myself by learning.
Allah knows BEST!
Great post Submission To Peace.
Good people are found in any community and religion.
When Islam was revealed to the Prophet PBUH he had to deal with tremondous amount of opposition. He was not crucified like Issa Ibne Mariyam was...... but he and his followers were warned by this Iyaate-Mubarekah.
*If anyone has any doubt about muslims and Islam being peaceful then they are for sure misguiged. *
Islam means being peaceful and 99.99999999% muslims are peaceful and abide the laws of land wherever the are.
and hey, the sense of entitlement based on a tenuous link to an ancient ancestor isnt specific to Muslims. palestinians have been on the recieving end of that for a while.
egads, why can't you make such audacious posts in WA? it needs some jazzin up. but the tit for tat of rebuilding places of worship pales in comparison to the ancestral homeland issue for the first muslims. the palestinians have more been on the receiving end of bad and misplaced violent policies of her supposed benefactors than by any re-establishment of the Jewish nation. After all, if they weren't barred from the holy lands of the newest muslims, they could be occupying arabia. then maybe muslims could be helping build synagogues in medina.
personally settling 70 Jewish families in Jerusalem and building their temples after conquering that city and after they had been almost wiped to extinction by the Christians over there…