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since Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:04:17.
Current State of Roxbury Mosque
Alumni of Boston-area colleges and universities decided to contribute something to the city of their almae matres. Do they have the right to erect a place of worship in Boston? They are American citizens. Does it matter that they purchased the property with a price reduction commensurate with their willingness to provide services and other benefits to municipal institutions?
The corner where the Roxbury mosque is located used to be a trash-littered area in a dangerous neighborhood. Now, it’s a place through which people drive the long way home just so they can glimpse the mosque-in-progress. Roxbury’s new mosque is an appropriate edifice for the major world intellectual and cultural center that Boston represents. This tasteful combination of red brick and gold expresses the sincere desire of Boston’s Muslims to give back to the community of which they are a part.
Boston’s grand mosque is the last work of the late Hasan Fathi, who is one of the great architects of the 20th century. The Egyptian architect, known for his environmentally appropriate buildings, created a Bostonian “look” for this premiere mosque that sparkles yet blends into its surroundings harmoniously. It complements the nearby churches, some of which are more than
200 years old. When the Roxbury Mosque is completed, it will attract visitors from all over the world to a section of Boston that desperately needs tourist dollars.
There are some who feel threatened by the inclusion of Muslims in the melting pot of American society. The Roxbury mosque project has been subject to intense scrutiny because of empty, malicious accusations in the media against the Islamic Development Bank, probably the world’s most respected Sharia-compliant financial institution. Simple fairness requires exposure of an Islamophobic agenda, which incites religious and race hatred to marginalize American Muslims.
Conspiracy to deprive Americans of their constitutional rights is despicable. The media’s vigilante effort to defame the Islamic Society of Boston, its leadership and its membership deprives us, the American public, of the ability to hear important points of view and is probably illegal. Demonizing Islamic finance closes the USA to financial investments from the Arab world.
Venture capital can flow away from our region in the blink of an eye if international investors conclude that fanatic racists and Islamophobes dominate city and state politics. This campaign against the Roxbury mosque will probably cost the Massachusetts economy tens of billions of dollars of investment capital in the short term. The long-range loss will be enormous.
Notes
To learn about the Boston Globe's problem with Muslims, see http://tinyurl.com/yayd4n.
Design drawing: Plan, roof plan, elevation, sections
Design drawing: Plan, elevation
Another recent photograph of the Roxbury Mosque
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