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Detroit Free Press – April 11, 2006
MI: Warren board approves mosque plan
By Dan Cortez
The Warren Planning Commission voted 5-3 Monday night to approve the Islamic Organization of North America's plan to build the first mosque in the city.
The vote came minutes after an initial 4-4 vote that would have led to an automatic tabling for two weeks until the next commission meeting. The matter is being monitored by the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure the civil rights of the organization and its president, Steve Elturk, are not violated.
Nearly two hours of discussion from residents and commission members preceded the votes. One resident wanted a guarantee from the organization that it wouldn't have ties to terrorists.
The Islamic Organization of North America bought the building in August, and received a variance on Jan. 25 from the city's Zoning Board of Appeals to open the center in a commercially zoned area. That variance also said the center could not place a loudspeaker on the building to broadcast the five daily calls to prayer.
Despite the written agreement, at the March 13 planning commission meeting, several residents and commissioners cited the external loudspeaker, parking and traffic concerns. It rejected the proposal, 6-3. Elturk addressed some of the concerns and presented his plans to the board again.
City spokesman Joe Munem said Monday that the Justice Department sent a letter to the city, informing it that the situation was being monitored. Elturk said two members of the department called him after his first proposal was rejected.
Commission members voting against the mosque said there was no discrimination, but that they were worried about traffic issues. The site is on Ryan, just south of 12 Mile.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/NEWS04/604110408/1006
Detroit Free Press – April 12, 2006
Mosque exposes fears in Warren, MI:
Plans OK'd over residents' worries
By Dan Cortez
The plans for Warren's first mosque were approved, but a series of ill-informed, fear-tinged and derogatory comments from residents and city planning commissioners Monday night still echoed a day later.
"It's reminiscent of the Jim Crow South of the 1950s and 1960s," said Dawud Walid, executive director for the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations who attended the meeting Monday night.
"There were blatant Islamophobic comments made by two members on this board," he said, adding that he is happy the plan was approved. "But we're also very discouraged by some of the comments from both the residents and the commissioners."
During the two-hour session, one Warren resident was loudly applauded for demanding that the developer prove the Islamic Organization of North America won't have ties to terrorists. Planning commissioner Maurice Daniels asked if sacrifices would be made. The planning commission rejected the plan a month ago, and nearly tabled it Monday before giving it the OK. Steve Elturk, the 50-year-old
Crews already have started renovating the old office and retail building on Ryan Road just south of 12 Mile, and Walid said Elturk plans to host an open house at the new mosque in order to promote a better understanding of Islam.
"What I saw were not only anti-Islamic sentiment, but anti-minority sentiment," Walid said. "We are hopeful that there are no types of retaliatory actions taken against the mosque. One positive is that there are people in the academic and religious communities in Warren that spoke out in favor of the mosque."
Walid said he wants to hold symposiums on race relations in Macomb County in response to Monday's raucous meeting.
"What I saw were not only anti-Islamic sentiment, but anti-minority sentiment," Walid said. "We are hopeful that there are no types of retaliatory actions taken against the mosque. One positive is that there are people in the academic and religious communities in Warren that spoke out in favor of the mosque."
Walid said he wants to hold symposiums on race relations in Macomb County in response to Monday's raucous meeting.
Similar wild insinuations from residents and commissioners when Elturk originally was denied approval drew the attention from the U.S. Department of Justice. Stephen Thom, spokesman for the Justice Department, said Tuesday that a federal mediator was following the situation to ensure Elturk's civil rights are not violated……
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060412/NEWS04/604120407/1006
Chicago Tribune - April 7, 2006
Bridgeview mosque gets expansion OK
By Carmen Greco Jr.
The Bridgeview Village Board approved expansion of a mosque on the village's southwest side this week after a group of homeowners dropped their opposition.
The mosque proposal had languished for months before the village's Zoning Board of Appeals while residents and officials considered traffic and other quality-of-life issues surrounding expansion of the Mosque Foundation of Bridgeview's worship center at 7360 W. 93rd St.
The Plan Commission deadlocked 3-3 on the project last month, but it was passed Wednesday night unanimously by the six trustees at a board meeting. Negotiations with homeowners made the difference, with the most vocal abandoning their opposition, Mayor Steven Landek said.
"All five homes have sent letters approving the setback variations," Landek said.
Rouhy Shalabi, an attorney representing the Mosque Foundation, said the 21,000-square-foot expansion--to include a women's prayer area, restroom, library, offices, kitchen and meeting room--is designed to serve current worshipers, not to attract new ones….
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/chi-0604070271apr07,1,528938.story?coll=chi-newslocalssouthwest-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
The Times - April 7, 2006
Indiana Muslim school already expanding
BY DEBORAH LAVERTY
MERRILLVILLE, IN - Less than two years after its opening, a school attuned to the religious and academic needs of the area's Muslim community is expanding.
The 7,000-square-foot addition to Avicenna Academy, 9803 Colorado St., will include space for at least three more classrooms, a conference room, a library/book store, administration office and storage areas.
The school is located next to the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center and mosque, where the youngsters can go for daily prayers and religious services.
It is the only school in the area offering Islamic instruction and the Arabic language to its students. Emphasis is placed on a high standard of excellence in academics, Assistant Director Nuha Rifai said.
When the school opened in the fall of 2004, there were 19 students enrolled in preschool through second grade.
Now there are 41 students from throughout Lake and Porter counties who attend.
Third and fourth grades were added this year, and plans are to continue adding a grade each year until the school includes eight grades, Rifai said.
Fifth-grade classes will be added this fall, when at least a portion of the expanded area will be completed, she said.
If additional space is needed in the future, there is acreage to the east for building or there is the possibility of adding a second level, she said.
The general contractor is Ali Rashad and the architect of record is Tom Kuhn, of Carras-Szany-Kuhn & Associates in Schererville.
The emphasis will be on fundraising to pay for the new addition at the prayer service and groundbreaking today, and the annual gala dinner dance at 6 p.m. Saturday, Rifai said.
"We're hoping to motivate people to donate for the school expansion," she said. "We want to collect at least half of the $900,000."
There are a number of ways members of the mosque, parents, grandparents and members of the community can support the school, she said.
Engraved bricks, with the donor's name printed on them, can be purchased for a price ranging from $500 for a smaller version to $1,000 for a larger one.
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2006/04/07/news/lake_county/dcea44e979a09f618625714900013ee9.txt
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