OUR APPROACH TO ISLAM<\/strong><\/p>\nThe sources of Islam are the Holy Quran and the non-controversially relayed (sahih) tradition of the seal of messengers, Muhammad (peace be upon him). Other traditions, man-made rules, cultural and ethnic behaviors are not infallible, and are not considered as sources of Islam.<\/p>\n
Islam is the universal mercy of God. Muslims identify primarily as Muslims and not as a particular ethnic group, race, color, or tribe. No such exclusionary activities are allowed in the Center.<\/p>\n
Arabic is taught as the language of the Holy Quran. The language of communication and activities at the Center is the language of the land, i.e. English.<\/p>\n
Choosing a school of thought (mazhab) is a matter of personal preference, not a policy of the Center<\/p>\n
The affairs of Muslims should be handled through consultation (shura), discipline and organization.<\/p>\n
Men and women are equally encouraged to participate in the activities of the Center and equally responsible for their efforts.<\/p>\n
The Center does not believe in segregation of the sexes to attain righteousness. Rather, righteousness is attained through modesty, decency, purity of heart, clarity of conscience, and the observance of the dictates of God and His apostle.<\/p>\n
While advocating the codes and ethics of Islamic behavior, the Center believes there is no compulsion in religion. The role of the Center is to teach and remind, not to compel or judge.<\/p>\n
Islam is a complete way of life. While social and political activism may be a part of this, the Center\u2019s activities are focused upon and geared towards the interests of Islam and Muslims in America. Preoccupation by other countries\u2019 politics leads only to division and chaos among Muslims in America and is contrary to the policies of the Center.<\/p>\n
AMERICAN MUSLIM IDENTITY<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Muslim community in the United States is comprised of an enriching mosaic of races, ethnicities, cultures, schools of thought, and ways of practicing Islam. Respecting that diversity, we also assert our identity as Americans who subscribe to the following:<\/p>\n
We believe the values and principles found in the U.S. Constitution are in alignment with the eternal message of the Holy Quran, promoting mercy (21:107), justice (4:135), peace (8:61), human dignity (17:70), freedom (2:256), and equality for all (49:13).<\/p>\n
We view the United States as our home.<\/p>\n
We believe in a representative democracy as defined in the U.S. Constitution, which we believe is congruent with the Islamic concept of shura \u2013 a collective and consultative form of decision making.<\/p>\n
We embrace the pluralism of our country, and are committed to constructively engaging in its religious, civic, economic, social, and overall betterment.<\/p>\n
We enjoy those aspects of our nation\u2019s culture that do not conflict with Islamic values, and avoid those which do.<\/p>\n
We believe men and women should be equal participants in all activities and efforts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I hope that by sharing this, other mosques are encouraged to post similar Disclosures, with the above serving as a useful template. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Ramadan approaches, I think the pull of the mosque becomes stronger. This is natural and expected and hardly evidence of any kind of hypocrisy on our part, as Muslims – we are human, and the entire point of Ramadan is to re-center our awareness for a brief time on Deen. Even if that re-centering…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-3046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-pillars-of-faith","tag-ramadan"],"yoast_head":"\n
Mosque Disclosures - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mosque Disclosures - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Ramadan approaches, I think the pull of the mosque becomes stronger. This is natural and expected and hardly evidence of any kind of hypocrisy on our part, as Muslims – we are human, and the entire point of Ramadan is to re-center our awareness for a brief time on Deen. 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City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3046"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3048,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions\/3048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n