Battle waged in Boston over new mosque

The articles also alleged terrorist links because of ISB ties to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a prominent cleric living in Qatar. A reformist on some issues, the sheik holds a controversial stance on suicide bombing: He opposes it in general, including 9/11 and the London bombings, but supports it in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in Iraq. He has been banned from visiting the US since 1999, but has been invited to US-sponsored conferences abroad.

"Qaradawi was invited to be an honorary trustee in the 1990s," Kazmi says, "but is not connected to the ISB today."

Another charge involved a current society leader publishing anti-Semitic comments in a British newspaper.

"This isn't principally a matter of criminal activity, but whether people running the organization are the paragons of moderate Islam that they claim to be," says Jeffrey Robbins, attorney for the citizen groups.

Boston city officials have not modified their support for the project, though one councilman has shown interest in a public hearing.

Meanwhile, donations for the Boston Islamic center have dropped as allegations scared off would-be benefactors. Workers are now installing windows to protect the unfinished mosque for the winter as the ISB gears up for court battles.

In one case, a resident charges the city and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) with improper action in selling the site to the ISB at below-market value, raising an issue of state support for religion. The suit seeks a return of the land.

"We look forward to arguing the case on its merits," says Meredith Baumann, a BRA spokeswoman. "There is a precedent of projects that include religious institutions on BRA land, and a long public process and strong endorsement by the community preceded the decision to convey the land to the ISB." She adds that "it's common for land to be conveyed at below-market value." The site was said to be valued at $400,000, and sold for $175,000 plus in-kind contributions by the ISB. The society committed to providing and maintaining a neighborhood park, raising money for Roxbury Community College and its library, and providing a 10-year lecture series on Islam.

In its defamation suit, the ISB charges that the media, the local groups, and several individuals have joined in "a concerted, well-coordinated effort to deprive ... members of the Boston Muslim community of their basic right of free association and the free exercise of their religion.".

Those on the other side say the suit is an attempt to intimidate them, and have filed motions to have it dismissed. They insist that they are not trying to halt the mosque project but are worried about what might be taught there.

"The issue isn't the mosque, it's the leaders of the Islamic Society of Boston," says Dennis Hale, a professor from Boston College who heads CPT. "We thought there needed to be more discussion about what kind of teachings were likely to come out of the ISB."

Dr. Hale says his group has not asked for a meeting with ISB leaders.

The controversy has stirred attention, but it doesn't seem to have damaged interfaith ties the society has worked to develop since 9/11. For three years, ISB members have met regularly in a Jewish-Muslim study circle with Temple Beth Shalom in Cambridge, discussing such topics as revelation, the afterlife, and how the Jew is seen in Islam and the Muslim in Judaism.

"By studying together, you find the person in front of you wakes up in the morning, goes to work, takes cares of their kids, and deals with similar issues," says David Dolev, the synagogue's program director. "It's been of enormous value." As for the controversy, "people are aware of it, but they've had a strong experience that these are people authentically interested in the good of the other community," he adds. "They've seen something different than what they read in the papers."

Kazmi is focusing on completing the project. "In some ways, we're bearing the brunt of a lot of fear about Muslims that happens to exist at this time," she says. Her hope is that the center will become a place where "people can come in and say, 'Oh, this is all there is under those covers where we were looking for the bogeyman,' and find a warm and welcoming community."

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