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| At the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, men and women pray in the same room separated only by a low partition. Melanie Stetson Freeman – staff |
A mosque in America's heartland
The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Ohio, has roots going back 75 years has shaped a faith for today.
from the September 6, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
The spiritual leader at the mosque from 1982 to 1998, Imam A.M. Khattab, was also Egyptian but served as an imam in Canada for several years before bringing his dynamic approach to Ohio. "He was an original thinker, but he had a firm foundation as a scholar and religious leader," says Dr. Hussain, a physician on the board of trustees at the University of Toledo.
Imam Khattab took bold stances on questions still roiling the Muslim ummah (global community). He separated the concept of interest banking from usury, which allowed the center to be built in 1982 with mortgaged money and not have to look to funding sources (and guidelines) from other countries. He made people think about applying the teaching that "two women are equal to one man as a witness," pointing to knowledgeable women trained in economics or the law.
"He would give his opinions, which might be considered liberal by some people," says Dr. Ahmed. "But he would try to stimulate thinking and get to the heart of things and not just take it literally."
As a woman and an attorney, Cherrefe Kadri views the imam as both brave and as a uniter. "He'd say, 'Use your mind – that's what God gave it to you for.' " At the same time, "he had an ability to relate to everybody ... and make it work."
What has also made it work over the years was the strong sense of community established by the founding families. Born in Toledo of Lebanese heritage, Ms. Kadri remembers the first mosque, built downtown in 1954, and the way other Arabs and then Indian and Pakistani physicians starting arriving with their families.
Needing more space, the community bought 48 acres out in Perrysburg township, and completed the highly visible Islamic Center in 1983, attracting many more Muslims. Meanwhile, people driving the Interstate were intrigued, and soon they had to open their doors wide.
"We'd be out every weekend planting grass and landscaping, and people would just stop off the expressway for impromptu tours," Kadri says. "We couldn't get our work done, so we had to formalize it! We had hundreds, maybe thousands going through on a monthly basis." The ladies' auxiliary began offering lunches twice a month for visiting groups.
That familiarity bore timely fruit when 9/11 shattered America's calm. The night after the World Trade Center collapsed, someone shot out one of the Center's stained-glass windows with a rifle, and its voicemail filled with threatening calls.
Community support after 9/11
Just months earlier, Kadri herself had been elected to be the first woman president of the mosque (a major and controversial step). When news of the backlash became known, she heard from a local Christian radio station that they wanted to help – to invite people to come encircle the mosque and pray for their protection.
While they expected about 300 people, the crowd grasping hands around the complex reached 1,500. Kadri had bought Hershey Kisses and put them in baskets to distribute. The station had planned a short program of prayer and singing.
"It was a beautiful fall evening. They postponed the start of the program because the traffic was a mile long with people trying to get there," Kadri recalls. "Baby strollers, old folks, young folks. It was so warm – I wish I had the words."
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