Restrictions Imposed on Mosque Design

In response to “City OKs Mosque; Imposed Conditions Stir Grumbling,” Part B, Sept. 12:

Thanks to the City Council which finally allowed Muslims to build a mosque in Granada Hills. Thanks to the media which created a gap between the American public and Muslims by stereotyping them.

American Muslims ask the American public to pay a visit to one of the 27 Islamic Centers in Southern California, the majority of which do not have a dome or a minaret, to see what Islam is all about. On Friday, the Muslim holiday, one can see Arabs, Asians, Americans--people from different ethnic backgrounds, different colors, different social status praying to the same direction, bowing down and prostrating before the same God, the God of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed.

If the public would visit one of these mosques, which some are opposing in their neighborhood citing traffic as an excuse, they would find what they have been looking for. They would find the solutions to drug abuse, drunk driving, abuse of women and children, gang activities, school dropouts, teen-age pregnancy, etc.

The issue here is not whether a mosque should have a minaret and a dome or not. The teachings of Islam are the same with and without a minaret and a dome. Given time, mosques in Southern California will be like a beautiful fountain that everyone would like to have in his/her neighborhood. The fountain that will add beauty not only to the physical appearance of the neighborhood, but also its moral structure.

AHMED EL-GABALAWY

Director Public Affairs

Islamic Center, Northridge