Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who has led an effort to build a controversial inter-faith cultural center in lower Manhattan, will speak in March at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Abdul Rauf will deliver the 2011 Weil Lecture on American Citizenship on March 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Hill Hall on the UNC-CH campus. It's free and open to the public, but tickets are required.
The lecture, paid for by private funds, is the featured event in a series of conversations on American citizenship. It is sponsored by UNC's Institute for the Arts & Humanities.
Abdul Rauf, a naturalized U.S. citizen and Kuwaiti-born imam, founded and chairs the Cordoba Movement, which seeks to improve understanding among people of all cultures and faiths.
Abdul Rauf promotes the Cordoba House, a center to encourage multi-faith understanding at Park51, the proposed cultural center located near the site of the World Trade Center tragedy.
While Abdul Rauf plans to lead inter-faith activities at the center, he is neither speaking for Park51 nor raising funds for the center in his current appearances around the country, according to a UNC press release. He also has speaking engagements lined up at Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other universities.
Rauf's inter-faith center project, which some refer to as the "Ground Zero Mosque," has been controversial due to its location blocks from the site of the World Trade Center towers, which fell in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Abdul Rauf leads Masjid al-Farrah, a mosque at a different site in Manhattan. He also founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement, the first Muslim organization committed to bringing American Muslims and non-Muslims together through programs in academia, policy, current affairs and culture.
Students, faculty and staff with UNC One Cards may pick up lecture tickets beginning on Feb. 28 at the Memorial Hall Box Office, 140 E. Cameron Ave. – one ticket per One Card; two One Cards per person. Starting March 3, the remaining tickets will be available to the general public to pick up in person at the box office – limit two tickets per person.
The box office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The University recommends calling the box office at (919) 843-3333 first to confirm that tickets are available.
On March 16, the lecture will be broadcast live to an overflow location, the Hanes Art Center auditorium, where seats will be available to UNC students, faculty and staff as well as the general public on a first-come, first-served basis.
No tickets will be required. Hanes is beside the Swain visitor parking lot off East Cameron Avenue and an alley leading off Franklin Street beside the Carolina Coffee Shop.
Comments
Imam who want sto to convince you
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 16:55 — calypsomanI don't care how much thia Imam says otherwise, I have known, lived with, married to one, have a son who MISGUIDEDLY (in my view) converted to .....but I believe Islam is largely a violent religion. And I acknowledge there are lots of decent Muslims but there seems to be much more who aren't. There simply is too much violence and atrocities committed in the name of their god for it to be otherwise.
I don't believe for a moment this Imam wants what he claims for this near-Ground Zero site.....a place for MULTI religions. With so many people objecting to it they should move their proposal to another place....I have no idea where and quite frankly it might as well be on another planet.
Good luck to those of you who plan to listen to him try to convince you he is doing the right thing.
Convert to Islam! Or Die!
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 16:18 — mike27513Don't you have to convert to Islam to be accepted to UNC - Crappel Hill?
Iman
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 15:00 — aa1225Why in the world would the University of North Carolina provide a bully pulpit for a person who causes such unrest and rancor in the USA? And I will not listen to some one crying First Amendment! You can't yell fire in the theater, and that is what he is doing. Cut their funds General Assembly, that's language "educators" understand.
A quote from this supposed
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 14:04 — PhantomLordA quote from this supposed person of peace, understanding, and interfaith support.
"Throughout my discussions with contemporary Muslim theologians, it is clear an Islamic state can be established in more than just a single form or mold. It can be established through a kingdom or a democracy. The important issue is to establish the general fundamentals of Sharia that are required to govern. It is known that there are sets of standards that are accepted by [Muslim] scholars to organize the relationships between government and the governed."
Any claims by Rauf that he does not support, nor desire Sharia law in the US is a lie.
I tried to link to the article the quote is from, but the N&O does not allow links to be posted here.
Reading Comprehension
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 16:16 — nopunin10didI think you're missing what he's saying here. He's not saying the US should become a Sharia state. He's saying that there is a possibility that countries that want to establish Sharia law can do so in multiple types of governments, including kingdoms and democracies.
In other words, a country like Iran could hypothetically keep its Sharia foundations and its democracy simultaneously... not saying that it'd be easy, but it's hypothetically possible.
I'd disagree with him on this (democracy doesn't tend to work when unelected religious officials have power), but nowhere does he say that he wants the US to go down this route.
When did he say that he
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 14:26 — PatronusPotterWhen did he say that he supports or desires Sharia law in the US? It wasn't in that quote.
Agreed
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 14:32 — ThinkingHe probably would support Sharia law, but I read the quote as meaning to you don't have to model a muslim government on the likes of Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Pakistan. I don't see supporters of Sharia law getting the U.S. Constitution amended and ratified by the states to implement it, but then there's probably a vast left-wing conspiracy I'm unaware of that's working on this.
Don't act "like they do" ...
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 12:56 — AgentPierceThe knee-jerk reaction to this news from a % of my fellow Conservatives will be predictable. "There go those left-wing extremists at UNC AGAIN ...." and there's some truth to that but .....
This guy's appearance is being funded by private donation not taxpayer funds. Attendance is in no way mandatory. It's therefore no different than Tancredo's appearance a year ago except it will appeal to those of a different persuasion (you reckon?).
The challenge to Conservs then is do NOT react in an ultra INcivil fashion similar to the local left-wing zealots who disrupted Tancredo. I'm sure there will policies established for civil dissent to his remarks. Behave yourselves my like-minded fellows. Don't act "like they do".
As I recall it
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 16:26 — The_Nags_HeadThe troublemakers at the Tancredo event were mostly from that self-styled anarchist collective (how quaint!) in Durham. These are the same children who like to glue their posters and manifestos around town, which only leads to working-class folks spending the better part of an afternoon trying to get them off the walls, call boxes, and etc.
I would imagine the iman is safe. In my experience, anarchists only like to annoy Christians.
Thank you
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 14:35 — mpheelsThank you AgentPierce. I don't always agree with you, but I truly appreciate your always civil nature. Everyone, liberals and conservatives alike, needs to take a deep breath a turn the volume down just a bit. The vast majority of Americans are moderates, which means we all have to compromise some.
just like a liberal
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 13:33 — WakeGuy2010telling people how to react, rather than simply allowing free and open discourse. good job.
Yeeee Haaaaa!
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 14:00 — AgentPierceAgentPierce called out as as "a liberal" on an N&O comment board. If that doesn't define forever the utter insanity of these forums. I can't wait for USA_Today and oldrwzr to give me a hug and my own Socialist Workers card. .... Life is indeed "like a box of chocolates". bwahahahaha!
yeah
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 14:08 — PatronusPotterHa ha ha
I really think the N&O's ridiculous comment policy has made this board as crazy as it is. Because articles vanish quickly and comments are deleted with no consistent sense at all, it becomes very difficult to associate specific posters with their own personal views. Thus everyone who reads a comment is just checking to see if it is a conservative comment or a liberal comment, and responds accordingly.
It's much easier . . .
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 14:28 — ThinkingJust to call people names. Much less actual thinking involved. Call someone a liberal, then you don't have to listen to them any more and can just start hating them. This tactic has worked ever since we developed language. Us against Them really simplifies things for people.
works both ways
Fri, 01/21/2011 - 22:18 — AgentPierceThinking: Doesn't that knee-jerk namecalling work both ways. Broadbrush ideological name calling dominates the WCPSS comments. At least on the WCPSS comment boards the majority of the vitriol is aimed at "Repubs", "right-wingers", etc.
I'm not saying it doesn't even out over all articles but on WCPSS the heaviest artillery bombardment comes from the Lefties.