NY gov slammed for 'westernized' Muslims
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(AP, August 27, 2010)
Albany, USA - Muslim leaders in the United States are
criticizing Gov. David Paterson for his description of the
developers of an Islamic center and mosque planned near
ground zero as peaceful, "almost westernized" Muslims.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council said Paterson
mischaracterized the sect known as Sufi and his comment
suggests other Muslims are a problem, although he made no
criticism of Islam or any branches of it.
For weeks, the Democratic governor has defended Islam as a
peaceful religion and has said the developers have a
constitutional right to build an Islamic center and mosque a
couple of blocks north of the World Trade Center site. He
also has emphasized the Sept. 11 terrorists were extremists
and weren't indicative of the religion.
Opponents say the mosque should be moved farther away from
where Islamic extremists destroyed the World Trade Center
and killed nearly 2,800 people, while supporters say
religious freedom should be protected.
Paterson, who has offered the developers state resources if
they decide they'd prefer another site farther from ground
zero, said in radio and television interviews Thursday that
he had researched Sufi Muslims and they are "not like the
Shiites," the second-largest branch of Muslims and the
majority in Iraq.
"They're almost like a hybrid, almost westernized," he
said. "They are not really what I would classify in the sort
of mainland Muslim practice."
Paterson's use of "mainland" apparently was intended to be
"mainstream."
Paterson didn't immediately respond to a Friday request for
comment on criticism of his remarks.
Islam contains several streams that vary according to their
interpretation of the Quran and Islamic law and their
approach to worship, among other differences. Sunnis and
Shiites, the followers of Shia Islam, are the two major
Muslim groups whose spirituality has had a wide-ranging
influence in Islam over centuries.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council, which calls itself a
public service agency working for the civil rights of
American Muslims, issued a press release about Paterson's
comments that said "while his attempt appears to have been
an effort to voice support" for the project's organizers,
"his statement sent a very negative message."
The group called Paterson's comments an "offensive
mischaracterization."
"Governor Paterson's remarks reveal his disappointing lack
of understanding about Islam and Muslims," the group's
Washington, D.C., office director, Haris Tarin, said in the
statement. "By calling Sufi Muslims 'westernized' and unlike
'mainland Muslim practice,' is he suggesting that all other
Muslims - and specifically Shia Muslims - are the problem?"
Whether intended or not, Paterson's remarks implied that
Sufis were the only peaceful Muslims, an affront to American
Sunnis and Shiites who reject extremism.
