Radicalism common threat to all: Imam Rauf

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a central figure in plans to build a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan, New York, near the site of attacks of September 11, 2001, urged followers of all faiths to join hands against radicalism which he says exists in all religions.

"We are all in this together.. there is a common threat: radicalism which exists in all religions," Abdul Rauf told Wam in an interview in Abu Dhabi.

"The real battle front is not between Muslims and non-Muslims. The real battle front is between moderates and extremists," Abdul Rauf said.

He is the chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, an independent, non-partisan and multi-national project which he says works with state and non-state actors to improve Muslim-West relations, and in particular Muslim-US relations, because "the US is the most influential player in the West and because the US is my home base."

He is in the UAE as part of a mission from the United States government to promote religious tolerance in the Arab world. The imam's trip also took in Bahrain and Qatar.

While in the UAE, Abdul Rauf is holding meetings with senior officials, Muslim scholars and university students.

"We are making efforts to bridge the divide through projects in youth and gender relations and the current media frenzy and look at not only the issues between Muslims and non-Muslims but also at the issues that are important for us to address within the Muslim Ummah," Abdul Rauf said.

The idea, he explained, is "to develop personal and professional relationships with other institutions involved in religious and spiritual work.
"The UAE is among the Gulf countries which are very interesting because they are very conscious and geopolitical issues," he said.

“The UAE is also among the countries whose people are very sensitive to and deeply aware of the regional political issues and sociological issues and are very desirous to solve them.

"The UAE, along with other smaller Gulf countries, play a different role, in the overall narrative that is taking place geopolitically," he said.
Feisal Abdul Rauf is founder and chairman of Cordoba Initiative (CI) which runs programs designed to cultivate multi-cultural and multi-faith understanding across minds and borders.