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His "moderate" reputation has garnered the respect of President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who's backed the $100 million mega-mosque and community center on a site that was damaged on 9/11. It has also lent credibility to Rauf's stated quest of bridging "the great divide" between Islam and other faiths.
But where does Rauf, author of three books on Islam and Western society, really stand on the thorny issues?
On the one hand, the State Department, under both the Bush and Obama administrations, have characterized Rauf as a "moderate." He has notably supported equal rights for women and also stressed the need for Muslims to live peacefully with other religions. He's called himself a "bridge builder" and "a supporter of the state of Israel." And he's stated that the aim of the Cordoba Initiative is "to achieve a tipping point in Muslim-West relations within the next decade, steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect and away from heightened tensions."
All are arguably moderate positions in Muslim-majority countries.
However, his comments on other sensitive topics over the past decade should spark interest as to whether the "moderate" label is appropriate and acceptable by U.S. standards.
Among them:
But where does Rauf, author of three books on Islam and Western society, really stand on the thorny issues?
On the one hand, the State Department, under both the Bush and Obama administrations, have characterized Rauf as a "moderate." He has notably supported equal rights for women and also stressed the need for Muslims to live peacefully with other religions. He's called himself a "bridge builder" and "a supporter of the state of Israel." And he's stated that the aim of the Cordoba Initiative is "to achieve a tipping point in Muslim-West relations within the next decade, steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect and away from heightened tensions."
All are arguably moderate positions in Muslim-majority countries.
However, his comments on other sensitive topics over the past decade should spark interest as to whether the "moderate" label is appropriate and acceptable by U.S. standards.
- Appearing on "60 Minutes" on Sept. 30, 2001, to discuss the al-Qaida attacks, Rauf condemned terrorism but also said that U.S. policies "were an accessory to the crime" and that "Osama bin Laden is made in the U.S.A."
- In July 2005, while speaking in Adelaide, Australia, Rauf said while discussing sanctions on Saddam Hussein's Iraq, "We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al-Qaida has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims."
- Speaking on suicide bombers, Rauf told Barbara Walters in a 2006 interview on heaven that he could not determine if they would go to heaven or hell, stating that "it is up to God to decide."
- Speaking on Hamas, Rauf refused to characterize it as a terrorist organization on WABC in June 2010, declaring, "The issue of terrorism is a complex issue. ... I am peace builder."
- Speaking at a mosque in Bahrain on Aug. 23, Rauf noted that the controversy surrounding the ground zero mosque's construction is a "sign of success."
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In a Washington Post column, American Muslim Mansoor Ijaz argued against the ground zero mosque, saying, "When America's Muslims can come together in unison to identify, fight against and defeat the forces of radicalism that have taken over our great religion -- battling the cancer from within no matter where it lies in the world -- then should we be allowed to build a mosque at hallowed places on American soil."Others Muslims have expressed similar views.
Meanwhile, New York's Democratic Gov. David Paterson has repeatedly sought to broker a compromise with Rauf, offering state land for the construction of the mosque in another location.
Perhaps it is time to re-examine the definition of "moderate" and how it applies to Imam Rauf?
J.D. Gordon is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy and a retired Navy commander who served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2005 to 2009 as the Pentagon spokesman for the Western Hemisphere.
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