Ethiopians build First Hijrah mosque in Washington

Min-Fadhli-Rabii

Junior Member
Ethiopian government banned its construction
Ethiopians build First Hijrah mosque in America

Muslims in Ethiopia




Muslim Ethiopians built their dream mosque in Washington

WASHINGTON (Ahmed al-*!*!*!*!i)

After being denied official construction permission back home, Muslim Ethiopians in the United States built the First Hijrah mosque and community center to commemorate the first immigration in the history of Islam and counter discriminatory practices by the Ethiopian government.

The First Hijrah mosque, literally meaning the mosque of the first immigration, is located in Washington, D.C., almost two miles from the White House.


" It is extremely ironic that in Washington we are granted our rights while this is not the case in our homeland "
Mosque muzzein Moftah Saeid The name of the mosque refers to the immigration in year 615 of a group of the prophet's followers, the first to enter Islam, to the northern Ethiopian city of Axum, seeking refuge from the persecution of the Quraish tribe in Mecca.

They lived there under the protection of the Christian Emperor Ashama ibn Abjar, also called al-Najashi, who denied Quraish's request to hand the refugees.

To commemorate the first immigration in the history of Islam, Muslims in the city of Axum tried to build their own mosque and were denied permission by the Ethiopian authorities.

Only when Christians are allowed to build a church in Mecca would Muslims in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government is reported to have stated.

Muslim Ethiopians finally got the chance to realize their dream in the United States where they built the First Hijrah mosque.

The mosque serves 20,000 Muslims who live the neighborhood, said Sheikh Naguib Mohamed, 57, head of the Ethiopian community in Washington.

"We used to pay rent for that mosque then we bought it," he told Al Arabiya.


Muslims in Ethiopia


The mosque commemorates the first immigration in Islam
Mohamed complained of discriminatory practices against Muslims in Ethiopia in general and Axum in particular.

"Not only are we not allowed to build a mosque in the first land that championed the cause of Islam, but we also don't have a cemetery. When Muslims die we have to walk 15 kilometers outside the city to bury them."

The mosque's muzzein, caller for prayers, Moftah Saeid said that he and his fellow Ethiopian Muslims perform their rituals freely unlike in Axum.

"It is extremely ironic that in Washington we are granted our rights while this is not the case in our homeland," he told Al Arabiya.

Belal al-Habashi, 13, is another member of the Muslim Ethiopian community. He learnt the Quran by heart within one year in the Virginia Islamic Center.

"Based on what I hear about the situation of Muslims there, I don't think I could have learnt the Quran had I lived in Axum," he told Al Arabiya.

The First Hijrah mosque consists of two floors, the first for men and the second for women. During the holy month of Ramadan, the mosque organizes banquets so that members of the community can break their fast together and also organizes courses that teach the Quran and the rules of Islam.

The mosque coordinates with several Islamic organizations like the Badr Islamic Association and has a website on the social network Paltalk where it holds cultural and religious dialogues.

It is noteworthy that members of the Ethiopian Muslim speak fluent Arabic. Their recitation of the Quran and call for prayers are not, in fact, different from those in Arab countries.


Sources: http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/08/29/117941.html
 

BrotherInIslam7

La Illaha Illa Allah
Staff member
To commemorate the first immigration in the history of Islam, Muslims in the city of Axum tried to build their own mosque and were denied permission by the Ethiopian authorities.

Only when Christians are allowed to build a church in Mecca would Muslims in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government is reported to have stated.

Muslim Ethiopians finally got the chance to realize their dream in the United States where they built the First Hijrah mosque.

:salam2:

Made me laugh.. Nice way to justify their open opposition to Islam by making stupid statements like that.

I would be even brave to say that these kaafirs are liars.. Even if their demands are met, they would still find a new excuse to prevent a place of Ibadah for Allah azz zawajal.. They hate Islam and want to take the rights of our brother..

May Allah subhaanaho waa taala hasten their departure from power. Ameen
 

BigAk

Junior Member
:salam2:

Why wouldn't Saudi Arabia allow building a church in their land so the Christians would stop using this excuse?? I have to admit, this is a good argument on their part to use. I don't even think there is a good logical come back on this one. We are basically giving them a stick to beat us with...

لاحول ولاقوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم
 

BrotherInIslam7

La Illaha Illa Allah
Staff member
:salam2:

Why wouldn't Saudi Arabia allow building a church in their land so the Christians would stop using this excuse?? I have to admit, this is a good argument on their part to use. I don't even think there is a good logical come back on this one. We are basically giving them a stick to beat us with...

لاحول ولاقوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم

:salam2:

How many Christians are citizens of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ? Zilch. Zero. Nil.

Does the legal framework of Islamic Sharia practiced in KSA allow any other religion to be preached or observed openly for foreigners ? No.

Is this a secret or it is known by one and all ? It is known by everyone who applies for a visa to get into KSA as well as host of other people around the globe.

Are these non-muslim foreigners enslaved & captured and brought in to KSA ? No, they come by their own choice fully aware that they won't be able to practice any other religion than Islam.

And these other democratic countries, Are they doing muslims a favor by allowing to build mosques in their country ? No, it is infact a right of every citizen of their country to practice & preach any religion including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam etc. It is protected by the constitution of these democratic countries. They can be even satan worshipers and face no consequence.

Does KSA have to bow down to these lunatics who will pass off any excuse to stop the propagation & practice of Islam ? No.

Wasalaamalaykum waa rahmatullahi
 

Abu Talib

Feeling low
:salam2:

Why wouldn't Saudi Arabia allow building a church in their land so the Christians would stop using this excuse?? I have to admit, this is a good argument on their part to use. I don't even think there is a good logical come back on this one. We are basically giving them a stick to beat us with...

لاحول ولاقوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم

As-Salamu 'Alaykum

Pretty simple no Masjid in Vatican so no Church in Saudi Arabia
 

BigAk

Junior Member

BrotherInIslam7

La Illaha Illa Allah
Staff member
No brother.. I think you may be wrong on this one.. Apparently there are Christians living in the kingdom. ---> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Saudi_Arabia

Although they are NOT citizens, a Christian will still protest that it's not fair, and I can see their point of view. In Islam there's no compulsion in religion.
.

:salam2:

Though wikipedia is never a good source of reference. It actually agrees with what I wrote.

"The percentage of Saudi Arabian citizens who are Christians is officially zero[15], as Saudi Arabia forbids religious conversion from Islam (Apostasy) and punishes it by death (Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia)"

Btw, it is not the *christians* who are protesting. They are zealots who can be part of any religion for that matter who use this kind of nonsensical logic. Most of these people might not have even stepped into a church in the past 2-3 years mind.

These people harbor hateful sentiments against Islam and muslims and wish to inculcate prejudice in common folk by making such emotional statements. What about 'freedom of religion' ? Just flew out of the window right ?

Even if we agree with these zealots for a second that KSA is a evil & backward regime that oppresses people of various faith (which by the way is completely untrue). Does this justify you doing the same in your country and snatching away their rights of worship that is safeguarded in your constitution ? So if I follow your logic, you are no less evil than what you claim/blame KSA to be. Lol !

I will reiterate this again, these country's legislature specifically has protection for people for all faith to 'build places of worship' as a part of 'freedom to practice any religion of choice'.

This is the reason why muslims chose to become citizens of these democratic countries in the first place or reside temporarily.

However, KSA follows Islamic Shariah where nothing other than 'La Illaha Illa Allah' makes the cut. No sufi shrines, no temples, no churches, no synagogues. If a practicing christian, jew, Buddhist wishes to practice his religion in peace, just don't go to KSA. Simple !

It is not really that hard to follow this logic.

Wasalaamalaykum waa rahmatullahi
 

BrotherInIslam7

La Illaha Illa Allah
Staff member
As-Salamu 'Alaykum

Pretty simple no Masjid in Vatican so no Church in Saudi Arabia

:wasalam:

We actually don't need to use this an a response at all.

We don't need a masjid in Vatican anyway. Who will go there to pray? Lol. Muslims residing in Vatican is zilch.

This is not the childish 'tit for tat'. This is about laws and common sense.

If a country has no ethnic muslim citizens and outwardly declares in it's constitution that they don't tolerate any other religion than say Christianity or Judaism as the people residing in their nation are Christians or Jewish.

In such a case, muslims shouldn't choose or wish to live/reside in such a country nor should we press for a mosque to be built there.

It is really that simple.

But a nation can't do one of the below and be unjust :-

1) Forbid muslims to practice and preach their faith if you have declared yourself secular and give your citizens and residents the right of 'freedom of religion' in your constitution.

2) If your nation actually has an ethnic muslim population (be it even 0.01%) and are known to have lived/settled there for past 300-500 years. It is upon them to either protect their religious rights (under minority rights) or grant them autonomy in the small pockets where they have settled.

Only if the zealots could understand and accept such a simple theory, the world would be such a better place to live in !

Wasalaamalaykum waa rahmatullahi
 

BigAk

Junior Member
:salam2:
Even if we agree with these zealots for a second that KSA is a evil & backward regime that oppresses people of various faith (which by the way is completely untrue). Does this justify you doing the same in your country and snatching away their rights of worship that is safeguarded in your constitution ? So if I follow your logic, you are no less evil than what you claim/blame KSA to be. Lol !

I'm puzzled as to why you're pointing your finger at me personally... I'm not the one who's throwing this logic around... I'm simply pointing it out; as the Christians seem to successfully use it often. We have to be able to think unbiasedly and penetrate through the oppositions thinking process.

I'm not arguing that Saudi Arabia should not have the right to dictate its own laws; regardless if I agree with it or not. She certainly does. However; freedom of religion is one aspect in Islam that we take pride in. It would be very hypocritical to say لاإكراه في الدين then go on killing apostates without considering their actions on a case by case basis. In the times of the prophet (pbu), an apostate was killed only if they were potentially posing harm to our Ummah and were not killed discriminately. Don't take my word for it ---> Shabir Ally on apostasy in Islam

Bottom line, if a country adheres to the Quran and the teachings of our prophet Muhammad (pbu), Christians and orientalist would have no reason to throw foul accusations at us. Allowing a small minority non-citizen workers to build their own church would solve this problem in my opinion. I recall Christians were free to worship in their own churches under the rule of the Islamic Empire in Spain. That in my opinion was the true spirit of Islam as our beloved Muhammad had conveyed to us 1400 years ago. But, in the case of Saudi Arabia, the system is clearly not following the true orthodox Islam. It sounds like you think that they do. If so, there's no sense of arguing. To you is your opinion, and to me is mine. That's all I have to say about that.... nuf said..

:wasalam:
.
 

BrotherInIslam7

La Illaha Illa Allah
Staff member
I'm puzzled as to why you're pointing your finger at me personally... I'm not the one who's throwing this logic around... I'm simply pointing it out; as the Christians seem to successfully use it often. We have to be able to think unbiasedly and penetrate through the oppositions thinking process.

:wasalam:

You are taking it personally, when you shouldn't. We are expressing views here and I don't understand why you feel that it is you vs me etc. The 'your' was addressed to the 'zealots' who pass off this logic. If you re-read the same paragraph you would understand what I mean. I can't understand why you would think that I would address you with such words. Anyhow, I hope you understand what I meant now..

Secondly, I don't know how you connect this with the topic of apostates. I don't think it has anything to do with apostasy. We were talking about 'a mosque being built'. Nor is anyone calling for the killing for apostates. There are known people in every muslim country who don't pray, fast or give zakah. I haven't come across any news stories of them being prosecuted for the above mentioned reason.

Allowing a small minority non-citizen workers to build their own church would solve this problem in my opinion. I recall Christians were free to worship in their own churches under the rule of the Islamic Empire in Spain.

I don't possess thorough knowledge on Islamic Empire in Spain. But I am pretty sure that when the lands came under Islamic control, a sizeable portion of the people who lived there remained Christians. Hence, it makes sense for the rulers to let them practice their religion. Doing otherwise would be oppression and forcing people to renounce faith due to military might. This would be a 'force conversion' in to Islam which is prohibited in Islam. Rather someone should bring faith in Islam with complete sincerity and out of his/her own will.

However, we are not to assist or help build any place of worship other than one where Almighty Allah is worshiped. This is not out of hate or spite against other faith. It is rather understanding that our religion came with it's foundation built on 'La Illaha Illa Allah'. Now, how can we assist someone to commit gravest sin of Shirk that too on muslim lands ?

And there is a fatwa regarding this which you can read here :- http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/36524

We are to attract non-muslims to our faith and share our beautiful deen with them. This is an obligation on worldwide muslim community as a whole. Rather than build places of worship for them so that they can continue practicing a faith that leads them to Shirk and Kufr which in turn leads to eternity in Hell fire ! If we are their well wishers, we would be actually doing a disservice to them by assisting them in their endeavors.

Wasalaaamalaykum waa rahmatullahi
 

dna1987

Muslim Guy
:wasalam:


If a country has no ethnic muslim citizens and outwardly declares in it's constitution that they don't tolerate any other religion than say Christianity or Judaism as the people residing in their nation are Christians or Jewish.

In such a case, muslims shouldn't choose or wish to live/reside in such a country nor should we press for a mosque to be built there.

It is really that simple.

So, now the right-wing Israeli argument also makes sense, as they have stated themselves to be a Jewish country. The "Jewish-only" settlements all around Israel that forbid Palestinians from entering have a solid background to it then?

And they have plenty of research papers and books stating that the Palestinians do not ethnically belong to that part of the land and that "Palestine" never existed. The Jews however have been ethnically and racially attached to that land for over 2000 years. I reject the Israeli/Zionist argument when they present it. This argument sounds awfully similar.

We are to attract non-[insert-any-religion] to our faith and share our beautiful deen with them. This is an obligation on our worldwide [religious] community as a whole. Rather than build places of worship for them so that they can continue practicing a faith that leads them to [disbelief in our religion] which in turn leads to eternity in Hell fire ! If we are their well wishers, we would be actually doing a disservice to them by assisting them in their endeavors.

I hope we all realise that a member of any religion in the world can use this exact same paragraph for their religion and to back up reasons as to why they should forbid any other religion, including Islam, from practicing on their land. This is our view, but let's not all get surprised and shocked when people of other faiths have a similar view.

It's also silly to bunch an entire group of people from a country as all being "secularists". I'm sure there are many differences of opinions in such countries where democracy prevail, and it seems like in Ethiopia at the moment, there seems to be a group of elected people that feel that their religion is the correct one and others should not be able to build mosques there. Also, I'm not sure if Ethiopia has a strong constitution like the USA that guarantees "freedom of religion".




Assalam alaikum.
 

BigAk

Junior Member
So, now the right-wing Israeli argument also makes sense, as they have stated themselves to be a Jewish country. The "Jewish-only" settlements all around Israel that forbid Palestinians from entering have a solid background to it then?

And they have plenty of research papers and books stating that the Palestinians do not ethnically belong to that part of the land and that "Palestine" never existed. The Jews however have been ethnically and racially attached to that land for over 2000 years. I reject the Israeli/Zionist argument when they present it. This argument sounds awfully similar.

Assalam alaikum.

Very good example.... Thanks.. I hope that brother BrotherInIslam7 will see the flaws in his argument.

.
 

AlMahiahmed

New Member
Salam Bigak,

you should compare aple to aple. Saudi arabia probably comparable with Vatican. You should compare USA with Indonesia, a muslim majority secular country. Yes we do have over 85% muslim and less than 7% Christian and yet we have 4 Christian national holidays, over 14 hundreeds churches in Jakarta alone (Jakarta is about the size of Los Angeles). In USA we muslim and other religion other christian don't have any national holiday.
 

BrotherInIslam7

La Illaha Illa Allah
Staff member
So, now the right-wing Israeli argument also makes sense, as they have stated themselves to be a Jewish country. The "Jewish-only" settlements all around Israel that forbid Palestinians from entering have a solid background to it then?

And they have plenty of research papers and books stating that the Palestinians do not ethnically belong to that part of the land and that "Palestine" never existed. The Jews however have been ethnically and racially attached to that land for over 2000 years. I reject the Israeli/Zionist argument when they present it. This argument sounds awfully similar.

:salam2:

Ofcourse, there are countries who deny minorities (and also non minorities) their religious rights by misrepresenting history to their advantage. They stand little chance to convince the outside world (or their collaborators) about their heinous crimes if they first don't misrepresent historical events and facts, which would oblige them to protect everyone's religious freedom.

Israel has practiced ethnic cleansing through planned evacuations of native Palestinian population (land grab). This is a government which is unjust and uses it's military right to eradicate/suppress the rights of it's native inhabitants.

My post described what countries should be practicing if they wanted to be fair to their people (ideally). You have in reply given me an example of an unjust regime whose foundation is build on racism and blind hate for Arabs/muslims.

In the pre-Israel times, the area was known for religious tolerance. One where muslims offered refuge to jews being persecuted in Europe and elsewhere. Neither was forced to give up their respective faith nor did they demolish eachother's place of worship.

But at the same time, the native Palestinians didn't welcome the jews by building them synagogues or encouraging them to practice/preach their faith. There was an earnest effort to make dawah to them and attract them to Islam.

I hope we all realise that a member of any religion in the world can use this exact same paragraph for their religion and to back up reasons as to why they should forbid any other religion, including Islam, from practicing on their land. This is our view, but let's not all get surprised and shocked when people of other faiths have a similar view.

Most of the countries protect the rights of their citizen to 'freedom of religion' in their constitution. This is true for most of the countries that use insane arguments to stop construction of mosques in Europe. Hence, they have to keep their personal gripes against Islam to themselves as the judicial system should and will protect the rights of muslim citizens in said countries.

There are religious hardliners present in India as well who are hell bent on promoting 'Hinduism' as identity for people of entire India. They even managed to demolish one of our historic mosques in North India on the pretext that they were built on demolished temple sites. However, this brought the judiciary into action which was successful to prevent this happening again. And the rights of a minority was restored in a country that is known for corruption. So, this route of action is possible elsewhere as well.

It's also silly to bunch an entire group of people from a country as all being "secularists". I'm sure there are many differences of opinions in such countries where democracy prevail, and it seems like in Ethiopia at the moment, there seems to be a group of elected people that feel that their religion is the correct one and others should not be able to build mosques there. Also, I'm not sure if Ethiopia has a strong constitution like the USA that guarantees "freedom of religion".

Fair enough. I didn't know that the government of Ethiopia identifies itself as Christian.

However, building churches in KSA is not going to open doors for similar places of worship in Ethiopia for muslims. These are just far fetched excuses by which they deny the rights of their muslim minority citizens. The next thing you know they would be calling Islam a 'satanic religion'. They have already claimed that we muslims are the followers of Anti Christ etc. The ones who are blinded with unreasonable hate and prejudice towards Islam find means to resist Islamic establishment and restricting Islamic observance.
 

dunno

Junior Member
Building a mosque in Saudi Arabia ( My country ) is not debatable brotherinislam has given some reasons but the real reason is that our beloved prophet instructed us that the arabian peninsula should have only 1 religion ( Islam ) therefore there shouldn't be any other places of worship for any other religion it's a hadith of the prophet i don't have time to find it although if one of the brothers can find it and shed more light on this issue it will be appreciated
 

BrotherInIslam7

La Illaha Illa Allah
Staff member
Building a mosque in Saudi Arabia ( My country ) is not debatable brotherinislam has given some reasons but the real reason is that our beloved prophet instructed us that the arabian peninsula should have only 1 religion ( Islam ) therefore there shouldn't be any other places of worship for any other religion it's a hadith of the prophet i don't have time to find it although if one of the brothers can find it and shed more light on this issue it will be appreciated

:salam2:

JazakAllahu Khayran. My post relate only to logical refutation to this often passed on theory by the kuffar. It is only exposing the fallacy of their mindless argument. This comes from common sense and basic understanding of laws in democratic countries.

However, I should remind myself and others that the source for prohibition or allowance for this matter should come from 'revelation' (and you mentioned a hadeeth). This matter should rest in the hand of more knowledgeable scholars and should exclude any interference of laymen like us.

Wasalaaamalaykum waa rahmatullahi
 
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