MARYLAND – As America’s divisive election campaign continues to fuel Islamophobia, hopes are riding high on the inauguration of Maryland’s new Islamic center and its ability to help win over Americans’ trust.
“Christians in general don’t know a lot of Muslims personally,” Nabill Abdulle, 24, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Thursday, May 19.
“It’s just a lack of understanding.”
Abdulle said he hopes the opening of Maryland’s new Islamic center, inaugurated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would reverse the rising anti-Muslim trend.
The Diyanet Center of America is the largest such facility in the country, a massive complex surrounding a mosque built in 16th-century Ottoman style.
The Turkish government financed and built the $110 million center.
At its inauguration last month, Erdogan devoted half his speech to denouncing the “anti-Muslim atmosphere” in the US during an election campaign dominated by the rhetoric of Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump, who has proposed banning all Muslim visitors.
Abdulle has never visited the complex in person, but hopes the Turkish leader is right.
His mosque, opened in 1994 in a single-story red-brick building that also houses the Prince George’s County Muslim Association, still serves the majority of Lanham’s Muslim community.
“We talk about Islamophobia a lot because this is an escalating issue,” the association’s religious director Ahmad Azzaari says from his office facing the prayer hall.
“The issue of Islamophobia is one of the main points of our agenda for six months now.”
Azzaari aims to teach Muslims to practice Islam “in a way that will tell American people that we are American like you, that we love this land, we respect the laws of this land, we love this soil,” he says.
Fighting Islamophobia
Build in a residential area surrounded by expensive houses, the construction of the Diyanet Center prompted no hostility in an area known for strong reactions to much less ambitious projects.
Decorated with gardens designed for tourists as well as locals, the center includes a museum of Islamic art, Turkish bath, Olympic-sized swimming pool, sports fields and a library, all aimed at attracting visitors.
The fight against Islamophobia is “one of the objectives,” says Diyanet secretary general Ahmet Aydilek at the entrance of the mosque whose marble pillars, inlaid gold writing and stained glass recall the splendor of the Ottoman Empire’s golden era.
Trying to fulfill its goal, the center has hosted no fewer than 400 visits by groups representing various beliefs in the past six months.
It also hosts “inter-religious activities,” inviting local synagogue and church members to use the center’s extensive facilities.
All that “maybe has sent the right message,” Aydilek says.
“All these messages about Islamophobia and the bigotry and hateful messages especially brought by the politicians are happening during the election cycle,” he says.
“We are thinking and hoping that these are all temporary.”
Residents living near the center agree.
“This is wonderful for tourism and also to have an interfaith type of situation where people can learn about each other,” Louise Werner says.
Aydilek said that Trump would be welcome to visit the center, adding that his presence would “send the right message to the Muslims in this country,” and provide an opportunity to bury the hatchet.