UNITED NATIONS, 31 January 2005 — Every Friday at a penthouse hall above the Dag Hammarskjold Library at UN headquarters in New York, one can hear the Adhan, recitation from the Holy Qur’an, and Khutba.
Muslim UN staff members and delegates can be seen arriving at the penthouse hall to offer Friday prayers. The arrangements have been made specifically for Muslims affiliated with the United Nations, who wish to offer Friday prayers.
But on Friday, Jan. 21, there were no Friday prayers as the United Nations, as it was closed for an Eid-Al-Adha holiday, followed by the weekend.
The weekly arrangements for Friday prayers at the United Nations are under the auspices of the Islamic Cultural Society of the United Nations, whose President Yehia Abu Alam of Egypt, holds the position of technical adviser at the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Do political differences among Islamic countries influence as to who participates in prayer congregations? “There are differences, but when they come to pray, there are none,” Abu Alam said in an interview.
He said those offering prayers at the United Nations include all nationalities. Women offer prayers at the same time and in the congregation as men.
He noted that the Islamic Cultural Society also arranges for cultural and recreational events for persons affiliated with the UN, and their families.
Abu Alam explained that after the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack, there is concern that Muslims in general have unfairly become targets of discrimination in Western countries. Discussions on this subject such as last month’s UN seminar on “Confronting Islamophobia: Education for Tolerance and Understanding” were helping to dispel negative myths, according to him.
The keynote speaker for the seminar was Syed Hossein Nasr, professor of Islamic Studies, George Washington University, Washington DC. Other speakers included Syed Ahmad Kamal Aboulmagd, professor of public law, Cairo University, and judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal; Hany El-Banna, president Islamic Relief, London Seminary; John L. Esposito, university professor and founding director, Georgetown University Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding; Asma Gull Hasan, author, Why I am a Muslim and American Muslims: the New Generation; and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, president of American Sufi Muslim Association.
Seminar speakers felt that among the negative perceptions that needed to be dispelled was that Muslims were opposed to the West. They emphasized that unresolved political conflicts in areas of the world with a Muslim majority, often led to the mistaken perception of an Islamic reaction against Western values, resulting in an anti-Islamic backlash.
When the UN building is closed on a Friday, as for an Eid-Al-Adha holiday, what alternative places are available for Muslims to pray? Yehia Abu Alam pointed out that there are several mosques scattered in the five boroughs of New York City, including the landmark Islamic Cultural Center of New York, with its twin locations on New York’s upper East Side and West Side.
The chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Cultural Center is Ms. Nabeela Al-Mulla, ambassador of Kuwait to the United Nations.
Sheikh Omar Saleem Abu Namous, imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, said in an interview that on the occasion of Eid, prayers are offered about “four or five times” with a “multitude of about 10,000 people.”
For Friday prayers during the year, he estimated that approximately 1600 people come to the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. For weekends the figure is between 300 and 400, and for other days of the week the daily congregational prayers comprise 150 to 200 persons. During Ramadan, the center arranges for iftar every evening, as well as Tarawih prayers and recitation from the Holy Qur’an every night.
In addition, about 100 marriage ceremonies per year are performed at the Islamic Cultural Center, Namous added. On Saturdays and Sundays, classes in Islamic studies and the Arabic language take place. Special classes are also held on Tajwid Al-Qur’an, and for newly converted Muslims.
The imam, who is Palestinian, has pictures in his office of visitors to the Islamic Cultural Center. He said he and his staff receive about 300 visiting groups per year. The center is open to visits by organized groups from schools, universities, churches, and architectural groups and to tours.
“After Sept.11 our interfaith contacts have increased greatly, and we do our best to go out and attend conferences,” Namous elaborated. The objective is to inform the public on subjects such a religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Namous said the Islamic Cultural Center provides financial help to needy Muslims. Several persons were seen filling out applications for financial aid.
Asked about how finances are raised for such activities, Namous explained that Muslim countries, mainly Kuwait and other Gulf states, provide funding.