The efforts to build a mosque near 9/11 site has raised a controversy in the US. The endeavour has a Kashmir connection apart from the rage that the state witnessed after a pastor proposed to desecrate Quran to protest the construction of the mosque, a Kashmir Life report

Ten thousand kilometres away from Kashmir an Imam and his Srinagar-born wife share a dream to build a mosque that is termed by many Americans as too offensive for its proximity to the World Trade Centre site.

Soon a controversy erupted and protestors in the US dubbed it a “memorial to 9/11 hijackers”. The debate whether to allow the construction of mosque at the proposed site engulfed entire US. In the charged up atmosphere, an extremist pastor threatened to burn the holy Quran on September 11, in protest against the construction of the mosque. The pastor gave up after the worldwide outrage against the proposed act, but another extremist desecrated the holy book on that very day.  As the media picked up the story Kashmiris picked up rage. This time it erupted in Tangmarg causing six deaths, and more than thirty firearm injuries, the day ended with total of 18 dead, making it the deadliest day in the three months of current uprising.

The ironic coincidence is the Kashmir angle. The mosque at the centre of the controversy at New York is being planned by a Kuwait born Imam Rouf Faesal and his Kashmiri wife Daisy Khan.

Daisy Khan the wife of Imam Faisal, originally from Barzulla is in the eye of storm along with his husband – a moderate Muslim. After the mosque initiative known as Park51 mosque the couple has found itself in the limelight, hogging headlines not only in the US but entire world.

Daisy is a professional interior architect. Since 2005 she has worked full-time for the two non-profit organizations founded by Rauf besides, at times, functioning as his spokesperson.

She is Executive Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), a non-profit organization dedicated to developing an American Muslim identity and to building bridges between the Muslim community and general public through dialogue in faith, identity, culture, and arts. Khan mentors young Muslims on challenges of assimilation, gender, religion and modernity, and intergenerational differences. In the aftermath of 9/11, Khan created interfaith programs to emphasize commonalities among the Abrahamic faiths, such as a groundbreaking theatre titled Same Difference and the interfaith Cordoba Bread Fest.

The ambitious mosque project will cost anywhere between $100mn and$150mn. It is not just a mosque but a full-fledged Islamic centre comprising of 13 floors of glass and concrete. The proposed building will have a dome-shaped top floor and will house a 500-seat performing arts centre, culinary school, exhibition space, swimming pool, gym, basketball court, restaurant, library and art studios. Prayers will be held at the top two floors. “We insist on calling it a prayer space and not a mosque, because you can use a prayer space for activities apart from prayer. You can’t stop anyone who is a Muslim despite his religious ideology from entering the mosque and staying there,” said Daisy Khan, who runs the American Society for Muslim Advancement, from an office housed on the Upper West Side’s famed Riverside Church, while talking to Financial Times. “With a prayer space, we can control who gets to use it.”

Khan is the niece of Dr. Farooq Khan, formerly a leader of the Westbury Mosque on Long Island. Khan, a doctor, is a well-respected community leader in Long Island, New York. He is also from Kashmir and has the privilege of opening the Islamic Centre Long Island (ICLI) mosque and Islamic Centre back in 1982. His wife Arfa Khan is also a doctor.

To prioritize the improvement of Muslim-West relations and the advancement of Muslim women globally, Daisy has launched two cutting-edge intra-faith programs to start movements of change agents among the two disempowered majorities of the Muslim world: youth and women.

The MLT (Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow) and WISE (Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality) programs were launched at an international scale in Doha (MLT) and in Malaysia (WISE). Both programs seek to empower and build networks in their target groups and to facilitate the emergence of a leadership that speaks with a credible, humane, and equitable voice in the global Muslim community.

Daisy frequently lectures and debates in the US and internationally. She has previously debated Christopher Hitchens on National Public Radio. After the Danish cartoon crisis, she moderated a discussion in Denmark between young Muslims and Flemming Rose, the original publisher of the controversial cartoons. In May, 2007 Daisy became the first Muslim woman to speak at Thanksgiving Square in Dallas, Texas on the National Day of Prayer.

Daisy frequently comments on important issues in the media. In July 2007, Khan appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine along with 40 members of ASMA.

She is the recipient of several awards, including the Interfaith Center’s Award for Promoting Peace and Interfaith Understanding, the Auburn Seminary’s Lives of Commitment Award, Hunt Alternatives Prime Movers Award, Women’s E-News 21st leaders for 21st century, and Jericho High School Alumni Hall of Fame Award.

Born in Kashmir, India, Daisy spent the first 25 years of her career as an interior architect at various Fortune 500 companies. In 2005, she decided to fully dedicate herself to elevating the discourse on Islam, improving the lives of Muslims and non-Muslims globally through ASMA and its sister organization Cordoba Initiative.

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