It is not tolerant to embrace intolerance

Daddy issues at E. Side institution

By CHUCK BENNETT

More than 20 years ago, then-Mayor Ed Koch shouted, "Allah akbar!" or "God is great," in a show of support at the groundbreaking of the Islamic Society of New York -- the massive Upper East Side mosque that attracts thousands of worshipers every Friday.

That project was the brainchild of the late Mohammed Rauf, an Egyptian-born Islamic scholar who spent more than two decades securing millions in Middle Eastern donations to erect New York's first mosque designed and built as a house of worship.

Officially opened in 1991, the $25 million mosque endured its share of controversy, such as a dispute between two of its imams as to whether Islamic extremists orchestrated 9/11.

But the mosque, a modern design by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, has endured as a centerpiece of Muslim life.

Now Feisal Abdul Rauf seeks to follow in his father's footsteps with the Park 51 project -- the so-called Ground Zero mosque -- and appears to be following the course set by his father,

The younger Rauf has said he plans to get the $100 million he needs from Islamic nations.

The elder Rauf, who taught in Cairo and Kuwaiti universities before migrating to New York City in 1965, wasn't satisfied with converted storefronts and assembly halls that Muslims had been using.

With $1.3 million in Kuwaiti, Saudi and Libyan cash, he purchased apartment buildings on the corner of Third Avenue and East 96th Street.

For the next 20 years, the elder Rauf, who died in 2004 at age 87, compiled building permits from the city, reached out to public officials -- and, finding local donations anemic, he toured the Islamic world to secure funding.

Ultimately, money poured in from individuals and governments in 46 nations.

The project, however, was still beset by controversy. Governments of the various donor countries vied for influence, and architect Aly Dadras was fired, allegedly because he hired a Jewish-owned firm as a technical consultant, according to news reports.

In October 2001, the mosque's imam, Sheik Muhammad Gemeaha, blamed the 9/11 attacks on Jews. He then immediately resigned and returned to his native Egypt.

The next month, his replacement, Imam Omar Saleem Abu-Namous, said he needed proof that Islamic extremists were behind the attack.

Rauf, at this time, had relinquished day-to-day management and was involved in a Washington mosque.

The younger Rauf has remained on the board of the Islamic Center of New York but has devoted his time to his own house of worship, the al-Farah Mosque in lower Manhattan.