02/28/06: Muslim groups call for unity

Detroit Free Press- February 28, 2006

Muslim groups call for unity

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

February 28, 2006

Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims in metro Detroit say they will continue this week to call for unity in light of sectarian tensions in Iraq.Since Friday, there have been public forums every night inside Michigan mosques that feature both Sunni and Shi’ite speakers. The leaders have decided to continue the partnership at 7 tonight at the American Islamic Community Center in Madison Heights. 

There will be a similar program Friday at the Unity Center mosque in Bloomfield Hills. On Monday night, a Sunni imam led prayers at the Karbalaa Islamic Educational Center in Dearborn, which has a Shi’ite congregation. “We have to stand in Iraq together,’’ said Imam Husham Al-Husainy, head of the Karbalaa Center. “No matter how much they try to divide us, we will be united.” 

The forum Monday night featured Sunni, Shi’ite, and Iraqi Christian leaders. “It is our duty to show to people a true picture of Islam,’’ said Shaykh Musa, a Sunni leader from the Unity Center mosque. Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, a Shi’ite leader who heads the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights said, we must stop the “disease of extremism.”

Dawud Walid, a Sunni leader who is director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, urged the crowd: “Don’t divide yourself.” The previous forums were on Friday at the Islamic House of Wisdom, on Saturday at the Islamic Center of America, and on Sunday at the Islamic Institute of Knowledge in Dearborn.

“Don’t divide yourself.” The previous forums were on Friday at the Islamic House of Wisdom, on Saturday at the Islamic Center of America, and on Sunday at the Islamic Institute of Knowledge in Dearborn.