A young man sits quietly in the back of the Lodi Mosque as members gather for their daily prayer Monday with the temporary Imam Abdul Rashid, who has taken over since Mohammad Adil Khan was fired. (Angelina Gervasi/News-Sentinel)

Lodi mosque leaders fire imam

Leaders of the Lodi Muslim Mosque have fired Shabbir Ahmed, the imam jailed on immigration charges and accused of supporting the Taliban.

"He will not return to our mosque," said Mohammed Shoaib, mosque president, who added that the decision by board members to terminate Ahmed was unanimous. They voted on Ahmed's dismissal Sunday night.

Arrested earlier this month on immigration violations, Ahmed acknowledged in court Friday that he made speeches in Pakistan supporting the Taliban in its fight against the United States. He said he regrets those comments now, having come to see Americans' "true value and respect for human life."

Shoaib said Ahmed's admission that he spoke out against America was only part of the reason for his firing.

In a wide-ranging interview Monday, Shoaib and mosque board member Malik Ahmad said Ahmed lost the support of many mosque members. That erosion of faith, they said, was connected to Ahmed's keen drive to create a regional school, known as the Farooqia Islamic Center, to the detriment of the local mosque and its membership.

"We are searching for a new imam now, preferably an imam who is not from Pakistan," Shoaib said.

Members want a spiritual leader who knows the Quran and can speak not only English and Urdu, but Arabic, he added.

A local resident, Abdul Rashid, has agreed to serve as interim imam, without pay, until a permanent cleric can be named.

Ahmed is one of five local Muslims arrested this month on federal charges. Also arrested on immigration counts were Ahmed's mentor, Mohammad Adil Khan, and Khan's 19-year-old son, Mohammad Hassan Adil. Immigration officials say religious visas that allowed Ahmed and Adil Khan to enter and remain in the country have expired; Adil Khan's son relies on his father's religious status to remain here as well.

Umer and Hamid Hayat were arrested on charges of lying to federal agents. The FBI says the younger Hayat trained at an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan with the knowledge and support of his father, who drove an ice cream truck on Lodi's Eastside.

Shabbir Ahmed

Shoaib and Ahmad, the mosque leaders, spoke at length over a division in the mosque they say was created largely by a push from Ahmed and Adil Khan to build the Farooqia Islamic Center.

They say that Adil Khan, a Muslim scholar and lecturer, arrived in Lodi about four years ago and became committed to the idea of building the center on land owned by the local mosque. As outlined by Adil Khan, the center would serve Muslims and others from throughout Northern California. Several of the board members and key supporters are from the Bay Area.

A Lodi Mosque member drapes a cloth over himself before the temporary imam gathers with others for their daily prayer Monday. (Angelina Gervasi/News-Sentinel)

Adil Khan's father founded the Farooqia Islamic Center in Pakistan, which serves people from all over the world. Adil Khan reportedly had a vision for a similar progressive school here.

Saad Ahmad, the attorney for both Ahmed and Adil Khan, could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

The mosque leaders say Adil Khan, in effect, orchestrated the removal of a previous Lodi imam and installed his protégé, Ahmed, to continue shepherding plans for the Farooqia Center on Lower Sacramento Road.

They contend Adil Khan was never, in fact, the official imam of the mosque but more of a spiritual leader.

After becoming mosque president in November of 2003, Shoaib said he became deeply concerned after learning that Adil Khan was on the mosque payroll -- even though his primary allegiance and work was for the Farroqia project.

As the project moved forward, many mosque members became resentful because it seemed their imam and his mentor were more interested in establishing the Farooqia school than caring for the local mosque and Muslim community.

"We were not that clear on Adil Khan's agenda, on his vision for the center, but we knew we were being asked to support it," Shoaib said.

Later, he and other leaders became angry when Ahmed spoke publicly in favor of the Farooqia project at a county Planning Commission meeting. As the imam, Ahmed should not have injected himself so publicly into a controversial project, Shoaib said.

The center and its financing are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit.

Shoaib acknowledged filling out an immigration form attesting that Adil Khan was not an official imam.

A member from the Lodi Mosque enters the area where men line up for prayer. (Angelina Gervasi/News-Sentinel)

It was not clear Monday what bearing, if any, the firing of Ahmed would have on his immigration case.

Khan and Ahmed called for peace and fellowship with local Christians and Jews. Some local Muslims claim the current board isn't as interested in reaching out to the broader community and wants to embrace a more fundamental brand of Islam.

Shoaib flatly denied that, saying the differences are a result of the push for the Farooqia Center over the interests of the local mosque. He and the board have no problems reaching out to those of other faiths, he said.

At this point, he believes healing is possible -- after the courts determine the fate of Ahmed and Adil Khan.

"Once justice is done, we will shake hands and make friends," Shoaib said Monday.

"I want to tell my brothers, forget about the past."

News-Sentinel City Editor Jennifer Pearson Bonnett contributed to this report.

Contact Editor Richard Hanner at richardh@lodinews.com.