Why Guzzardi is wrong on the Islamic school

Joe Guzzardi's hatred of the Muslim community has surpassed the meanness he has exhibited in his previous columns about Mexican immigrants. His criterion of justice is -- innocent until proven to be "immigrant."

Perhaps with this emotion of extreme bias dripping through the words in his column he forgot to check his facts. Let me provide some.

There were at least six applications for churches and temples (some with classrooms) in 2005 which were approved by the San Joaquin Planning Commission.

The application for Farooqia Islamic Center followed the customary and normal process that is applicable to any religious organization. The traffic impacts were studied by the experts in their field under the supervision of the county staff so that objections of the ignorant can be answered.

All impacts were mitigated to the satisfaction of the Planning Commission staff, who recommended approval.

Additionally, agreements were signed with the dairy owners around the area so that their dairy operation will not be affected. Commitments were made to the Farm Bureau for the center to be a good neighbor.

There were more than 400 people present during the Planning Commission public hearing. The commissioners heard all those who were in favor and those who were against the application. There were Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and Jews who supported the application for the center.

The applicant has met all the requirements of traffic, noise, lighting, safety, loss of agricultural land as they relate to land use application. Based on these facts the commissioners decided to approve the application.

The Muslim community has been at the forefront of bringing religious faiths together. I, together with our Imams and sister Najwa, have visited many churches as well as synagogues in Lodi, Stockton, Sacramento, Davis, and Woodland to spread the message of peace and understanding among all faiths.

We have invited many Christians and Jews to the Mosque. Rabbis and pastors have broken bread with us at our homes and we have been invited to their homes.

We have shared the altars, members (from where Imams deliver sermons), and bema (Jewish equivalent of the altar) with them.

By doing all this in the last four years, we have brought more goodwill and understanding than Mr. Guzzardi can ever do with his columns, even if he tries, all his life.

Blaming Muslims of Lodi for spreading hate is totally unwarranted.

The concept of a center where Muslim as well as non-Muslim men, women, and children can get together, worship, play, get secular education as well as learn about Islam and other faiths was conceived in 1991. A place where weddings could be solemnized, funerals could take place, children could play in security, and cultural events could take place has been needed for a long time.

After 14 years of struggle of convincing the community, collecting money, finding parcels of land, and following the laws of permitting, I showed some excitement at the approval and complimented the Planning Commission at their unbiased decision. Why a simple compliment can be misconstrued and questioned by Mr. Guzzardi is beyond me.

Yes, Mr. Guzzardi, all the money for the center was raised right here in the United States. Nothing came from overseas or Mr. Bush's friends in Saudi Arabia. This fact could easily have been checked by Mr. Guzzardi but he cared not to.

Daniel Pipes is an Islam-phobic hate monger.

When someone quotes Mr. Pipes as if he is knowledgeable or unbiased authentic scholar does a great deal of disservice to his arguments.

According to Mr. Pipes all ills in the world are caused by Muslims. And it is all because they study the Quran and follow the Islamic faith.

He forgets that the more than 75 million people were killed in wars in the 20th century and perhaps less than one tenth of one percent of the killing was done by Muslims.

The other 99.9 percent of the killing in Europe and other places was done by people who profess faiths other than Islam. And the majority of these people were civilians. A good example are casualties of Dresden and London during World War II.

Even the FBI could not charge Imam Adil and Imam Shabbir with any crime. If they were guilty of any crime, the FBI will not allow them to leave the country at their free will.

Even at the hearing on Aug. 9 of Imam Shabbir's visa violations, the Homeland Security attorneys could not produce one iota of evidence either for his visa violations or his connection with terrorism.

But Mr. Guzzardi and others in the media have convicted them and ready to hang them.

Reference was made to the feuds among factions of Muslims in Lodi. Feuds in religious communities are not unusual.

How else did we end up with so many churches in the small city of Lodi?

I do not get why a feud in Muslim community makes the front page of the Lodi newspaper.

Without making an effort to find the facts, judging someone before they have done anything wrong, and then publishing opinions in a newspaper, is either shoddy journalism or deep-seated bias. And I am inclined to say it is the latter.

Taj Khan of Lodi is a consultant and retired engineering manager for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. He may be contacted at tajk@lodinews.com.

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