Mosque dispute

Jawaid Iqbal, left, and Syed Rahimuddin, center, urge Shahan Zaidi to support the lawsuit against the leaders of the Islamic Center of Northridge. The suit accuses mosque leaders of violating California laws governing nonprofit board elections, open membership and financial transparency. (Bret Hartman, For The Times / January 31, 2011) 

On a Friday afternoon in October, men in black security T-shirts and matching cargo pants roamed the parking lot and perimeter of the Islamic Center of Northridge as worshipers arrived for weekly prayers.

Several Los Angeles Police Department patrol cars were parked nearby as officers kept a watchful eye on a demonstration out front. About 30 men yelled and held up signs. One waved a small American flag as another denounced the mosque’s religious leader as a devil.

Worshipers, looking uncomfortable, hurried past and into the building.

It’s a scene reminiscent of others across the country where new and existing mosques have faced heated opposition in recent months. But the protests at the Islamic Center’s main mosque in Granada Hills are different, not demonstrations by anti-Islamic groups but a struggle between rival Muslim groups over control of the institution.

The two sides, each made up mainly of Pakistani and Afghan immigrants, are battling in court over leadership elections and greater openness at the Granada Hills mosque and an older satellite center in Northridge. The dispute has taken on an ugly, ethnically charged tone, including heated rhetoric about which group is more American in dress, accent and behavior.

The parties have traded accusations of radicalism as each side tries to discredit the other, sometimes using comparisons and accusations that American Muslims are more accustomed to hearing from critics outside their communities.

In one lawsuit, a dissident group accuses the mosque leaders of methods that “resemble Taliban-style tactics one might presume to exist only outside the boundaries of the United States.”

The suit also quotes a threatening, profane voicemail message it says was left for one of the plaintiffs, in which the caller allegedly said, “Don’t

This entry was posted on Monday, January 31st, 2011, 5:36 pm and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.