Monday, October 31, 2005

What's in a name?

Doing some research on the Islamic presence in NY, I ran across this entity whose very name begs the question, What is This!?! In Mount Vernon, NY, there is a "mosque", listed as an incorporated entity, also listed as a medical clinic, called the Jihad Dawah Center. That's right folks, "Jihad" is actually in the name. It's located at 10 S. 2nd Ave., Suite 3, Mount Vernon, NY. You can see it up close in Google Earth. Looks like a commercial block. As it is in "Suite 3", a few other things occupy this address as well. Doesn't seem like a typical location for a "mosque".

Now, if someone could reassure me that this is not, as its name suggests, a jihadi recruitment center/medical clinic, I would appreciate it.

4 comments:

Always On Watch said...

What the hell is this? Wish that I lived close enough to give this a personal look.

Jesse Clark said...

Apparently its some sort of 'alternative medicine' place. At least that's what it was labeled by the search engines that I ran it through. Obviously, it is possible that the 'Jihad' could be the more personal/spiritual version rather than the violent one but who knows.

Dawah Centers are everywhere, as a quick Google search will show you. 'Dawah' means 'invite' or 'invitation', and is an important responsibility for every Muslim. It's evangelism Islam style.

These centers seem to resemble religious charity organizations like the Salvation Army or Union Gospel Mission. Check out this one in Chicago.

Sure, these kinds of places are ripe for conspiracy theories, but at some point an Islamic charity is simply an Islamic charity.

But the 'Jihad' title is a little disconcerting.

Always On Watch said...

Still, I don't like that term "jihad." While it can be used to mean spiritual struggle, the Koran teaches much more than that concept.

citizen_us said...

All islamic charities fund jihad, if a single dollar goes back to the middle east. There is no avoiding it.
It does not mean that the muslims actively support jihad.

OTOH, all devout muslims support jihad.

There is no seperating jihad and devout muslims. Those who think otherwise are only fooling themselves.