Dear Brother and Sister Anglicans:<\/p>\n
It is a beautiful building, isn\u2019t it? Those white spires reaching into a perfect blue sky! Today, November 14, 2014, that building, the Episcopal Diocese of Washington\u2019s National Cathedral, will for the first time offer Muslim Friday Prayers (Jumu\u2019ah) within the sanctuary.<\/p>\n
The prayers, which the Cathedral will proudly webcast live from their website, will be co-sponsored by the leaders of such Muslim organizations as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), and Masjid Mohammed (The Nation\u2019s Mosque), as well as South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool and the Cathedral\u2019s Director of Liturgy, the Rev. Canon Gina Campbell. CAIR, ISNA, MPAC, and ADAMS are all affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (the Ikhwan).<\/p>\n
I took the photo of the National Cathedral in 2006 while I was with hundreds of Iranian Americans \u201d\u201d both Christian and Muslim \u201d\u201d protesting the Cathedral\u2019s invitation to former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami to speak there. Family members of those who languished and\/or died in Iranian prisons held posters with their loved ones\u2019 pictures. Other signs showed women being stoned \u201d\u201d during the years of Khatami\u2019s presidency or tenure as Minister of Culture.<\/p>\n