The president of Howard County's only Muslim congregation wants to meet with Clarksville residents to allay fears about his group's proposal to build a mosque.
Sayed Hassan, president of the Dar-Al-Taqwa Muslim congregation, said he was disturbed by the "unfair stereotypes" of Muslims as terrorists and extremists voiced during a county Planning Board hearing last week -- comments that planning board members now say "shocked" them.
"The message that we get is the neighbors just have some fear -- 'Who are these people and what do you want to do?' " Mr. Hassan, of Columbia, said.
"We are willing to sit with them and work out their concerns. We want to relieve that fear."
Mr. Hassan said he hopes soon to schedule a meeting with any concerned Clarksville residents. The Planning Board has given his group two months to return with specific plans.
Fears about the congregation's proposal to build a mosque in Clarksville were expressed by the Rev. Richard Rodes.
A retired Christian minister, Mr. Rodes said during the hearing Wednesday that he's worried about the potential for extremism within all religious groups.
As examples, he cited Hamas, the Islamic fundamentalist group in the Middle East, and the Davidian cult in Waco, Texas. He said he's worried that the mosque would become a "training grounds for Muslim terrorists."
Mr. Rodes' comments came in response to the congregation's goal of building the county's first mosque -- a 20,000-square-foot facility with a 34-foot-high minaret -- off Route 108, just east of Manor Lane. Mr. Rodes lives next to the property.
Yesterday, a leader in Howard County's religious community rejected the retired minister's comments.
"It is not helpful for anyone to define any group by its most extreme members," said Rabbi Martin Siegel, the former president of the Howard County Clergy for Social Justice and head of the Columbia Jewish Congregation.
"By that standard, any group of any kind would be unwelcome. This is one person. I don't think this reflects the general attitude of the community."
After the Planning Board meeting last week, Mr. Rodes said he met with some members of the Dar-Al-Taqwa congregation at a Thanksgiving celebration, and "we were quite friendly."
He added that he, too, would be willing to meet with the group to discuss its proposed mosque.
"I find their coming into our community fascinating," Mr. Rodes said. "I would be delighted to meet with them and other members of the group."
Mr. Hassan, a 10-year Howard County resident from Egypt, said Howard County's Muslims are not extremist, but are longtime residents who want a place to worship and teach their children values.
"We are very well-educated and are U.S. citizens," Mr. Hassan said. "We have been in Howard County for many years. We just want to have a place for our kids to worship like other kids."
Before the Dar-Al-Taqwa congregation organized in August 1992, Howard County's Muslims had to travel to Baltimore, Laurel or Washington to worship.
In 1992, the congregation of about 200 Muslim families leased a suite at the Wilde Lake Village Center for a temporary mosque until a permanent place of worship was found.
The proposed location is an existing house on a 6.8-acre tract in western Howard County. The proposal also calls for a second phase that would involve building a new mosque in five years.
According to other testimony at the hearing, some neighbors are concerned about increased traffic on an already dangerous section of Route 108, the possibility of bright parking lot lights disturbing them at night and the potential loss of woodlands.
Mr. Rodes' comments about terrorism and religious extremism left Planning Board members thinking about what they could have done to prevent members of Dar-Al-Taqwa from being insulted, said Planning Board Chairwoman Joan Lancos. At the hearing, no board member countered his comments directly.
"The members of the board were shocked by what this sweet, gentle-looking man said," Ms. Lancos said.
"But Reverend Rodes has the right to say whatever he feels about a concern he may have. It really was one of those First Amendment type things."