We should have a State in which we could live and breathe as free men and which we could develop according to our own lights and culture and where principles of Islamic social justice could find free play.
Imam Rauf and his backers have every legal right to build their extravagant Islamic center within the lethal radius of Ground Zero. But the rest of us have the right to question why they insist on doing so.
In the early centuries of Islam the great schools of Islamic jurisprudence were built upon the above principles. Basic to all their legal systems they developed the doctrine that liberty is the fundamental basis of law.
Throughout the past there has been a lack of intimacy affection and regard for Islam by Christianity. This to a large extent has been due to a lack of knowledge of the great human and spiritual ideals for which Islam and the teachings of Islam stand.
They do not understand Islam and I think that is one area where perhaps I hope one day I will play a role in actually making people understand what we perceive Islam to be.
This is a good time to ask apologists for the Islamic regime who degrades Islam? Who imposes stoning forced marriage of underage girls and flogging for not wearing the veil? Do such practices represent Iran's ancient history and culture its ethnic and religious diversity? Its centuries of sensual and subversive poetry?
There is a Western world. There is America. There is Great Britain and Germany and France and Russia and China and other nations. I doubt that there is one country amongst those I mentioned which has a desire to see Iran with its fundamentalist Islamic extremist government possessing nuclear weapons.
The Islam of the 18th 19th and first half of the 20th century was a poor thing. Nobody bothered about it. Islam was that funny sort of pure system of beliefs that depressed people in the Middle East held as their religion.
We can't equate democracy with Christianity because the largest democracy on earth is India which is primarily Hindu. The third largest democracy is Indonesia which is Islamic. Democracy and freedom are not dependent on Christian beliefs.
All people hope Islam helps everything in life. Islam will make jobs. Islam will make freedom. Islam will make everything.
Our strength in finance has led us to set up an international financial centre with medium and long-term objectives especially to develop Islamic financial and insurance services.
In a World where people are surrounded by darkness ignorance and fear it is a sign of hope to be celebrating Islam's message of peace and light and the last great Messenger born and chosen to deliver them to all mankind.
The enemy is not Islam the great world faith but a perversion of Islam.
If there are Muslims who believe that they've got to kill Christians to make a way for the Islamic faith in the West not only would they be disappointed but it will lead to conflict there's no doubt about that.
The hajj is one of the five essential practices of Islam when they make the pilgrimage to Mecca Muslims ritually act out the central principles of their faith.
Ever since the Crusades when Christians from western Europe were fighting holy wars against Muslims in the near east western people have often perceived Islam as a violent and intolerant faith - even though when this prejudice took root Islam had a better record of tolerance than Christianity.
Moderation is part of faith so those who accuse Muslim schools of fostering fanaticism should learn a bit more about Islam.