Two-Part Story About a Muslim Center in Maryland

Group questions 'expensive PR campaign' for Muslim center

Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
November 1, 2007

A spokesman for a grassroots activist group opposing the proposed construction of a large Islamic worship and recreation center in a small Western Maryland town says the plan threatens the rural community's infrastructure.

The Walkersville Board of Zoning Appeals will be holding a public hearing on January 8 on a request by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for a special exception to the town's agricultural zoning ordinance. The Silver Spring, Maryland-based Muslim group wants to construct a large worship and recreational center on a 224-acre plot of farmland in Walkersville that would attract up to 10,000 Muslim worshippers once or twice a year.

Steve Berryman is with Citizens for Walkersville, a group that has been circulating a petition opposing the request for a special exception. He believes the media has unfairly characterized local "farmers, football coaches and engineers" who are members of the grassroots organization.

"I've been very disappointed by a lot of the media portrayal of what's going on here," he says. "It really smacks of yellow journalism." According to Berryman, one local retired commentator has even compared Walkersville citizens with the Ku Klux Klan.

The Ahamdiyya Community has said it likes the farm because it would provide a large buffer zone between the worship facility and the town. Berryman questions that argument.

"It seems that they want a buffer zone from us, but at the same time they say we're a wonderful and peaceful people, and they love our land," the community activist explains. "Well, if we're such a nice, peaceful people that they want to join, why do they need a buffer zone?"

According to Berryman, the Muslim group's effort to win over residents has been comparable to a "formal expensive public relations campaign from a large multi-national corporation."


Tomorrow in Part Two of this special series, the Ahmaddiyah Muslim Community speaks regarding its desire to purchase the Walkersville farm and convert it into a "community center."

Muslim group defends plan to build facility in Maryland town

Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
November 2, 2007

A spokesman for a Muslim group that is seeking to construct a large worship and recreation facility on a farm in a small western Maryland town is seeking to allay the fears of residents who believe the Muslim center would threaten their quality of life.

The Walkersville Board of Zoning Appeals will be holding a public hearing January 8 on a request by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for a special exception to the town's agricultural zoning ordinance. The Silver Spring, Maryland-based Muslim group is seeking to build a large worship and recreational center that would attract up to 10,000 Muslim worshippers for a two-day conference each year.

Syed Ahmad, the Ahmadiyyah Community's project manager, says the planned facility will not be a convention center, but rather a multi-purpose community center that will include two gymnasiums that can be used for both recreation and worship. "Obviously they will be used, and available for the local community, to the local athletic association, or the high school, or other organizations, churches, or other non-profit organizations," explains Ahmad.

Ahmad says he has been trying to explain to locals that his group's brand of Islam does not promote violence. He says that they follow the teachings of a leader who taught his followers to love and respect others. According to Ahmad, the Ahmadiyyah Community has a more than 100-year record of non-violence, and believes in secular government and basic human rights. Because of that, he says, its members have been persecuted in the Muslim countries that they come from.