Place of prayer at stadium welcomed
Home News Tribune Online 11/24/05
By RICK MALWITZ
STAFF WRITER
rmalwitz@thnt.com
When two of the losingest teams in the National Football League meet Sunday at Giants Stadium, an area will be set aside for something both teams would likely welcome. Prayer.
Beginning with the game between the Jets and New Orleans Saints — which have each lost eight of 10 games this season — an area will be set aside for people of all faiths "for personal relection," according to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Setting aside space at Giants Stadium and the Continental Airlines Arena follows an incident Sept. 19 when five Muslims were questioned by the FBI after their prayer near an air duct at the stadium raised suspicion.
"This is a good gesture on their part. I hope it will be an example to all sports teams," said Mostafa Khalifa of Howell, one of the five men who missed much of the Sept. 19 game while they were questioned by authorities.
"This is a great step for all religions," said Sami Shaban of Piscataway, who organized the trip to the game when scarce tickets to a Giants home game were made available after the game was moved from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"We live in a changing society, we are trying to be as respectful as possible to all of our patrons," said George R. Zoffinger, president and CEO of the authority.
"We reached out to the community that felt offended, and we consulted with other religious people as well. This will be a space available for everyone to come and reflect in their own personal manner. It is not specific to any one religion or denomination," Zoffinger said.
A press release by the Sports and Exposition Authority did not use the word "prayer," using "reflection" instead.
The space will be called the "Quiet Space." It will resemble places available at hospitals and airports, although the exact location has not yet been
identified. Fans wanting to know its location will be instructed to ask personnel with Event Staff uniforms.
Shaban and Khalifa, whose friendship began when the two attended Rutgers University, adhere to the beliefs of the Muslim faith, which calls on believers to pray five times a day, during specific windows of time.
They are not subtle prayers: During the prayer, they go to their knees, press their foreheads to the ground and pray in the direction of Mecca.
On their way to their seats at the Sept. 19 game, the five Muslims went to an isolated area of the stadium, not knowing it was near an air duct which draws fresh air into indoor spaces in the stadium. The game was played during a period of heightened alert, eight days after the anniversary of 9/11, with former President Bush in attendance to publicize a Katrina relief fund.
"We responded to a suspicious activity," said FBI spokesman.
The five Muslims were ushered from their seats by uniformed personnel. "Clearly, we looked like criminals, said Shaban, who, like Khalifa, wears his beard long.
Shaban and Khalifa said an issue that lingers is the one of "profiling." They suggested that five Christians praying in an isolated area of the stadium would not have raised the same suspicions.
The two participated in a Nov. 2 news conference in New York, hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose executive director, Wissam Nasr, said, "This is a teachable moment. When you see Muslims praying, it's not a terrorist act."
Shaban said prayer rooms have become common in recent years at major airports, including JFK in New York which was set aside for Christians, Jews and Muslims during a recent reconstruction project.
Hospitals typically have prayer rooms in which people of all faiths are made to feel welcome, said Shaban. "The room at Robert Wood Johnson (University Hospital in New Brunswick) has a sign that points to Mecca. I appreciate that," said Shaban.
Rick Malwitz:
(732) 565-7291; |
