Feisal Abdul Rauf

Rauf was born in Kuwait to Egyptian parents. His father, imam and Sunni scholar Muhammad Abdul Rauf (1917–2004), moved with the younger Rauf to New York City in the 1960s. The elder Rauf assisted with efforts to create the multimillion-dollar Islamic Cultural Center of New York, the first building designed as a mosque in New York City, which took 25 years to complete and opened in 1991.Salazar, Cristian (August 28, 2010), [http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/08/28/4990230-imam-behind-nyc-mosque-faces-divisions-over-center Imam behind NYC mosque faces divisions over center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110412034052/http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/08/28/4990230-imam-behind-nyc-mosque-faces-divisions-over-center |date=2011-04-12 }}, Newsvine, Associated Press Rauf studied physics at Columbia University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering in 1969,[http://magazine.columbia.edu/newsmakers/Fall%202010#In "In the shadow of no towers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220160640/http://magazine.columbia.edu/newsmakers/Fall%202010#In |date=2010-12-20 }}, Columbia Magazine, Accessed November 18, 2010. before earning a master's degree in plasma physics at Stevens Institute in Hoboken, New Jersey.Tirella, Tricia and Diaz, Lana Rose [http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/9380538/article-Controversy-hits-close-to-home-%E2%80%98Ground-zero-mosque%E2%80%99-imam-is-NB-resident--UC-property-owner- "'Ground zero mosque' imam is NB resident, UC property owner"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615143530/http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/9380538/article-Controversy-hits-close-to-home-%E2%80%98Ground-zero-mosque%E2%80%99-imam-is-NB-resident--UC-property-owner- |date=2015-06-15 }} The Union City Reporter September 5, 2010; Pages 3 and 8

After finishing college, Rauf focused on religion, and became the leader of a New York City mosque. Rauf has written three books on Islam and its place in contemporary Western society, including What's Right with Islam, later printed in paperback with the changed title What's Right with Islam is What's Right with America.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whatsrightwithis00abdu |url-access=registration |quote=feisal abdul rauf. |title=What's Right with Islam|year=2004 |via=Internet Archive |publisher=Harper Collins|isbn=9780060582722 |access-date=September 9, 2010}} Rauf served as imam of Masjid al-Farah in New York City's Tribeca district between 1983 and 2009.

Rauf is a friend of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order, and in 1983, he was appointed prayer leader at their Masjid al-Farah mosque.{{cite news|title=Imam behind NYC mosque faces divisions over center |author=Cristian Salazar |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100828/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_mosque_imam |agency=Associated Press |date=August 28, 2010 |access-date=September 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903144523/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100828/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_mosque_imam |archive-date=September 3, 2010 }} In 1997, he founded the American Sufi Muslim Society (ASMA),Godlas, Dr. Alan, [http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismwest.html Sufism, the West, and Modernity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027165634/http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismwest.html |date=2011-10-27 }}, University of Georgia. Retrieved September 14, 2010. which has since been renamed the [http://www.asmasociety.org/ American Society for Muslim Advancement]. Rauf worked to improve relationships between American society, the American Muslim community and the wider Muslim world. He founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement (originally named the American Sufi Muslim Association.Godlas, Dr. Alan, [http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismwest.html Sufism, the West, and Modernity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027165634/http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismwest.html |date=2011-10-27 }}, University of Georgia. Retrieved August 22, 2010.)

The organization is now headed by his wife. He is a member of the Council of 100 Leaders (C-100) on West-Islamic World Dialogue at the World Economic Forum (WEF)[http://www2.weforum.org/en/initiatives/c100/index.html (about the) Council of 100 Leaders (C-100) on West-Islamic World Dialogue] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105134238/http://www3.weforum.org/en/initiatives/c100/index.html |date=2010-11-05 }}, World Economic Forum[http://www2.weforum.org/en/initiatives/c100/Executive%20Committee/index.html Core Group and Members of the Council of 100 Leaders (C-100) on West-Islamic World Dialogue] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527193942/http://www2.weforum.org/en/initiatives/c100/Executive%20Committee/index.html |date=2009-05-27 }}, World Economic Forum and has received both the Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution's{{Cite web |url=http://www.aicpr.org/ |title=Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution |access-date=2010-09-09 |archive-date=2010-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209203141/http://www.aicpr.org/ |url-status=live }} annual Alliance Peacebuilder Award and The Interfaith Center of New York's annual James Parks Morton Interfaith Award (2006).[http://www.interfaithcenter.org/awards.asp?y=2006 2006 Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723213103/http://www.interfaithcenter.org/awards.asp?y=2006 |date=2011-07-23 }}, Interfaith Center of New York[http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=27&sn=64 RAuf Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706010328/http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=27&sn=64 |date=2010-07-06 }} at Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions. Retrieved September 17, 2010. He was a major speaker at the 2009 Parliament of the World's Religions in Melbourne, Australia.[http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=7&sn=32 2009 Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102223124/http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm?n=7&sn=32 |date=2010-11-02 }}, Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions In 2003, Rauf founded the Cordoba Initiative, another registered nonprofit organization with offices in both New York and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As CEO of Cordoba Initiative, Rauf coordinates projects that emphasize the bonds that connect the Muslim world and the West.

Following the September 11 attacks, Rauf conducted training and speeches for the F.B.I. and U.S. State Department. However, some U.S. politicians have voiced concerns about his views,{{cite news |title=Planned Sign of Tolerance Bringing Division Instead |first=Javier C. |last=Hernandez |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/nyregion/14center.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 13, 2010 |access-date=August 1, 2010 |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103054445/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/nyregion/14center.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Topousis |first=Tom |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/imam_terror_error_efmizkHuBUaVnfuQcrcabL#ixzz0rJTKPGE6 |title=Muslim Imam leading push to build a mosque near Ground Zero wavers on questions about Hamas as a terror group |newspaper=New York Post |date=June 19, 2010 |access-date=August 2, 2010 |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722074147/http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/imam_terror_error_efmizkHuBUaVnfuQcrcabL#ixzz0rJTKPGE6 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Shafey |first=Mohammed Al |url=http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20990 |title=Controversy Rages in NYC over Planned Mosque Near Ground Zero |publisher=Asharq Al-Awsat |date=May 18, 2010 |access-date=August 2, 2010 |archive-date=August 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820200028/http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content/staff-bios#Imam%20Feisal%20Abdul%20Rauf |title=Staff Bios |publisher=Cordoba Initiative |date=July 31, 2007 |access-date=August 3, 2010 |archive-date=August 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815122420/http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content%2Fstaff-bios#Imam%20Feisal%20Abdul%20Rauf |url-status=live }} referring to comments Rauf made when interviewed by Ed Bradley on CBS 60 Minutes on September 30, 2001. Rauf's website says he was referring to the US CIA in the 1980s "financing Osama Bin Laden and strengthening the Taliban."[http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content/frequently-asked-questions Frequently Asked Questions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013071541/http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content%2Ffrequently-asked-questions |date=2010-10-13 }} The Cordoba Initiative. Retrieved September 17, 2010. Columnist Jonathan Rauch wrote that Rauf gave a "mixed, muddled, muttered" message after 9/11.{{cite web |url=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/News/911rauch.html |title=Islam Has Been Hijacked, And Only Muslims Can Save It by Jonathan Rauch |publisher=Press.uchicago.edu |access-date=August 7, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723002707/http://www.press.uchicago.edu/News/911rauch.html |archive-date=July 23, 2010 }} Nineteen days after the attacks, he told CBS's 60 Minutes that fanaticism and terrorism have no place in Islam. Rauch said that the message was mixed, however, because when then asked if the U.S. deserved the attacks, Rauf answered, "I wouldn't say that the United States deserved what happened. But the United States' policies were an accessory to the crime that happened." When the interviewer asked Rauf how he considered the U.S. to be an accessory, he replied, "because we have been accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. In fact, in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the USA."{{cite web |url=http://www.torontosun.com/comment/2010/07/26/14835681.html |title=Monument to Jihad; Ground Zero Mosque No Joke |publisher=Toronto Sun |date=July 27, 2010 |access-date=August 1, 2010 |archive-date=July 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727160129/http://www.torontosun.com/comment/2010/07/26/14835681.html |url-status=live }} Although this CIA-Osama bin Laden controversy has been brought up by many others, Rudy Giuliani, Peter T. King, Rick Lazio, and Sarah Palin expressed concern about these remarks when discussing Rauf as the driving force behind the Park51 project.{{cite news |last=Gershman |first=Jacob |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704702304575403853604214846? |title=Sides Dig in Over Ground Zero Mosque |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=August 2, 2010 |access-date=August 2, 2010 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402044442/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704702304575403853604214846 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |author=Jeff Glor |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/proposed-mosque-near-ground-zero-stokes-debate/ |title=Proposed Mosque Near Ground Zero Stokes Debate |work=CBS News |date=July 20, 2010 |access-date=August 10, 2010 |archive-date=July 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730120801/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/20/eveningnews/main6696724.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;2 |url-status=live }}

Speaking at his New York mosque in 2004, Imam Feisal said: "The Islamic method of waging war is not to kill innocent civilians. But it was Christians in World War II who bombed civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima, neither of which were military targets." He also said that there could be little progress in Western-Islamic relations until the U.S. acknowledged backing Middle East dictators and give an "American Culpa" speech to the Muslim world, because there are "an endless supply of angry young Muslim rebels prepared to die for their cause and there [is] no sign of the attacks ending unless there [is] a fundamental change in the world".{{cite news |title=West must act to end jihad: Imam |author=Frank Walker |newspaper=Herald Sun |date=21 March 2004 |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/21/1079789939987.html |access-date=19 May 2010 |archive-date=12 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100512055649/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/21/1079789939987.html |url-status=live }}

Responding to a question during an interview on New York WABC radio in June 2010 regarding the U.S. State Department's designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization, Rauf said, "I'm not a politician. The issue of terrorism is a very complex question ... I am a peace builder. I will not allow anybody to put me in a position where I am seen by any party in the world as an adversary or as an enemy."{{cite news |title=Imam terror error |author=Tom Topousis |newspaper=New York Post |date=19 June 2010 |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/imam_terror_error_efmizkHuBUaVnfuQcrcabL#ixzz0rJTKPGE6 |access-date=1 July 2010 |archive-date=22 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722074147/http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/imam_terror_error_efmizkHuBUaVnfuQcrcabL#ixzz0rJTKPGE6 |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Park51}}

File:45 Park Place Manhattan 1.JPG at this former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from Ground Zero.]]

Sharif El-Gamal, chairman and chief executive of Soho Properties, bought 45 Park Place in July, 2009. "It's really to provide a place of peace, a place of services and solutions for the community which is always looking for interfaith dialogue."[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/nyregion/09mosque.html Muslim Prayers and Renewal Near Ground Zero] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826202236/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/nyregion/09mosque.html |date=2010-08-26 }}, Ralph Blumenthal and Sharaf Mowjood, The New York Times, December 8, 2009 Plans for the project include a mosque which would accommodate 1,000–2,000 Muslims in prayer. Rauf won support from the local Community Board, and received both support and opposition from some 9/11 families, politicians, organizations, academics, and others. The initiative was supported by some Muslim American leaders and organizations, including CAIR, and criticized by some other Muslims such as Sufi mystic Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington.{{Cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/06/06/a_mosque_at_ground_zero/ |title=A mosque at ground zero? |newspaper=Boston.com |date=6 June 2010 |access-date=2010-06-29 |archive-date=2010-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724144806/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/06/06/a_mosque_at_ground_zero/ |url-status=live |last1=Jacoby |first1=Jeff }}

Controversy over the location—in close proximity to Ground Zero—ensued, and in an interview with Larry King on September 8, 2010, Rauf was asked "... given what you know now, would you have said, listen, let's not do it there? Because it sounds like you're saying in retrospect wouldn't have done it." Rauf answered: "If I knew this would happen, this would cause this kind of pain, I wouldn't have done it. My life has been devoted to peacemaking." On September 12, 2010 on This Week with Christiane Amanpour, Abdul Rauf repeated that if complaints had been raised in December 2009 when the project was front-page news in The New York Times, he would have moved it, but at that time there was broad support for it, which did not change until May. He furthermore expressed concern that a move would be used by radicals internationally to claim that "Islam is under attack in the Western world".[https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/imam-feisal-abdul-rauf-islam-america-11615895 "Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf on Islam in America"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020140151/https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/imam-feisal-abdul-rauf-islam-america-11615895 |date=2020-10-20 }}. This Week. ABC News. September 12, 2010

On January 14, 2011, Park51 developer Sharif el-Gamal surprised Rauf by unilaterally announcing that Rauf would no longer speak for or raise money for Park51, replacing him with Imam Abdallah Adhami. The split was attributed to a number of differences in vision for the project—Rauf had wanted a larger interfaith center named Cordoba House, but el-Gamal had changed the name to Park51, wanted it to primarily serve Muslims, and to have a local scope. The removal of Rauf from this leadership role raised concerns that the project would be unable to raise the necessary funds to build the planned center.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/nyregion/15mosque.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss |title=Amid Rift, Imam's Role in Islam Center Is Sharply Cut |work=The New York Times |date=January 14, 2011 |access-date=May 7, 2011 |first=Paul |last=Vitello |archive-date=January 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108122244/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/nyregion/15mosque.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss |url-status=live }} On January 29, Rauf announced that he would move the Cordoba House to a different site if one were offered to him and if the new site was "on par, or even better" than the current Park51 site.{{cite news |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article327927.ece |title=Cleric open to new site for Islamic center |work=The Buffalo News |date=January 30, 2011 |access-date=May 7, 2011 |first=Jay |last=Tokasz |archive-date=February 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204213314/http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article327927.ece |url-status=live }}

File:8.24.12 2206CentralAveByLuigiNovi.jpg in Union City, New Jersey, one of several in Hudson County owned by Rauf]]

Rauf owns several apartment buildings in Hudson County, New Jersey, including four in Union City, and one in North Bergen in which he lives. By 2010, numerous residents of Rauf's properties in Union City had alleged that those properties have fallen into disrepair over the course of the prior several years, with some of the residents attributing this to time Rauf spends on his activities in Lower Manhattan. On September 8, 2010, Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack, who criticized Rauf as a "slumlord", announced court actions to have a custodial receiver take over management of these properties,{{cite news|title=NJ Mayor Blasts Ground Zero Imam|author=David Lee Miller|work=Fox News|date=September 14, 2010|url=http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/09/14/nj-mayor-blasts-ground-zero-imam/?test=latestnews|access-date=September 14, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917035035/http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/09/14/nj-mayor-blasts-ground-zero-imam/?test=latestnews|archive-date=September 17, 2010}} and the creation of a Quality of Life Task Force to identify 15 apartment buildings in need of renovations, including Rauf's.Diaz, Lana Rose. "Stack puts landlords on notice" The Union City Reporter; September 12, 2010; Pages 3 and 7

A September 15, 2010 hearing revealed that following a September 7 inspection that determined imminent hazards, police began monitoring two of Rauf's buildings, due to inoperable fire alarms and sprinklers, and failure on Rauf's part to hire a private fire patrol. Judge Thomas Olivieri gave Rauf's lawyers until September 23 to produce plans and evidence of efforts to address these violations, lest Rauf face loss of control over the buildings."UC sues landlord and 'Ground Zero Mosque' imam" The Union City Reporter; Pages 2 and 5 On November 9, Judge Olivieri placed the Central Avenue property into temporary custodial receivership, with $7,000 in rent payments held in escrow from Rauf's attorney set aside to pay for the repairs."Receivership granted for neglected buildings in UC", The Union City Reporter, November 14, 2010, Pages 4 and 31Mestanza, Jean-Pierre. "Imam's building in receivership", Hudson Dispatch Weekly, November 18, 2010, pages 1 and 7

According to 2010 reports by the Bergen Record, Rauf met with U.S. Senator Robert Menendez around 1991 when Menendez was Mayor of Union City, to request state funds to renovate three of his properties. As a result, Rauf received $80,000 in city funds, $384,000 from the Union City Community Development Agency, $1.3 million in construction loans from Hudson County's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and $630,900 from the state. Rauf was also sued for fraud in 2008 by his one-time business partner, James Cockinos, over a $250,000 mortgage that Cockinos gave Rauf for his Central Avenue property, ownership of which Rauf then transferred to Sage Developments for a second $650,000 mortgage. Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, made payments to Cockinos for 11 years, but ceased after a fire damaged the property. The two parties settled out of court.

Fareed Zakaria praised Rauf for speaking of "the need for Muslims to live peacefully with all other religions", for emphasizing the commonalities among all faiths, for advocating equal rights for women and opposing laws that in any way punish non-Muslims.{{cite web |author=Fareed ZakariaAugust 06, 2010 |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/06/the-real-ground-zero.html |title=Fareed Zakaria: Build the Ground Zero Mosque |work=Newsweek |date=August 6, 2010 |access-date=August 16, 2010 |archive-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811005149/http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/06/the-real-ground-zero.html |url-status=live }}

Walter Isaacson, head of The Aspen Institute, says Rauf "has participated at the Aspen Institute in Muslim-Christian-Jewish working groups looking at ways to promote greater religious tolerance. He has consistently denounced radical Islam and terrorism, and promoted a moderate and tolerant Islam."{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/17/ground-zero-imam-helped-f_n_685071.html |title='Ground Zero Mosque' Imam Helped FBI With Counterterrorism Efforts |work=The Huffington Post |first=Sam |last=Stein |date=August 17, 2010 |access-date=August 17, 2010 |archive-date=August 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819135449/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/17/ground-zero-imam-helped-f_n_685071.html |url-status=live }}

During an interview on New York WABC radio in June 2010, Rauf declined to say whether he agreed with the U.S. State Department's designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization. Responding to the question, Rauf said, "Look, I'm not a politician. The issue of terrorism is a very complex question ... I am a peace builder. I will not allow anybody to put me in a position where I am seen by any party in the world as an adversary or as an enemy."{{cite news |title=Imam terror error |author=Tom Topousis |newspaper=New York Post |date=June 19, 2010 |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/imam_terror_error_efmizkHuBUaVnfuQcrcabL#ixzz0rJTKPGE6 |access-date=July 1, 2010 |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722074147/http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/imam_terror_error_efmizkHuBUaVnfuQcrcabL#ixzz0rJTKPGE6 |url-status=live }} Sarah Palin and Lazio criticized his refusal to agree with the assessment of the United States that Hamas is a terrorist organization, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani alleged that Rauf had supported radical causes that sympathized with Islamic terrorism.{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1009/08/lkl.01.html |title=CNN.com Transcripts |work=CNN |date=September 8, 2010 |access-date=September 10, 2010 |archive-date=September 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912001349/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1009/08/lkl.01.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/muslim-group-faces-opposition-near-new-yorks-ground-zero-99049124/173433.html |title=Muslim Group Faces Opposition Near New York's Ground Zero |first=Carolyn |last=Weaver |publisher=Voice of America |date=July 22, 2010 |access-date=August 1, 2010 |archive-date=July 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728223028/http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/religion/Muslim-Group-Faces-Opposition-Near-New-Yorks-Ground-Zero-99049124.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/08/03/bloomberg1376-L6KYQQ6VJ6RL01-0S5L40PLCGTPOD0RS64DV6DMFD.DTL |first1=Simone |last1=Baribeau |first2=David |last2=Levitt |first3=Nicholas |last3=Johnston |first4=Stacie |last4=Servetah |first5=Mark |last5=Schoifet |title=Ground Zero Mosque Plans Move Forward After Key Vote |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=August 3, 2010 |access-date=August 4, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web |last=Haberman |first=Maggie |url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/maggiehaberman/0810/Rudy_Mosque_is_a_desecration_.html |title=Rudy: GZ Mosque is a 'desecration,' 'decent Muslims' won't be offended |publisher=Politico |date=August 2, 2010 |access-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804011026/http://www.politico.com/blogs/maggiehaberman/0810/Rudy_Mosque_is_a_desecration_.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |first1=Karen |last1=Matthews |first2=Beth |last2=Fouhy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/03/AR2010080300351_2.html?hpid=moreheadlines |title=NYC panel clears way for mosque near ground zero |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press |date=August 3, 2010 |access-date=August 4, 2010}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Rauf's first wife was an American woman who converted to Islam. Rauf later married a Malaysian woman. Rauf has two children with each of his first two wives. He has been married to his third wife Daisy Khan since the late 1990s. Khan, a native of Kashmir, is a professional interior architect, but since 2005 has worked full-time for the two non-profit organizations founded by Rauf,{{cite web|title=People: Daisy Khan|url=http://asmasociety.org/about/b_dkhan.html|publisher=American Society for Muslim Advancement|access-date=August 28, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828232805/http://www.asmasociety.org/about/b_dkhan.html|archive-date=August 28, 2010}} and at times functions as his spokesperson. They live in North Bergen, New Jersey.

• Feisal Abdul Rauf, Moving the Mountain: Beyond Ground Zero to a New Vision of Islam in America (Free Press, 2012) {{ISBN|9781451656015}}
• Feisal Abdul Rauf, What's Right with Islam: a New Vision for Muslims and the West (HarperCollins, 2004) {{ISBN|978-0-06-058272-2}}, reissued as What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America (HarperCollins, 2005) {{ISBN|978-0-06-075062-6}}. (An Indonesian language edition was published in 2007, titled Seruan Azan Dari Puing WTC: Dakwah Islam di Jantung Amerika Pasca 9/11, which translates as A Call to Prayer from the WTC Rubble: Islamic Dawah from the Heart of America Post 911){{Cite web |url=http://www.strategicforesight.com/bookreview_whatsrightwithislam.htm |title=Book Review: What's right with Islam IS What's Right with America by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf |access-date=2008-06-25 |archive-date=2012-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910091313/http://www.strategicforesight.com/bookreview_whatsrightwithislam.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.mizan.com/index.php?fuseaction=buku_full&id=7114 |title=Seruan Azan Dari Puing WTC: Dakwah Islam di Jantung Amerika Pasca 9/11 – Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf |publisher=Mizan.Com |access-date=August 14, 2010 |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714103126/http://www.mizan.com/index.php?fuseaction=buku_full&id=7114 |url-status=live }}
• Feisal Abdul Rauf, Islam: A Sacred Law ([https://web.archive.org/web/20100827182443/http://www.sufism.org/books/index.html Threshold Books], 2000) {{ISBN|978-0-939660-70-4}}
• Feisal Abdul Rauf, Islam: A Search for Meaning ({{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070107041454/http://www.mazdapublisher.com/ Mazda Publishers]}}, 1996) {{ISBN|978-1-56859-037-0}}
• Feisal Abdul Rauf and Laleh Bakhtiar, Quran for Children ([http://www.kazi.org/ Kazi Publications], 1985) {{ISBN|978-0-935782-08-0}}

• [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/opinion/08mosque.html "Building on Faith"], The New York Times. September 7, 2010.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110622054420/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F5%2F12%2Ffocus%2F6229758 "Need for some cultural sensitivity"], The Star (Malaysia). May 12, 2010.
• [http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=27383 "Using Qur'anic Narratives in Pursuit of Peace"], Common Ground News Service, March 4, 2010.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110622053936/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2009%2F12%2F30%2Ffocus%2F5380886 "Putting the faith back"], The Star (Malaysia). December 30, 2009.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110622054403/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2009%2F10%2F12%2Ffocus%2F4871267 "Religion must be part of the Afghanistan solution"], The Star (Malaysia). October 12, 2009.
• [http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=25141 "Sharing the core of our beliefs"], Common Ground News Service, March 31, 2009.
• [http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=24965 "Religious organisations are key to Mideast peace"], Common Ground News Service, March 5, 2009.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110622052959/http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=%2F2008%2F3%2F9%2Flifefocus%2F20576442&sec=lifefocus "Preventing Chaos"], The Star (Malaysia). March 9, 2008.
• [https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-177634164 "Asceticism in Islam"], Cross Currents. Winter, 2008, (vol. 57 No. 4) ed. by Pederson, Kusumita.
• [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19886670/site/newsweek/from/ET/ "The Ideals We Share"]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Newsweek. July 31, 2007. with Khan, Daisy.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090314012739/http://www.americanprogress.org/projects/commongood/pdf/BarbarismGCG.pdf "The End of Barbarism: The Phenomenon of Torture and the Search for Common Good"], Pursuing the Global Common Good: Principle and Practice in US Foreign Policy. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress. 2007. with Schulz, William F., ed. by Steenland, Sally, et al. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110511191226/http://www.americanprogress.org/projects/commongood/ video]
• "What is Sunni Islam?" in Voices of Islam: Voices of Tradition, vol. 1 of 3, ed. Cornell, Vincent J. Westport: Praeger. 2007.
• "Al-Qaeda's Greatest Fear may be US Leaving Iraq". Aspen Times. October 11, 2006. with Bennett, John.
• "Arab Reform Final Report". New York: Council on Foreign Relations. 2005. with Albright, Madeleine, et al.
• [https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/10/18/8188085/index.htm "Bringing Muslim Nations into the Global Century"], Fortune. October 18, 2004.
• [http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/08/19/To-wear-scarf-or-not-to-wear-scarf/ "To wear scarf or not to wear scarf"], The Star (Malaysia). August 19, 2014.

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Portal|New York City|Biography|Islam}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090611232848/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/feisal_abdul_rauf/ Feisal Abdul Rauf] "On Faith" column archives at The Washington Post/Newsweek (2008 to present)
• [http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/Imam-Feisal-Abdul-Rauf.aspx Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf] at Beliefnet, includes columns
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/feisalrauf Appearances] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128153356/http://www.c-spanvideo.org/feisalrauf |date=2012-01-28 }} on C-SPAN

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rauf, Feisal Abdul}}

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