Imam Feisal has been an American citizen since the early 1960s. He has been the Imam of the Masjid Al Farah in Tribeca for 20 years and a trustee of New York mosque on E. 96th St. for four years. A lecturer and author on Islamic theological and jurisprudent issues, he has been involved in Muslim affairs in the United States for many years.

What were your impressions when you first read the FBI article?

I was invited by the FBI as part of their sensitivity training to give a series of lectures to their agents in New York City. I welcomed the opportunity. It was good to see that there was an attempt by them to reach out to the community, to seek our cooperation, learn about us, to address our concerns and the concerns of the American public.

Do you think the FBI has changed their perception of the Arabic culture and the Muslim faith since September 11th?

I haven’t had interaction with them prior to the past few weeks, so I couldn’t say. What they really wanted to know is why there is hostility against America. Why does it seem that Muslims hate America? Why is it that much of the anger is expressed in the language of religion? Why do they hear, “We have to do a Jihad against America”... the political movements in the Muslim world using the language of religion. Why is it Gama’a Islamiyah or Islamic Jihad or Hezbollah? Why is it not just the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine? They can understand political movements. What they don’t understand is the relationship between religion and political movements, particularly those who seem to act their opinions out in militant ways.

Did you feel at any point that you had to hide that you were teaching the FBI?

No, not at all.

You mentioned that one of the first question you were asked was about radical Islam. Do you feel that there is an extremist element here in this country?

I wouldn’t be surprised that an extremist element has been able to locate itself in all parts of the world. Travel has become very easy, very affordable. It’s not difficult for those who want to do these things, who want to create a platform and be physically located in this country. ...

Does it seem that the FBI’s main goal is to get a one way message across in the right way or rather to communicate?

The way I see it, they have a function. Their function and responsibility is the security of the country... When we think of the FBI, we think of this monolithic thing, but the truth is, organizations are organizations and you have to understand the issues that exist within an organizational structure.

It is my perception that the major decision-makers in the FBI are decent people who are concerned about American civil liberties. The gentleman who invited me to lecture said, “Please tell us these horror stories. We want you to say these things to the agents. In doing their job, they should not violate the rights of individuals.”

One of the things that was mentioned to me was that the FBI is not really concerned with immigration, that’s an INS issue. They’re concerned with potential terrorist things happening. They would like to make sure that if anybody has any information that is of importance to them, they can get the information and assure the individuals of their own safety and security and that they won’t be processed on INS matters.

What did you think of the mosque counting situation and the FBI’s explanation of it?

Two nonprofits with which I am associated wanted to do something and were told to a do a mapping project first to find out how many nonprofits are doing work like theirs so there’s no overlap. It’s a natural thing for people to get a sense of what’s out there to get a scope of their work.

... The idea of doing a count, in and of itself, is a natural thing in any analysis. That alone doesn’t frighten me. What frightens me is any violation of civil rights. A lot of this information is public. I wouldn’t get defensive about information that is public.

Do you consider yourself a community leader and for which community? Were you contacted by the FBI as a community leader for you to express the fears and the problems of your community?

There are a couple of issues embedded in that question. First, is the perception of Americans regarding who the Muslim leaders are. In this country, because people do not understand how Islam is structured, how mosques are structured and supported, people project their own experience upon us.

In the Catholic Church, there is a Pope, the cardinals, and the Bishops; there is an organizational structure. When a cardinal speaks, he speaks on behalf of the whole Catholic community. The Muslim community doesn’t have this kind of organizational structure. We don’t have ordained Imams. This is one of the complexities or challenges in considering people as being Muslim leaders.

In this country, the leaders of the Muslim community are not necessarily just the Imams. Many of the Imams who give the Friday sermons or lead the prayers or conduct the services are usually lowly paid employees of the mosque, imported from overseas in many cases, and they just perform the services. They’re not intellectual leaders. They are not necessarily thinkers and they’re not leading the issues sensitive to the community. They are mosque keepers, so to speak. They manage the affairs of the community in that area.

Many of the leaders of the community are the people who are the organizers of the mosque—the fundraisers, the business people, who are active in the affairs of the community. ... Being that Muslims are very questioning of their leaders, they don’t necessarily recognize people as leaders....

Do you foresee a nucleus of Arab American community leaders gathering together trying to establish communication bridges with the FBI? There has been animosity in the past year or two.

I met two young Muslims who work for the FBI. I heard the comment made that they would like to encourage Muslims and Arabs to be employed by the FBI. They have people there from different demographic backgrounds, different religious backgrounds. When they asked me what they can do to help, I told them to have more Muslims working for the FBI because they understand the nuances. If you have Muslims on your staff, it would help to create that sensitivity.

When you finish the lectures, are you planning on giving them suggestions about what they ought to do?

That’s what they want, ongoing dialogues with the senior people, those who are responsible for determining what improvements need to be made.

We need to take responsibility for ourselves. We have to police ourselves. If we don’t police ourselves, then others will have to police us. If we are able to control the voice or the elements in our community, without creating problems for the whole community... this is what law enforcement would like to see.

How much do you feel that your views are shared by other Imams in the Arab American community in areas like Atlantic Avenue, Paterson, Bay Ridge, Jersey City?

The approach and the sentiment of trying to build bridges with law enforcement agencies, to increase our numbers, that kind of approach is something that everybody agrees with. When I speak with people, I sense that I get a high approval rating in terms of people agreeing with these things.

I don’t sense from the FBI that they want to destroy our community and to invite the best aspects of our community into America. But the part that is inconsistent they want to insulate America from and we need to insulate ourselves from that, too. We need to introduce the best of America not only into our community here but our communities back home...