A massive Islamic prayer service will be held on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. at the end of this month – and 50,000 Muslims are expected to take part.
For a few hours on Sept. 25, the site where U.S. presidents are traditionally inaugurated, will essentially be turned into a giant outdoor mosque. The Jummah service – weekly Friday prayers – will “echo off of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and other great edifices that surround Capitol Hill,” according to the organizers.
They explain that the objective of the gathering is to “invite the Muslim Communities and friends of Islam to express and illustrate the wonderful diversity of Islam. We intend to manifest Islam's majestic spiritual principals [sic] as revealed by Allah to our beloved prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) of Arabia. Likewise, we intend to inspire a new generation of Muslims to work for the greater good of all people.”
The event, organized by a mosque in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is billed as a “Day of Islamic Unity.”
“Thousands of Muslims from all races, creeds, colors and ethnicities will gather for the sole purpose of prayer,” the organizers’ website states, and “the peace, beauty and solidarity of Islam will shine through America's capitol.”
The website page concludes, “Our Time Has Come.”
Link to the website.