Florida, August 17: Mohamed Al-Darsani finds a little humor in the strange twist that brings a man best-known for his anti-Islamic sentiments into his own backyard.
Imam of the Islamic Center for Peace, in Fort Myers, Al-Darsani says it is hard to forget Pastor Terry Jones and the scathing attacks he launched last year on the Islamic faith.
Jones gained notoriety last year when he threatened to burn the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“People like Terry Jones are misinformed, and I don’t think they know the real Islam,” Al-Darsani says.
Regardless of religious ideology, many spiritual leaders, like First Assembly of God’s pastor Art VanZanten, agree Jones’s methods are more divisive than uniting.
“We’re all about reaching, teaching, and sending, and what he’s doing doesn’t fit with how we’re trying to reach the world for Christ,” VanZanten says.
Still, in spite of the Gainesville pastor’s bad publicity, some are willing to extend the olive branch when he comes.
“If he comes with harmonious relations, then he will be welcomed into our community just like anybody else would,” says Rabbi Jeremy Barras, of Temple Beth El, in Fort Myers.
“We may even invite him for dinner when he moves down here and have a conversation with the man,” Al-Darsani says. “We may not agree with him, but we agree with his right to be wherever he is.”
–Agencies