Muslim leader moves forward after leaving Dearborn mosque
It was close to midnight inside a community center in Dearborn as the religious leader spoke to a crowd of hundreds, many sitting on the floor because of the overflow crowd.
“We have to speak for Islam,” Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini implored the Muslim audience at the Bint Jbeil Cultural Center. “Because if you don’t speak for your religion … ISIS will speak for your religion,” he said, using another name for the Islamic State. “The extremists will speak for your religion.”
Al-Qazwini’s speech during a Ramadan lecture this summer in Dearborn showed that he still has a large following despite being pushed out of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, a prominent mosque that he led for 17 years. In an interview with the Free Press, Al-Qazwini, 51, talked about his plans to open a mosque called the Islamic Institute of America and an accompanying group, Muslim Youth Connection. He has met with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to talk about his new center and was with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other Muslim leaders at the State Department’s annual Eid dinner.
Source: www.freep.com