This file can be printed for personal use and study. © Reachout Trust - www.reachouttrust.org

News

Link with Moonies examined by Muslims

Rocky Mountain News (Denver), February 10, 2005 - By Jean Torkelson

Should Colorado Muslim leader Mohamad Jodeh continue promoting interfaith conferences sponsored by the Unification Church? That's the question local Muslim leaders will consider at Sunday's monthly meeting of the Colorado Muslim Council.

"We have to sit down and give Mr. Jodeh a chance to explain himself," said Mohammad Noorzai, who is co-ordinator of the council, an advisory and decision-making body for 15,000 Muslims in Colorado.

Jodeh was not available for comment Wednesday. The retired Denver businessman has been an influential mosque leader and the community's best-known spokesman for years. Noorzai said that until a story ran on Feb. 4 in the Rocky Mountain News, many Muslims, including him, didn't know that Jodeh was asking fellow Muslims to attend interfaith conferences sponsored by the Unification Church, whose followers are informally known as Moonies.

That church's Korean-born founder, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, teaches that he's the Messiah and "liberator of God" who is superior to the greatest religious figures - including the Prophet Muhammad.

Jodeh said in the story that he doesn't endorse the church, but admires its strict teaching on lifelong marriage and strong families. He said the church's sponsorship seemed irrelevant given the interfaith themes and the array of religious and civic leaders who participate.

However, two Colorado Muslims who attended such conferences said the gatherings became forums to spread Unification ideas.

Noorzai said the council's role Sunday will be, first, to give Jodeh the opportunity to defend himself, a right guaranteed by Islam. Afterwards, the matter will be discussed by the council, a body of about 24 members.

Noorzai said the discussion could end there, or it lead to a vote either supporting Jodeh or asking him to end the relationship with the Unification Church.

In the end the Colorado Muslim Council have decided that the matter must be decided at the local mosque level. However they did issue this statement:

"The Muslim community participates in interfaith activities with other faith communities for the common good. This is in no way an endorsement of the beliefs and practices of those other faith communities."

Back to the headlines