While thousands of visitors flock to South County for the Taste
of Morgan Hill festival, a Muslim group hoping to plant deeper
roots in San Martin will offer a taste of their history, religion
and future.
Morgan Hill – While thousands of visitors flock to South County for the Taste of Morgan Hill festival, a Muslim group hoping to plant deeper roots in San Martin will offer a taste of their history, religion and future.
Exclamations of fear and prejudice have besieged the South Valley Islamic Community and its roughly 35 member families since May, when news broke of their plans to build a hillside mosque overlooking Monterey Road, just south of Morgan Hill.
Letters to the editor stoked fears that the mosque could serve as a terrorist breeding ground, and a few writers demanded background checks on religious leaders and investigations into the group’s financing. A number of letter writers and columnists defended the group, pointing out that county regulators would stampede civil rights if they consider anything besides the technical merits of the proposed 5,000-square-foot mosque.
On Saturday, in the middle of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Muslim group will open itself up to the community in hopes of building bridges with people of other faiths, according to Sal Akhter, president of the mosque’s board of directors.
“We’ll talk a little about our membership, who they are, how long they have lived in the community. We are people who have been here 20, 30 years, and not immigrants who just came and started something new,” he said, adding: “What we’re doing has nothing to do with our process with the county. That process is separate and it will be decided on its own merits … What we are doing is simply outreach to the community at large, to introduce who we are, our purpose and our goals in the community, and to build bridges with other faith-based organizations in the area.”
The schedule of events includes an introduction of the group’s nine-member board of directors, along with presentations on the history of Islam and the civil rights challenges faced by American Muslims since the September 11 attacks. The group will also unveil its latest plans for a 5,000-square-foot, rectangular hall perched atop a San Martin hillside. The $2.5-million mosque project is considerably scaled back from conceptual designs revealed earlier in the year, Akhter said, explaining that a lack of funds has forced a convalescent home and high school facility to become part of a 10-year improvement plan.
A domed roof and minarets will not be part of the 25-foot-tall mosque, formally known as the Cordoba Center for Muslim Community and Religious Affairs, according to Akhter, who submitted the first round of designs to the county planning department in July. If approved, he hopes to have the facility rise by early 2009 at 14065 Monterey Road, in San Martin.
In addition to numerous political dignitaries from Hollister to Morgan Hill, Akhter said he has invited representatives from more than 70 area Christian and Jewish groups. Among other things, Muslim guest speakers will draw parallels between the rituals of other religions and Ramadan, a month of fasting to commemorate the revelation of the Koran.
Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate said he will stop by after spending a day at the Taste of Morgan Hill, a downtown food festival and classic car show that is in its 18th year. Tate applauded the South Valley Islamic Community for holding the outreach event.
“I guess (the project) is controversial, but I don’t understand the controversy,” he said. “We have our principles we go by that we are a tolerant nation and so forth, but I think sometimes that tolerance gets tested. And then trying to bridge those gaps and create better understanding is the best thing to do.”
