Islamic center in NYC names iman

[Turborama]

Source: AFP

JANUARY 15, 2011

NEW YORK — The imam who co-led the effort to build an Islamic community center near the World Trade Center has been given a reduced role in the project that made him one of the nation's most polarizing figures, the organization behind the plan announced Friday.

The nonprofit group Park51 said Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is set to start a national speaking tour today and spends much of his time out of the country, was focused on other initiatives and didn't have enough time to spend on the center.

The group announced it had named a new senior adviser to help lead religious programing: Shaykh Abdallah Adhami, a 44-year-old scholar with an architecture degree known for his lectures on gender relations. It said Adhami would be among several imams with a role in the project.

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Rauf announced late this fall that he would be starting a global movement to oppose extremism and promote better relations between people of different faiths. He will remain on the Islamic center's board and involved in the project, but Park51 said in a statement that it needed someone who could be more involved in the day-to-day business of building a local congregation.

Read more: http://www.dnj.com/article/20110115/NEWS02/101150333