Oldest mosque invites Trump to visit

Time has an article by Elizabeth Dias about Muslims and Trump:

The day that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump released his first television ad in Iowa, marketing himself as America’s savior against “radical Islamic terrorism”, a leading Iowa imam responded, not in fear of increased anti-Muslim backlash, but with an invitation for Trump himself.
“As an imam and director of the first mosque of North America, I, Imam Tawil, declare that we would love to have our candidate Donald Trump come and talk to his fellow citizens who have been born here, whose parents were born here, as Americans, to come talk to us about his plans, to come to tell us his philosophy, and to tell us how he can help us out as American citizens,” Tawil told Time.
It is an ironic historical twist that Iowa, where Trump is pushing anti-Muslim fervor to increase his presidential appeal, is also home to one of America’s most established Muslim communities. Tawil leads the Mother Mosque of America in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the oldest surviving mosque, not just in the United States, but also North America. The community is of Syrians who settled in the Cedar Rapids area in the late 1800s, and the Mother Mosque formally opened in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression. The area is also home to the Muslim National Cemetery, honoring of military servicemen who fought in World War Two.
Today Cedar Rapids is home to three mosques. Mother Mosque operates more as a cultural center for non-Muslims, while the nearby Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids is the main center for prayer and religious services for some two thousand Muslim families in the Cedar Rapids area, Tawil explains. Only about one percent of Iowans are Muslim, mirroring the national average, according to the Pew Research Center.
“Candidates say things to market themselves, and get votes. It is their job to make us look bad,” Tawil says. “Unfortunately, they are wasting their money, they are not gaining anything, because the community knows who you are, and we are dealing with the fourth generation of Muslims in Iowa.”
Mother Mosque’s own Iowa pride runs deep. A photo caption on the group’s website reads, “Is this heaven? No, it is Cedar Rapids, Iowa!” At times its welcome page seems more about Iowa than about Islam: “The Mother Mosque is in Iowa, the heartland of America, Cedar Rapids, Iowa where hospitality, generosity, and tolerance are well known facts,” a history section on its website reads. “From fields of tulips… to the field of dreams… From covered bridges… to covered wagons… From America’s castles… to classic barns… From fields of corn… to Quaker Oats… From the Czech Museum… to the Mother Mosque of America… Iowa welcomes you.”
Tawil, a US citizen and a Palestinian Muslim originally from Jerusalem, is confident that Trump’s comments and advertising will not damage Islam’s place in the broader Cedar Rapids community. He cites strong relationship with law enforcement and local political leaders, his role as a community chaplain, and his prayers that have opened Cedar Rapids City Council meetings. Interfaith engagement has also expanded since the 1990s. “We are part of the fabric,” Tawil says. “I don’t know what they want, what end results Trump is asking for? Concentration camps? That is why the community will not back them up.”
It's a long shot that Trump will take Tawil up on his offer to speak to Muslim citizens at the Mother Mosque, especially if it means coming to show how he can support their needs, but Tawil wants to give it a try. The Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids held an open house on 30 December 2015 with Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim in Congress, who was campaigning on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders.
Whether or not Trump accepts his offer, Tawil believes Trump’s new ad is just one more way he is undercutting possible support from Iowa’s citizens. Tawil says that he, like most of his community, is a registered Republican, and GOP anti-Muslim rhetoric only makes him feel more trapped. “I cannot deny that the comments of Trump and Dr. Carson have been very hurtful and very damaging,” he says, saying he will have to pray to discern which candidates are close to God’s will. “We are shaken… Right now I am sure I will not vote for him, that is a hundred percent but, as a religious leader, I cannot tell people what to do.”

Rico says that, hopefully, Trump will go and some Islamist wacko will kill him, solving two problems at once...