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The U.S. Government Builds Mosques and Madrassahs

by Daniel Pipes
Tue, 24 Feb 2004
updated Sat, 5 Apr 2008

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An Agence France-Presse dispatch, dated today, reads "Matachina: The Madrassa of Martyrs Rebuilt by the USA Remains Empty." It describes a mosque complex in a town near Khost in Afghanistan's southeast. The unnamed reporter tells of finding a stone stele by the side of the road announcing (I am translating here from French) the "Matachina Mosque, rebuilt in 2002 with the assistance of the American people."

The U.S. government has helped pay for a mosque!?

Apparently so. The news report explains that at least 34 persons - combatants, religious students, women, and children – were killed in the U.S. bombardment of the mosque and its adjoining Koranic school on November 16, 2001, in the midst of the American offensive against the Taliban. The new building, paid for by the U.S. Army, is said to be "practically identical" with the previous one, including a wooden door decorated with arabesques out of bronze.

If this report is true, it is a scandal, and an important one. Yet again, it appears, American governmental agencies are giving special treatment to Islam, whether endorsing of the faith or cutting breaks for it by selling land at less than 10 percent of its market price when the purpose is mosque construction. Such privileged treatment is simply not permissible according to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion") and must come to an immediate end.

As an ironic post-script, the AFP report quotes a nearby soldier in Matachina saying that "Nobody ever comes to this mosque." The journalist elaborates: "Not a resident steps foot in it. Barely rebuilt, the mosque is already abandoned. The faithful prefer to pray elsewhere." So, not only did the U.S. Army illegally build a mosque, but it also wasted taxpayer funds. (February 24, 2004)

Feb. 25, 2004 update: For an (imperfect) English translation of the above item, see http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1488957,00.html.

Aug. 30, 2004 update: The U.S. government also is providing money for madrassahs, the Islamic schools blamed for encouraging Islamism in Indonesia, and lots of it - $157 million over five years, to be exact, Reuters reports today. So, taxpayer aid to parochial schools inside the United States is illegal but the same aid in Indonesia is legal?

Oct. 8, 2004 update: The U.S. government has provided $32,000 "for reconstruction of one of the biggest mosques in Northeast Bulgaria," reports a Bulgarian source. It astonishes me how, when it comes to Islamic institutions, antidisestablishmentarianism increasingly prevails.

Feb. 22, 2006 update: After terrorists bombed the dome at the Golden Mosque in Samarra, George W. Bush announced that "the American people pledge to work with the people of Iraq to rebuild and restore the Golden Mosque of Samarra to its former glory." Sounds like a clear violation of church and state to me.

Mar. 7, 2007 update: Not all the U.S.-government sponsored Islamic schools are in faraway places, I report today at "Other Taxpayer-Funded American Madrassas." These schools are in the United States itself.

May 13, 2007 update: "US to build Afghan super-madrassas," writes Gethin Chamberlain in the Sunday Telegraph,

in an attempt to persuade parents not to send their children across the border to Pakistan for instruction at hard-line religious schools. Work has started on two "super-madrassas" in Paktika, which borders Pakistan, and more are planned. The American government is also paying for the refurbishment of mosques in the area, in the hope of winning over religious leaders. … Each madrassa will accommodate 1,000 boarding pupils, all of them boys.

Aware of the problem inherent in having government-built religious institutions, U.S. Major Jason Smallfield explains: "In Afghan terms it is a madrassa, but those words have baggage and if word gets back to a Western public that we are building madrassas, that is a bad thing. It is a religious school, but it is not a religious education."

Comment: Sounds like gobbly-gook to me. Taxpayers are funding a religious school, period.

May 15, 2007 update: "Hugh Fitzgerald" takes on this issue at "The terminal naivete of Westerners," where he concludes:

The policy of building madrassas and refurbishing mosques in Afghanistan is madness. It is also unconstitutional. American taxes are being used to favor, abroad, a religion, and far worse, one religion over others. Where is the Constitutional challenge to this? There is a case to be brought. Bring it, you pro-bono-seeking lawyers you. Enter the casebooks. Enter history.

Jan. 30, 2008 update: The effort goes on, writes Jon Boone from Khost in "US military funds construction of Islamic schools in Afghanistan" for the Financial Times.

The US military is funding the construction of Islamic schools, or madrassas , in the east of Afghanistan in an attempt to stem the tide of young people going to radical religious schools in Pakistan. … US reconstruction cash has helped establish two state-run madrassas in the province of Khost, and a third is on its way. Commander David Adams, head of the US provincial reconstruction team in Khost, the province on the border with Pakistan, said more were planned. … In parts of eastern Afghanistan, US soldiers distribute copies of the Koran and "mosque refurbishment kits" that include sound systems powered by solar panels and prayer rugs.

Mar. 6, 2008 update: "Can a Case Be Made to Enjoin further madrassa and mosque building?" inquires "Brian T." Yes, he replies, based on a review of the case history (Lemon V. Kurtzman, Reid v. Covert, Lamont v. Woods).

Mar. 27, 2008 update: The Canadian government may join its American counterpart in building "moderate" madrassahs in Afghanistan if its people on the ground get their wish, reports Le Figaro.

Related Topics: Academia, Islam, US policy

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