DEARBORN — Sayed Hassan Qazwini, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center for America (ICA), called for reforms at the center and criticized limiting its potential, adding that its doors should be open to everybody.

“Are there imperfections? Yes. Are there mistakes? Yes. Are there reforms that need to happen? Yes,” Qazwini said of the ICA, which is the largest Islamic center in North America.

Sayed Qazwini demanded enlarging the scope of the ICA’s work to be a center for all American Muslims.

“The Islamic Center should not be a funeral home,” he said. “Unfortunately, some people want us to organize funerals only. Our message should be much greater than that. It should reach every house. We should be the home of the community.”

Qazwini suggested founding new programs at the center to amplify its impact on the Muslim community. 

“Let’s start something new,” he said. “Let’s have a high school, an Islamic college; let’s start an Arabic school for adults; let’s have a library; let’s have an Islamic radio station or TV channel. We need a media center that adopts the Islamic ideals and make them understandable to the American audience. Why don’t we have those?”

He said he was one of the founders the “Interfaith Outreach Office”, which promotes dialogue between different religious communities, but added that this office is not enough. 

“The overwhelming majority of board members are good, noble people and have the desire to improve the ICA, but that will not stop me from saying that some brothers in the administration lack the vision,” he said.

“Not a village mosque” 

Qazwini added that some board members think the ICA is a social club or a mosque in a small village. 

“I see the center through its name— the Islamic Center of America,” he continued. “This should be the Vatican of Muslims in the United States. It is a center on a national level, not only a local mosque. We must live up to our name.”

Qazwini explained that considering the ICA a mosque for Dearborn or for the southern Lebanese community limits its potential.

“With all my respect and love to the southern Lebanese community, this center was made for all Muslims,” he said. “The southern Lebanese have contributed to the center generously with their money and efforts and we appreciate them, but the people of south Lebanon did not build this center for themselves only; they built a castle for Islam in America.”

The sayed said he would not call the ICA a Shi’a center, adding that it is for all Muslims and even non-Muslims.

“And some people want to limit it to a village?” he asked. “This mentality is wrong. We must stand to the challenges we are living here in the United States and not be limited to Lebanon or Iraq only. We should be invested in all national issues, especially if they involve Muslims.”

Qazwini said some board members want to stay out of politics and only hold “prayers, distribute pies and organize fundraisers.”

“We are not a business,” Qazwini said. “We are not a supermarket. We are an Islamic institution with a message. We cannot disregard our message. We should be open for everybody— Muslims and non-Muslims.”

Qazwini criticized permanent membership to the ICA board and called for term limits for everybody except founding members.

The ICA board practically runs the center, according to Qazwini. Board members vote for the chairman, hire the staff and elect new members. 

According to Qazwini, in 2013 the ICA board decided to keep all members elected before that year as members for life and limit the terms of newer board members to three years.

“I don’t see a problem with the latter part, to have somebody for three years on the board; but that’s a double-standard,” he said. “You can’t tell one person you are a board member for three years and then you have to go home and then tell another person you are a board member for life. This is an area that needs reform.”

The sayed called for a greater role for the community and the donors in deciding the affairs of the center. 

“It should not be a closed circle where old members elect new members,” he said. “We live in a democratic country. Where is democracy at the Islamic Center? The congregation has no voice on the board.”

Qazwini also said there is a need to combat nepotism at the ICA. 

“We can’t give somebody an important role at the center simply because he is a board member,” said Qazwini. “A paid position cannot be given to somebody who does not have the required qualifications because he is a board member. This means we are favoring loyalties over abilities. When we are hiring anybody, we should consider who is the most qualified. We should not favor people we like from the board or our friends and relatives.”

He added that he opposes giving any board member a paid job. He said board members should be volunteers.

The sayed said his role is strictly spiritual with no administrative powers.

Charitable efforts

Qazwini said any individual who can prove financial need, regardless of ethnicity or religion, can automatically receive a $500 donation from the ICA after filling out the necessary paperwork.

“Every person who comes here gets our help,” the sayed said. “You don’t need to be a Lebanese or an Iraqi or even a Muslim to receive that $500. All you need to do is complete an application.”

Qazwini said a panel of four board members and himself oversee the $500-contributions. If greater financial help is needed, the board would convene to assess the situation. 

The sayed said the approval of the entire board used to be required to donate any money and the tedious process resulted in the accumulation of about $50,000 allocated to helping the poor.

“This reform happened after pressure from me and some board members,” he said. He added that the change was made possible about a year ago because of personnel in the financial department. 

The sayed added that the ICA’s charitable efforts extend beyond monetary donations. He said although the center does not have a funeral home, it does help in securing the funds for proper religious burial to poor Muslims. 

“Any person who dies and doesn’t have a family to pay for his funeral, I am willing to raise money for his burial arrangements,” Qazwini said. “We never turned away anybody.”

He added that the center has a $15,000-emergency fund for cases that need immediate help. 

Calls for moderation

Qazwini, who was accused of corruption and adultery in anonymous letters that he responded to in the first part of this interview (see issue 1507), called for greater civility in debates among Muslims.

“We have a problem in the community that if there is a problem between two people, one of them rushes to call the other a traitor or an infidel,” he said. “This is unacceptable.” 

Qazwini was born in Iraq in 1964 and has received the equivalent of a PhD in Islamic studies from Qom in Iran. He immigrated to the United States in 1993.

The Arab American News has received negative comments bordering on threats of violence for writing an editorial questioning the wisdom of Ashura processions with black flags. Qazwini said he would not criticize the marches, but sees some valid points in the editorial.

“I am a proponent of using methods that are compatible with the needs of our time and geography,” he said. “That does not mean abandoning our Islamic ideals, but it means understanding the American mentality and introducing contemporary methods to invite people to know more about Islam.”

Qazwini acknowledged that processions with black flag might scare people who don’t know what they are. 

“We have a tradition of raising a back flag over the Islamic Center during Ashura,” the sayed said. “This year we raised a red flag because the person driving down Ford Road, who does not know what Ashura is, might think it is an ISIS flag.”

Qazwini described himself as a moderate Shi’a scholar, saying that he opposes insulting companions of the Prophet Mohamad. The sayed said he follows the Grand Ayatollah Ali Husayni Sistani, contrary to notions that accuse him of following the Shirazi school of thought, a hard line political ideology that was started by an Iraqi scholar in Iran.