El Marco Photo Essay: Prayer Time at the Ground Zero Mosque

El Marco offers us another excellent photo essay with Prayer Time at the Ground Zero Mosque. He provides some excellent historical context and asks the same piercing question all of us arrive: why?

I arrived early at the Islamic Center of New York. I came to the city to photograph the rally of Stop Islamization of America (SOIA) on Sunday, June 6th, which is dedicated to stopping the construction of a mega-mosque 600 feet from the gaping hole which was the World Trade Center. First, I visited the Islamic Center Mosque on 96th Street and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, miles from ground zero. What is significant about this 1980s mosque is that it was created by the father of the man who is spearheading the Ground Zero mosque project.

Doctor Mohammed Abdul Rauf (1917-2004) was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was formed in Egypt in 1928 and has over 70 branches including Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah. The Muslim Brotherhood is classified as a terrorist organization and banned in Egypt as well as the United States.

All is quiet at this site with the main Friday prayers not set to begin until 1:00pm. So, I headed down to Ground Zero. I have not been there since September 11th, 2006.

What I found was heartening. After years of squabbling and delays, construction is finally underway on the vast One World Trade Center Plaza and tower. Looking from the West side of ground zero, I focused on St. Paul’s church, which can be seen nestled amongst the trees of the ancient graveyard. It is the oldest continuously occupied building in New York City and it remained undamaged as the Twin Towers collapsed just feet from the graveyard’s wrought iron gate. General George Washington attended this church during the Revolutionary War, and later, when he was sworn in as President, New York being America’s capital at the time.

The base of the new One World Trade Center tower can be seen here on the left. It is also known as the Freedom Tower. St. Paul’s can be seen in the background.

I walked to the south side of “the pit,” and visited FDNY Ladder 10. The firehouse was directly across the street from the Twin Towers and was badly battered by debris when they were knocked down. They lost seven of their crew that day. My conversation with their dispatcher was cut short by an alarm, and the scene shifted into high gear...

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