Muhammad And The MTA

Brooklyn imam Siraj Wahhaj is behind a campaign to advertise in 1,000 NYCTA subway cars this September during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Wahhaj is a former member of the Nation of Islam. He’s also the first Muslim to deliver an invocation at the U.S. House of Representatives. Several years ago, he was named as one of one hundred seventy unindicted co-conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and plans for the destruction of other buildings here in New York City. Nevertheless, Islam is one of the most revered religions in the world. There are, and will always be, radical individuals from all religions who don't extol the best virtues of their religion. That fact shouldn’t diminish another follower’s beliefs nor have non-believers think any less of that religion. Religious knowledge should always trump what we know about those who look to subvert an entire religion for their own goals. The Islamic group states its goal with these ads is to promote the true nature of Islam to non-Muslims. Hopefully, this is true. Knowledge is better than ignorance. The group’s ads will invite transit riders to visit whyislam.org to learn more about the faith. The imam’s expressed beliefs are certainly inflammatory to most Americans, but this is still the great country of America where religious tolerance and differing viewpoints are permitted. So long as the group’s ads don’t incite violence and are in strict accordance with the advertising policies of the MTA, they should be posted. New Yorkers will undoubtedly respond to these ads as they do to most other subway messages; either with a lack of interest or graffiti.