[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 10, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1843-E1844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN MEMORY OF IMAM KHATTAB

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 10, 2001

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of the Imam 
Abdelmoneim Mahmoud Khattab, Imam Emeritus of the Islamic Center of 
Greater Toledo. Imam Khattab passed from this life on September 15, 
2001 after courageously battling cancer.
  The Imam was born in a village near Cairo and eventually attended Al-
Azhar University in Egypt. He received both undergraduate and graduate 
degrees in that ancient institution of learning. After graduating he 
worked briefly for the Egyptian consulate in Calcutta, then returned to 
Al-Azhar to lead the Institute of Foreign Languages. In 1964, the 
university appointed him to direct the Canadian Islamic Center in 
Edmonton, Alberta. While there, he received a second graduate degree, 
in Sociology, from the University of Alberta and completed work toward 
a doctoral degree from the University of Waterloo.
  Prior to his arrival in Northwest Ohio in 1980, Imam Khattab was the 
director of London, Ontario's Islamic Center. His arrival in Toledo 
preceded the groundbreaking of our own community's Islamic Center, and 
he guided its construction and philosophy. A decade later, he led the 
effort to establish a chair of Islamic Studies at the University of 
Toledo and he established a training center at the Islamic Center for 
students of Al-Azhur to train to become Imams for American Muslim 
communities.
  Imam Khattab was truly a man of enlightenment. His wise and 
thoughtful counsel could be counted on even in the most troubling of 
times, and he was both friend and mentor to many. Quietly persistent, 
combining his sense

[[Page E1844]]

of humor and powers of persuasion, he led the Islamic Center of Greater 
Toledo on a path of prominence not only in our community but our 
country. Imam Khattab's successor, Imam Farouq Aboelzahab, described 
his theology: ``When he talked about Islam, he talked about Islam as a 
religion of love and humanity. He represented Islam as a religion that 
cares about human beings, regardless ethnicity, national background, or 
religion. He committed himself to that goal.'' Noted as an original 
thinker, Imam Khattab was a true religious scholar whose teachings put 
him on the cutting edge of Islam in North America. Years ahead of many 
of his contemporaries in terms of interpretation of Islam, The Islamic 
Center's President noted, ``He's done so much for Islam. He never had 
any barriers. Nobody was ever categorized. He didn't differentiate 
between men and women. . . . He wasn't just the religious leader. He 
was in our homes. He was our friend, our father, our brother, our 
uncle.''
  Able to make religion both global and personal, Imam Khattab earned 
an international reputation for bringing disparate groups together. Not 
only did he bring together the 22 ethnic groups that made up the 
families of his mosque, but also he promoted unity among all religions, 
focusing on the common themes between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
  Although he retired and returned to Ontario in 1998, Imam Khattab 
remained an integral part of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, 
returning to the mosque weekly. He also served on many regional and 
national organizations including the Council of Imams of North America, 
the World Call council, and Michigan's Interfaith Roundtable.
  Our deep condolences to Imam Khattab's wife Fauzia, children Khalid 
and Huda, brother and sisters Muhamad, Soad, and Zuhrah, as well as the 
entire community of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. The Imam may 
be gone in body, but his spirit lives on through the millions of lives 
he touched and his legacy is carried through our own work now and in 
the future as we build on his foundation of faith.

                          ____________________