An Imam in the House
August 14th, 2008
Just three days after our story highlighting the lack of religious representation during the City Council’s pre-meeting prayer, or formally its invocation, an imam made an appearance at the head of the City Council chamber this afternoon.
Saying Speaker Christine Quinn invited him, Imam Malik Sakhawat Hussain of Coney Island’s Al-Mahdi Foundation recited a prayer from the Koran then added a little political commentary.
Hussain is the first imam to give the invocation in more than a year (maybe more) at City Hall. Some groups who advocate for the abolishment of such prayer services, which, frankly, are given by most legislative bodies in the country, say the prayer in part disenfranchises citizens because certain religions are rarely represented.
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