Islam is applicable in all times and all places for it is a religion possessed of all those sublime values that make it eminently suited to all times and all places.   Almighty God says, “You shall practice forgiveness and enjoin that which is commonly regarded as good and disregard the ignorant!”  Quran, Chap 7, v.199.
“Forgiveness” means tolerance and forbearance of the faults of others and pardoning their offences against one. “That which is good” (al-‘afu) is what people commonly perceive as being good and which they normally advocate and enjoin upon each other. “Disregard the ignorant” means not responding to their ignorance or engaging them in futile arguments.

“Enjoining that which is commonly perceived by people as being good, and forbidding that which is commonly perceived by people as being evil” is an Islamic duty imposed for the perpetual reform of society.  “That which is commonly perceived by people as being good” comprises all those values that the individual members of a society enjoin upon each other and agree to adhere to for the general good of society.   “That which is commonly perceived by people as being evil” comprises all those things and acts that people commonly consider to be despicable and thus harmful to society at large, and which they enjoin each other from and agree to refrain from.
That is true co-operation in the cause of righteousness and piety as commanded in the Quran.   Islam thus runs counter to the ugly picture painted of it by the extremists and the terrorists under the guise of the “Sunna”, the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.

The true and genuine tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is that he was sent, with the Quran, as a mercy for mankind.    “We did not send you except as a mercy for mankind”.  Quran, Chap 21, v. 107.    Then he was not sent to kill mankind or to terrorize them!!

In the dark middle ages, there were Muslim sages who talked about the difference between God’s rights and the rights of His servants.   They said that God’s rights consist of our believing in Him Alone as god, and our worshipping Him Alone, no partner has He.   This right shall be adjudicated on the Day of Resurrection by God Alone.   As for the rights of the servants – or what are known today as human rights - these cannot be delayed because it is necessary to protect the rights of every person to life, property, honor and such other rights.    These enlightened sages learned this from the Quran; they thus went counter to the culture of the Middle Ages.    These rights found those who would apply them in the dark of the middle ages, such as Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz.   Thus, the suitability of Islam for all ages and places lies not only in its decided bias towards those sublime human instincts and lofty values that brook no disagreement, but also in that they can be applied, even if the obtaining culture of the age were inimical to them.

The age we now live in is that of Democracy, human rights and noble human values.   Ironically, today Islam stands accused of fanaticism, rigidity and terrorism because of the extremists and their anti-Islamic culture.    These extremists will accept nothing less than total control over others and forcing religion upon them.

I spent twenty long years in Egypt preaching true Islam, the Islam of the Quran, the Islam preached and followed by the Seal of the Prophets.   During those years I suffered harassment by the ignorant, causing me to leave Al-Azhar University.   But they kept on after me, chasing me from mosque to mosque.   I then decided to take refuge in my native village and offer my prayers there, in my family home, with only my family and close relatives.   Sure enough, some of my relatives were incarcerated and tortured, only because of praying with me in my home.   I stopped going to my home village.   They thus drove me out of the house had I built in my native village to serve as a home and mosque.
I came to America, the land of religious freedom.  I was surprised to find that the extremists had beaten me to it and had already taken control of the mosques and I found myself, again, in the same old isolation I had got used to. There remained, however, a painful question gnawing at my mind:  “Is there not a single mosque truly dedicated to God Almighty, where His Name Alone is commemorated, and where the true, forgotten values of Islam - justice, peace, tolerance, freedom, human rights and democracy – first enunciated in the Quran fourteen centuries ago, are preached?”  Is it not possible to have such a truly Islamic mosque in America, the land of freedom, democracy, tolerance and human rights?

That question kept gnawing at my mind until I was encouraged to express it in words by my good friend, Dr. Saad-ed-Deen Ibrahim, my comrade in the struggle against oppression, at a meeting in my home in Alexandria, Virginia.   With us, was the journalist and friend Mr. Magdi Khalil. We began mulling over memories of the past and hopes of the future.   I spoke about my being forced to read my prayers at home and the complaints of enlightened Muslim readers in America of the backwardness of the chaplains (preachers who deliver the sermons and lead the prayers) in the mosques, and their ignorance and the ugly and untruthful picture of Islam they present.  
Our conversation led us to the necessity of establishing a mosque where Muslims can learn true Islam, the Islam that is far removed from extremism and the culture of terror.   From this mosque might sprout a school to train chaplains who will preach true Islam to Muslims to demonstrate to the West the contradiction between Islam and extremism.    Dr. Saad-ed-Deen Ibrahim suggested that I take this idea to Muslim readers everywhere requesting their opinion and advice.    This is what I am now doing!

How, Dear Reader, would you view the idea of our setting up a mosque in Alexandria, Virginia, to be a citadel for preaching the forgotten, true teachings of the Quran? That mosque shall include a school to train and graduate Muslim chaplains who will interact with the age, the age of democracy and human rights!      
Your acceptance of this idea will move it to the realm of reality.     
I await your comments!

P.S
This article was published in Arabic in these Arabic web sites: