Stop banning people from the house of prayer

We the undersigned respectfully ask the Colorado Muslim Society to revoke its ban on certain members of the community from entering its premises, and instead call for the adoption and approval of clearly defined, Islamically sanctioned, fair and equitable processes for protecting CMSs staff, its property and its members from aggressive behavior.

Recently, the Colorado Muslim Society banned three young members from entering its premises due to their mischievous behavior. The above mentioned were alleged to have done physical damage to the building, as well as harassed other members.

While we recognize that everyone who attends CMS has a duty to treat CMSs staff, its property and its members with utmost respect and dignity, we believe that banning people, especially children and adolescents, is not the best way to solve this problem.

As a house of prayer and a religious institution, CMS cannot ban anyone from performing their religiously mandated duty of congregational worship. This is especially critical with the younger members, since it severs their connection to the community and could push them away from their religion, possibly driving them to associate with the wrong crowds and become delinquent. The younger members of our community, especially those who exhibit such aggressive behavior, along with their families, are in most need of the communitys advice and support, including education, religious advice and counseling, appropriate medical and psychiatric intervention if necessary, as well as other effective remedies.

It is our belief that the administration and religious staff of CMS are dodging their responsibility and taking the easy way out by banning those kids from the premises. We think that a community of educated people, lead by a committed and responsible administration and a knowledgeable religious faculty can do much better than this. We hope that the administration of CMS will reconsider its decisions regarding this subject, and call for a community dialog to establish procedures and guidelines to insure that everyone at CMS, staff, members and guests alike are treated with dignity and respect.