The Cordoba House, a proposed Islamic cultural center that would be located near Ground Zero, continues to generate controversy and anger across America, reports William Dalrymple of The New York Times. He remarks that while President Barack Obama himself originally endorsed the project in the name of freedom of religion in America, he eventually stated that his comments were taken out of context.

“I believe that Muslims have the right to practice their religions as everyone else in this county, and that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan in accordance with local laws and ordinances,” Obama declared to a crowd of Muslims invited to the White House State Dining Room for an iftar dinner, a meal where Muslims break their day-long fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

The following day, he clarified his position on the matter, “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there… I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding.”

The New York Times describes the reaction of some groups as a contradiction to their very own ideals, such as the “Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to ending ‘unjust and unfair discrimination,’” that is now seeking “to discriminate against American Muslims.” Dalrymple comments that series of high officials and politicians depicted the Cordoba Initiative, the organization behind the project, as “deliberately insulting.”

Dalrymple explains that these attacks indicate a lack of understanding regarding the complexities of the Muslim world and “a failure that hugely hampers Western efforts to fight violent Islamic extremism and to reconcile Americans with peaceful adherents of the world’s second-largest religion.”

Dalrymple argues that Feisal Abdul Rauf of the Cordoba Initiative, one of America’s leading authorities on Sufism, the mystical form of Islam, is the antithesis of militant Islam promoted by Al-Qaeda.

Citing a 2007 study by the RAND Corporation, Dalrymple adds that someone like Abdul Rauf should be considered a vital ally rather than an enemy as, according to the study, the “Sufis’ open, intellectual interpretation of Islam makes them ideal partners in the effort to combat Islamist extremism.”

However, controversy surrounding the wrongly-named “Ground Zero Mosque” continues to roil, both domestically and worldwide, remarks Tom A. Peter for The Christian Science Monitor. Spilling over into political discourse and dominating the news, the debate is also fostering some divides among Muslims.

According to Arab News, Gamal Abd Al-Gawad, director of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Sudies in Cairo prompted, "Many Muslims fear that the mosque will become a shrine for Islamists, which would remind Americans of what Muslims did on 9/11." Al-Gawad further commented that the controversy surrounding the mosque could reinforce prejudice against Muslims and Islam in the United States.

Middle East News Sources added that Muslims are actually distancing themselves from the project, as Arabs and Muslims remain skeptical about the initiative to build the mosque. “The Americans [are] running the show, i.e. the right wing and the lobbies are viewed by Arab and Muslim public opinion as biased against Islam in general,” commented Samir Al-Saadawi, editor of foreign affairs for the Arab daily Al-Hayat.

Shakib Bin-Makhlouf, president of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe argued, “Islam has nothing to do with the events that happened on 9/11,” before adding, “Unfortunately, the media has contributed in tying terrorism to Islam. When a non-Muslim commits an act of terror, no-one refers to his religion.”

As the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" has turned into a political debating ground, it is also perceived a “barometer for the world to assess how America treats Muslims,” notes Peter for The Christian Science Monitor.

Republican Congressional candidates intensified efforts to widen the divide over construction of an Islamic center near Ground Zero into the midterm campaigns, while the Senate’s top Democrat, Sen Harry Reid of Nevada, said he objected to the mosque being built at the site, commented Carl Hulse for The New York Times.

“The First Amendment protects freedom of religion,” said Jim Manley, one of Reid's top advisers. “Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else.” “Ground Zero is hallowed ground to Americans,” said Elliott Maynard, a Republican politician. Maynard, who is trying to unseat Representative Nick J. Rahall II, a Democrat, in West Virginia’s Third District, also said, “Do you think the Muslims would allow a Jewish temple or Christian church to be built in Mecca?”

One British blogger suggested that the mosque is evidence that America is experiencing the same “Islamicization” allegedly occurring in Europe, where many worry that Muslims are gaining undue influence.

HDS Greenway for the GlobalPost, points out that the controversy has turned into a matter of foreign policy. Noting that it strengthens the argument expressed by extremists such as Osama Bin Laden, Greenway stated, “It is a controversy that can do irreparable harm to United States foreign policy and its struggle against Islamic extremism. For it punctures the image the United States […] is a place where Muslims can freely worship and co-exist with other religions in peace and harmony; that Islam can coexist with modernity and tolerance.”

At the present moment, many Americans are upset with Muslims who may appear “insensitive to American feelings associated” with 9/11, notes Richard Bulliet, professor of History at Columbia University, for Middle East Online. “The issue of constitutional rights is secondary,” he notes.

Drawing a comparison with the Danish cartoons that enraged Muslims worldwide, Bulliet comments that a minority of Americans, led by President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg, feel that freedom of religion takes precedence over any issue of sensitivity.

No religious or national group is immune to feelings of outrage over actions they interpret as blasphemous or patently wrong. The sensibilities of Muslims are no more fragile than those of Americans, nor are Muslims more intemperate in expressing their anger than Americans.

New York Governor David Paterson plans to discuss relocating a proposed Muslim cultural centre and mosque to a less emotionally charged location farther away from New York City’s ‘Ground Zero’ site of the September 11 attacks, according to Gulf Times.

“If everyone steps back and looks at this, it really is in everyone’s best interest in doing it ... especially the Muslim community, to show that they are serious about building bridges and that they are not just trying to make a statement by having a mosque built over Ground Zero,” said US Representative Peter King of New York.

Close to 60 percent of Americans oppose the plan, reports Gulf Times, although supporters say having the Islamic cultural center provides an opportunity to promote understanding of the religion and begin the healing process nearly a decade after the attacks. As originally envisioned, the building will not feature a minaret, dome or any other architectural motif typically associated with mosques.