A Muslim community leader told a crowd of about 200 people Tuesday night that the Ansar housing complex being built in Joppatowne will be open to anyone who wants to buy a house there, refuting concerns from residents and elected officials that it would be for Muslims only.
“This community was and always will be open to everyone,” Dr. Faheem Younus, president of the Shades and Springs organization formed to purchase houses along Trails Way, said.
He made his pledge to the audience gathered in the Joppa-Magnolia fire hall for a community meeting about the development.
Younus’ pledge comes at the same time a federal lawsuit has been filed against Harford County and two of its state delegates, Republicans Rick Impallaria and Pat McDonough.
Impallaria, who organized an earlier meeting on the Ansar complex and helped lead Tuesday’s meeting, held a copy of the 68-page lawsuit as he vowed that he and other elected officials will not be intimidated.
He described the suit as a way to “threaten and intimidate us to get us to go away and make us not represent you.”
“This will not get through court, but it will attract national attention,” McDonough said.
The suit was filed last Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, according to Impallaria’s copy.
The defendants, in addition to the two legislators, include the Harford County government, County Executive Barry Glassman, Director of Administration Billy Boniface, County Attorney Melissa Lambert and Joseph Siemek, director of public works.
The suit was filed because the county is no longer issuing building permits, according to the complaint.
Majlis Ansarullah USA, a Silver Spring-based Ahmadiyya Muslim organization, has been working with Gemcraft.
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, America, United States