Religious leaders honor prominent Muslim voice of Southern California
▼ Memorial held for Maher Hathout, longtime chairman of the Islamic Center of Southern California
▼ Muslim leader Maher Hathout remembered: 'We are standing on his wide shoulders to continue his work'
January 10, 2015, 7:26 PM
By Michael Finnegan
The rain-soaked scene outside Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday was a fitting tribute to Maher Hathout: Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Sikh leaders in religious garb paused during his memorial service to observe a moment of silence for victims of the terrorist massacre in France.
Hathout, the longtime chairman of the Islamic Center of Southern California, was one of America's leading Muslim voices advocating peace with other religions.
"It's at moments like these that we feel the absence of someone like Dr. Hathout intensely," said Rabbi Ken Chasen of Leo Baeck Temple in Bel-Air.
To the scores of people gathered under umbrellas in City Hall's Spring Street courtyard, Chasen offered a prayer calling for an end to violence in the name of religious extremism — first in Hebrew, then in English. Others offered Christian and Islamic prayers.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-hathout-memorial-20150111-story.html
