It's been 4 days since former Al-Qaeda terrorist and Guantanamo Bay detainee Majid Khan was relocated to Belize.
His arrival has been highly controversial with many asking whether he's as reformed as the US statement claims him to be.
But last week Minister of Foreign Affairs and immigration Eamon Courtenay called Khan a man with dreams and aspirations who quote: " doesn't give off any negative vibes." And when they met, Khan told the Belize screening team led by Courtenay how important it is that he be allowed to practice his Muslim faith in this, his new country.
And, this morning we went looking for what could be Khan's new place of worship if only to ask Imam Kaleem El Amin if Belizean Muslims will accept or reject Majid Khan.
This is Belize City's Masjid-Al-Falah, the City's oldest Mosque, and the Mosque that the newly resettled Guantanamo detainee Majid Khan may choose as his place of worship.
But given Khan's past, he who's pleaded guilty to having once plotted a never realized suicide bombing, we wondered if the local Imam would be at all willing to accept him as one of the Belizean faithful.
According to the Imam, it isn't in his power to keep Majid Khan from speaking to Allah.
Kaleem Elamin, Imam, Masid El
"Well, the response according to Islam is that the whole world is a Masjid but human beings out of convenience make dwellings to keep us out of the rain, and sun, and designate part of the earth to say, this is exclusively where we would pray but a person's prayer is just answerable by God if he is driving, on his bed, if he is eating dinner but at a Masjid you have a kind of socialization and we all know that if one is dealing with religion and God if a person comes to the Masjid and he isn't praying sincerely God doesn't like that but if he is at home praying sincerely."
And how can the re-settled former member of Al-Qaeda be expected to be treated by his Muslim brothers if he does show up at this Masjid?
Kaleem Elamin, Imam, Masid El
"This is respect of a sensible human being, to treat all human beings properly until they do you something then you say main, he was a nice guy but he's changed then we will change so normally when we meet people and it doesn't matter who it is you shouldn't pre-judge because pre-judging people if you are my age you will realize that you will be wrong a lot of times, that you think they are like this and it's like a mutual feeling but it is out of courtesy that if you meet a stranger if a person is a foreigner if a person is in distress the Muslim religion says that you help somebody when they are done when they are in problem and then you go and help them, that is a normal human response."
But Khan has repeatedly told government authorities that whether he is welcomed by this community or not he will continue with his prayers, the very same prayers he carried out for years inside Guantanamo Bay.
Kaleem Elamin, Imam, Masid El
"So coming to the Masjid is not like well, my prayer is guaranteed to be accepted because it is in a particular building so the Muslim community of Belize is registered with the government to let any Muslim who comes to this country, whatever his previous background or if he was even a Belizean or non-Belizean. They are free to come and worship and there is no restriction as long as they don't cause any disruption in the community, anyone is free, even non-Muslims can come into our Masjid and we always invite even Non-Muslim whom people may think we are antagonistic to, so if we can welcome a Christian, a Jew, a person who is an atheist and a Muslim come, we will not turn him back of course."
According to a 2010 census, there are less than 1,000 Muslims who live and practice their faith in Belize.
