Dean of Muslim chaplains leaving Europe for the States

[unhappycamper]

Dean of Muslim chaplains leaving Europe for the States
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, May 25, 2008

SCHWETZINGEN, Germany — The preacher in the pulpit is talking about justice and truth and an all-knowing God while a barefoot little girl clad in bright yellow and green gleefully gallops across a prayer rug.

It’s a Friday afternoon at Tompkins Barracks in Schwetzingen, and the longest-serving imam in the U.S. military is addressing a dozen of the faithful in a second-floor room above the Army and Air Force Exchange Service shoppette. The prayer center is one of two the U.S. military operates in Europe.

The girl, her head covered in a simple white scarf, isn’t interested in what Army Chaplain (Maj.) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad has to say. She’s too busy exploring. But her dad, Spc. Rakhmatulla Asatov, and two other soldiers listen intently during the prayer service as Muhammad espouses the need to lead an honest life.

"There is no space that is large enough, no space dark enough to hide from Allah," Muhammad says from the pulpit, or minbar, as it is known in Arabic.

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Muhammad served in Iraq in 2004-2005 and found it to be a unique experience. Many Iraqis were genuinely surprised to learn there are imams in the U.S. military. Most American soldiers, on the other hand, viewed Muhammad first and foremost as a military chaplain, a person to turn to for counsel, no matter the faith. Muslims in the U.S. military "didn’t just start reaching out," he said. "We’ve been reaching out since before 9/11."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55064