Fantastic article here: read it, pass it on to Islam-paranoid friends

[WilliamPitt]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/nyregion/05imam.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=393141e1d285f33f&hp&ex=1141621200&partner=homepage

A Muslim Leader in Brooklyn, Reconciling 2 Worlds

(snip)

Sheik Reda, as he is called, arrived in Brooklyn one year after Sept. 11. Virtually overnight, he became an Islamic judge and nursery school principal, a matchmaker and marriage counselor, a 24-hour hot line on all things Islamic.

Day after day, he must find ways to reconcile Muslim tradition with American life. Little in his rural Egyptian upbringing or years of Islamic scholarship prepared him for the challenge of leading a mosque in America.

The job has worn him down and opened his mind. It has landed him, exhausted, in the hospital and earned him a following far beyond Brooklyn.

"America transformed me from a person of rigidity to flexibility," said Mr. Shata, speaking through an Arabic translator. "I went from a country where a sheik would speak and the people listened to one where the sheik talks and the people talk back."

This is the story of Mr. Shata's journey west: the making of an American imam.

...more...

[I Have A Dream]

1. It's a great article. I'll bookmark it for possible use later. n/t

[nuxvomica]

2. Definitely worth reading

I admire Mr. Shata for the thoughtfulness he brings to this struggle to reconcile sharia with the demands of modern life. The current political climate aside, it is not unlike the similar challenges faced by followers of other creeds, the sort of challenge religious extremists of any sort fail to take on.

[Warpy]

3. "A doctor, not a judge, remedy not punish"

I wish we had more of him.

This is a wonderful article about the culture shock Muslims face when they come here from very protected environments. I'd heard that before when I cared for them back east, that they felt horribly exposed and unprotected here.

You really can't judge another culture by your own. It just never works.

[never cry wolf]

4. Thanks, it's a long article

but I read every word, thanks for posting.

[Cleita]

5. Really, his job isn't much different that the parochial priests

I grew up with. At that time they had to deal with the Polish, and other Eastern European Catholics that were pouring into this country after WWII. The problems were similar and the religious solution not always enough like the divorce dilemma.

Interesting read. Thanks Will.

[Hoping4Change]

6. K&R.

[Wordie]

7. Thanks so much for posting this, Will. An article such as this can help

humanize our Muslim citizens. Understanding is a necessary precondition to acceptance.

Recommended.

[WilliamPitt]

8. Part II of this piece is out

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/nyregion/07imam.html?hp&ex=1141794000&en=d6f18a202e25163f&ei=5094&partner=homepage