Muslim prayer rooms in the Mall of America

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Dec 13, 2008, 11:30:23 PM12/13/08

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source: http://mshale.com/article.cfm?articleID=18301

On the day Muslims around the world began to celebrate Eid al-Adha,
Fatuma Mohamed was at the Mall of America (MOA), far away from where
she would normally say her prayers.

But she and other Muslims needed to take time from the activities of
the mall and find a quiet area to pray as Muslims do during the
festival that commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his only
son for God.

“I said my prayer right at that corner,” Mohamed said, pointing to the
spot.

Another Muslim, Amran Ali, did the same.

“I had to say my prayer at a corner,” Ali said. “I was stared at, but
no one bothered me.”

Every year, as Muslims in America are compelled to engage in business,
work and shopping during the holidays, many find themselves away from
mosques and other places where they can hold prayers without
interruption. They are forced to seek privacy in corners and
alleyways, places that often subject them to unwanted attention. Some
Muslims also worry that their repetitive calls of “Allah akbar!” (God
is great!) during prayers could be misconstrued as calls for Jihad.

“Of course, out curiosity people will stare at you but don’t say
anything,” said Shuuriye Ali. “I wish they would ask. I would love to
educate them about my peaceful religion.”

This year Muslim leaders from the Twin Cities area were able to
persuade MOA, the largest enclosed mall in the United States, to set
aside a room for prayers.

“I learned quite a bit from my last meeting with the community,” said
Douglas Reynolds, MOA’s security director.

But Mohamed and other Muslims did not know there was a prayer room,
even though MOA and Muslim volunteers had intended to have eight
posters in three languages, (English, Somali and Arabic) to be
displayed at all entrances to the mall.

“I didn’t notice any signs,” Mohamed said.

Reynolds said many might have missed the signs because MOA and the
Muslim leaders did not advise the community about the prayer room
before this week’s observance of Eid al-Adha. The signs also went up
too late in the day, Reynolds said.

“It would have been nice to get the message out to the community
earlier,” Reynolds said. “The signs were also not available until 4:30
p.m.”

He promised that MOA would “do a better job next time.”

Regardless of the glitch, many Muslims appeared excited that the MOA
reserved prayer space for them and promised to continue doing so in
the future.

“It is about time,” Jamad Barrow said. “I’m happy to hear that the
mall is trying to accommodate and appeal to the Muslim community.”

Sheikh Neelain Muhammad, an imam at the St.Paul-based Da’wa Islamic
Center, and five other volunteers from the center were among the many
volunteers who were at the mall to make sure that day went on without
incidents, especially from teenagers.

Reynolds, the MOA security director, said that community volunteers
were very helpful.

“At one point, Sheikh Neelain Muhammad and his team were spotted
talking to the youth and telling them to behave … and so, they did.”

The presence of culturally competent volunteers at the mall avoided
the law enforcement solution that often leads to the arrest of Muslim
youths.

“No one youth that was acting out that didn’t change after we talked
with him or her,” Sheikh Muhammad said.

Mahmood Kanyare, one of the community volunteers, said the volunteers
reminded the youth about good manners in Islam.

“They were all responsive to our messages and behaved well as a
result,” Kanyare said.

The day ended with a positive note for both MOA and the Muslim
community. No one was arrested and only few were asked to leave.

Reynolds, the director of security, said he hoped to continue building
MOA’s relationship with the Muslim community.
_____________________

Tears of Jihad: http://www.politicalislam.com/tears/pages/tears-of-jihad

American Muslim leader Khalid Abdul Muhammad speaks about whites (2
minutes): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJh_mNXPw-E

Hate preaching in Western mosques (2 min. video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1tWTtveFL8

Muslims in America (3 min. video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLK1Xpc7SMQ

What Islam is not (8 min. video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8789NMWZ9EI

Young Talib beheads Ghulam Nabi: http://tinyurl.com/2rb2e3

The Third Jihad (32 min. video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a11RyysChYc

Enough of Radical Islam: http://townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2008/12/03/enough_of_radical_islam

Hindu Man: Why I hate Islam:
http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/a-hindu-man-explains-why-i-hate-islam/

Arabs are racists because they are Muslims:
http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=30875BC8-5FB3-4A07-B9B6-644FA28D99EE

While Europe Slept (free book): http://d.scribd.com/docs/14ami0lwxesprvxeiw6s.pdf

Brigitte Gabriel founded ACT, the most effective anti-Islamist
organization in the U.S.: http://www.actforamerica.org/

ACT also has international chapters:
http://www.actforamerica.org/index.php/local-chapters/international-chapters

Topaz

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Dec 14, 2008, 5:42:42 PM12/14/08

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Judeo Christians think it is the "end times" even though it has been
the "end times" for over two thousand years so far. They think the one
and only hope is for Jesus to return and straighten everything out.
And a big part of the plan is the destroy the world. They think wars
and everything being blown up is a great thing because it means Jesus
will return soon.

Marxists were murderous lowlifes but they said religion is the opium
of the masses. There obviously is some truth to that. Enemies often
have some truth in their arguments. On top of the opium there is the
Jewish propaganda started by Scofield.

Christians are great for telling what some of the problems are, such
as homosexual perversion, feminism etc. But to actually solve these
problems one should look elsewhere. Who do Christians hate the most,
first Hitler and then the Muslims. These are the two who actually
solved the problems that Christians are famous for speaking against.
Maybe the Muslims go a little overboard but they are the opposite of
liberalism. There is no way that "Brokeback Mountain" would be shown
in a Muslim country.

http://www.ihr.org/ http://www.natvan.com

http://www.thebirdman.org http://www.nsm88.org

http://wsi.matriots.com/jews.html

Scott

Dec 15, 2008, 12:44:39 AM12/15/08

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Jan van der Reis
Av. Zaragoza 309 Pte
Col. El Prado
Queretaro, Queretaro 76039
Mexico

I wonder if that really is him?

ßÇDoügs

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Dec 15, 2008, 11:09:39 AM12/15/08

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"WDS" <Bi...@seurer.net> wrote in message
news:ee2d9640-2bc6-41fd...@r15g2000prh.googlegroups.com...

**********************
Come mi chinganda, perrita.

ßÇDoügs

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Dec 15, 2008, 11:08:57 AM12/15/08

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"Brian Link" <bl...@visi.com> wrote in message
news:sq4bk4d73ofhnkg5h...@4ax.com...

What you need is a stoli enema.

Scott

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Dec 15, 2008, 11:42:34 AM12/15/08

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Yes. As long as it's voluntary and not government mandated in any
way, I have no problem with it.

.
.

- Scott Smith: scott...@iphouse.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/choppersmith

WDS

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Dec 15, 2008, 11:46:49 AM12/15/08

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On Dec 15, 10:09 am, "ßÇDoügs" <na...@ahorita.com> wrote:
> "WDS" <B...@seurer.net> wrote in message

¿Dónde está su cortacéspedes de césped?

Scott

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Dec 15, 2008, 11:51:30 AM12/15/08

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On Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:34:30 -0600, Petep...@webtv.net (P T) wrote:

>I'm a lot more worried about such Muslims than the Christians.

I'm worried about ALL religious or ethnocentric nuts EQUALLY.

Scott

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Dec 15, 2008, 12:35:26 PM12/15/08

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Usted está muy loco.

ßÇDoügs

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Dec 20, 2008, 5:47:04 AM12/20/08

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"WDS" <Bi...@seurer.net> wrote in message

news:da273a82-c4c0-4b76...@q30g2000prq.googlegroups.com...

*************************
Usted les gusta los coyos en su boca?