Strange Sight:Muslims praying at a packed public park

reply to post by nataylor


But why the public prayers all of the sudden within the past year? It was never on the scale that it is now. I don't think it's a coincidence considering all the negativity geared towards Islam.

I don't see what is strange about this......Islam's call to prayers are at certain times of the day. They are supposed to stop and do their prayers at that time, regardless of the location. They even make apps for them so they remember the times on their cell phones.

reply to post by pavil


The point is is that, you are correct, but it wasn't happening on the scale that it is now. I stated that in an earlier post on this very thread. Muslims were having prayer time on busy city streets in very large cities. When has this happened before and WHY is it happening now? I don't think I can get the point across any more clearly.
I have nothing against the Muslims praying wherever and whenever they want but, I'm sounding like a broken record now, why now? why in lieu of all the negativity? Is it coincidental that all this negative attention about Islamitization is going on and now Muslims are holding prayer time in public places where they NEVER occurred before, blocking traffic and drawing attention? One would be naive to think that if they were doing this out of spite it wouldn't escalate more negativity. And why would one want to do such a thing other than to look for a means of retaliation.

reply to post by kimish


Ummmmm maybe there are more Muslims in the area?? I live in the suburbs of Detroit, we have one of the largest Muslim/Middle Eastern concentrations in the U.S. They get along with everybody.....it's no big deal. Immigrants change, but they all eventually end up in the mixing pot. It takes a couple generations for them to adjust, hopefully most do. I still have Yugoslavian (yes, I know it doesn't exist anymore) friends that seem very backwards to me and they are third generation U.S. citizens.Their women never can date anyone not from the old country......

People can still keep their culture intact and assimilate into society at the same time. It takes both sides to want to do that, to make it happen. It's when one side either doesn't try to assimilate or is isolated by the other when problems crop up.

reply to post by pavil

I understand your point. That makes alot of sense. I feel stupid now for not thinking of that reason, thanks . But I still think that it is just a little ironic considering the timing of this all. To me it just like the Muslims are giving us a big fat F U America which I personally don't have a problem with but there could be dire consequences further down the road on behalf of one group or another.

reply to post by ollncasino


And that my friend is the part of Islam that Islamic followers in the US doesn't want Americans to see or hear to much, intimidation, warnings and persecution, but because the middle eastern nations that practice Islam are miles aways from the US Americans should not have anything to worry about.

Like I say before, unless Islam that is practiced in the US has become a deviation of the true Islam it has not changed a thing, is still a very dangerous faith base religion for those that will dare to challenge them.

And that is also my point I am trying to prove but many just ignore.

Islam in the US is still the same Islam that is practiced in Islamic countries.

reply to post by kimish


Don't feel that way. You will see from my posts I'm not one of the biggest fans of Islam overall, but the Muslims I have met have been pretty .....well boring and ordinary, just like everyone else. If they get along with me, I get along with them, it's pretty simple. Each religion and culture has it's own weirdo kinda things to people not familiar with it.

Sometimes it's scary how dissimilar groups can be the same. I was surprised how much a Chaldean Mass was identical to how a Polish mass is. They are both "old school" types of mass, different from a Modern Catholic mass. As an old Altar boy, I was able to follow along with the Chaldean mass even though I didn't understand a word of it. The only main difference was Men sat of the right of the Church and the ladies were across the aisle on the left. I sat with my wife, nobody gave us grief.

Originally posted by nataylor
I'm less concerned about people praying in a park than I am of organized groups of people practicing martial arts. I mean, martial arts can be used for fighting!

That is Tai Chi, a dance, not used for fighting. I know it looks like karate but about a billion people do it everyday. It helps connect the mind to the body, like jumping jacks.

Originally posted by ollncasino
In the last month, what has the religion of 'peace' offered up?

continued

In the same period, 1 Hindu has murdered 1 Christian.

2010.08.16 Iraq Muqdadiya 4 9 Four Iranian pilgrims on a bus are targeted and killed by Sunni bombers. Women and children are among the victims.

2010.08.16 Afghanistan Kunduz 2 0 A couple in their 20's is stoned by Islamic fundamentalists for having sex. The man has to be finished off with a gunshot.

2010.08.16 Somalia Elasha Biyaha 1 0 A cleric who advocated peace is assassinated by Islamists.

2010.08.16 Afghanistan Heart 5 2 Three women and a child are among five civilians killed by a Taliban bomb attack on their car.

2010.08.16 Somalia Mogadishu 9 53 Nine refugees are killed when al-Shabaab Islamists attack a displaced persons camp.

2010.08.16 Afghanistan Ghazni 2 5 A remote-controlled bomb on a bridge takes out two civilians.

2010.08.16 Afghanistan Farah 2 0 Two people are killed when Taliban gunmen fire into a bazaar.

2010.08.16 Pakistan Karachi 4 0 Sunnis shoot four Shia to death in separate attacks.

Hey, you left out all the people killed by Christians.

reply to post by marg6043



While there may seem to be reason to worry, Muslims in America seem to have a much larger Non-Arab percentage overall. Plus 2/3 of American Muslims are foreign born first generations. I think it makes for a much more diverse form, it's the Wahhabis that are causing the grief.

And something most Americans should realize is that most Arab-Americans are Not Muslims. Too often we paint religious sterotypes on top of racial sterotypes.

reply to post by PersonalChoice


I know what you mean............sometimes I too now feel like a stranger in a strangeland.

I don't think they were really praying as much as showing off, in your face, but that is my own opinion.

This is the very reason our forefathers were smart enough to separate church from state........once you combine the two you have a country like Iraq.

We have a Mosque about a mile from us, but the people so far are all nice and quiet and not in your face.

Were they right out in the middle or over towards a corner of the park? I ask because if they were right smack in the middle to me, again, it would denote a in your face type of passive aggressive type of thing.

This is not the America I knew four and a half decades ago.[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ff0908253aab.gif[/atsimg]

I'm a muslim, not religious type.

The muslim praying in the park doesnt bring up any bell to me. Its normal, but the Muslim in Paris that block traffic is somewhat different.
How come the Paris Muslims pray in the middle of the road ? It is really weird, because
1.The traffic will distract their prayer
2.Their prayer will block the traffic
3.Is that place really clean ?
4.Isn't there a better place to pray ?

Its either they are show off (a big sin) or ....nah, no reason to pray in the middle of traffic area.

About Islam and America.
Islam is a way of life, not limited to religion. According to Islam rules, the country law where they reside take precedence over syariah, as long it doesnt conflict with the syariah. As for the gay guy, America allow gay, the Muslim have to obey the law. They might not like you kissing your husband/wife but they cannot do anything to you. Its because the American law take precedence over syariah (to a limit). In my country, you might get jailed for sure IF you are a Muslim that is, because Islam country forbid that.

I live in true multi races country, I view America not as multi race country, more of a melting pot. My country still does not melt or mixed or assimilate these races (yet) for 500+- years. We have different distinct races with different religions and we live in peace under Islamic country, some state even practice syariah and hudud law (true Islamic way). We do have past confrontation, not because of religion, but because of ideology - communist and politic. So I kinda dumbfounded why western have problem with Islam. If we unmixed country can live together, a melting pot like America should be easier IMHO. Most Islamic rules DOES NOT apply to non Muslim anyway! So, no fear my friend

Islam and the killings.
Somebody post killing done by "Muslims"
You got to ask yourself a simple question, what is the country adopted religion ? You will see, a big chunk of it is an Islamic country, which brought up another interesting question.
Why the hell a Muslim attack an Islamic country ?
Actually its never a Muslim or Islam that attack. Its merely a citizen trying to point out their ideology.
The media label it as Muslims then all finger point to Islam as the black sheep (this is where all the confusion start).

Islam Misrepresentation
I as another country Muslim do not understand why some people so afraid or hate Islam. Some proceed to point things that mislead this further, I believe its a misrepresentation of media about Islam, please do tell your media agency to drop the word muslim and Islam from their wordings, it really screwed up people belief.

I hope this clarify few things, Islam is not to be afraid or hated or ridicule or terrorist after all. Yes we live by different set of rules, but that does not mean we require you to follow us.

Originally posted by IAMIAM

Originally posted by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep
Why is it that these threads always go off topic? Always!! Choose any thread on this site relating to religion, or racism or whatever, and see how off topic it goes.

My friend,

What you see happening in these threads, particularly the ones about Muslims is something called culture shock. Most people know only of religion what they have been taught since birth, so when they see something out of the ordinary they react with confusion and fear. It is a natural response. A conditioned response of being brought up in a system which teaches us to fear strangers and see others not like ourselves as foreigners, alien, something to be shunned.

I couldn't agree more, and maybe if I was a little more articulate I would have named the thread.. Culture Shock: Muslims praying at a public park. Thanks for your comments IAMIAM.

reply to post by kimish


Just to add to this and some of the other observations that multiple people are making, I touched on it in my op, but I tried to stick to the praying part of it.

There were other things, that taken in total, made me automatically assume these were Muslims that extreme in their religious beliefs. Like I said, I lived in DC for several years and I knew many Muslims, as well as every other nationality on earth down there, DC is a true melting pot of the worlds people. And I know from experience that Muslims like these guys looked usually aren't to friendly.That being said, what made me make this assumption, was first the fact that they, almost the entire group of around 10 15 guys of all varying ages from 20's to late 40's, all but a few had long beards. Also, they had the women and children (appeared to be two families) were walking laps with everyone else. It was high nineties, terribly humid, and they were all wearing slacks with burqas face completely covered. Even the young children, I walked past her baby carriage and there was a (3month old?) very young child wearing a burqa with her face also veiled. We had a five and four year old with us, and boy the questions started flowing It was the first time I guess they had ever saw children wearing burqas, it was the first time I saw a infant wearing one. I have to say also, that I really was disgusted by the whole burqa's on kids thing. Why do female children and newborns require a burqa?

Anyhow, that along with them praying( yes it was in the middle of the park, less than ten feet from the walking path, it was not in a secluded part whatsoever). It was all just a little to much, anyways, that was the seen that day, might help some with understanding my perspective.

Originally posted by RainCloud


About Islam and America.
Islam is a way of life, not limited to religion. According to Islam rules, the country law where they reside take precedence over syariah, as long it doesnt conflict with the syariah. As for the gay guy, America allow gay, the Muslim have to obey the law. They might not like you kissing your husband/wife but they cannot do anything to you. Its because the American law take precedence over syariah (to a limit). In my country, you might get jailed for sure IF you are a Muslim that is, because Islam country forbid that.

"The gay guy", whose screen name is clearly written above his post, would like to point out to "the Muslim" the lack of clarity within the above paragraph.
Does American law take precedence over syariah law or not? If the answer is conditional, as evidenced by the phrase "to a limit", the answer is no. Couching a negative response within an affirmative sounding statement is far from clear. It's as muddled as implying that I might not be jailed IF I'm not a Muslim. Either the law of your country excuses homosexuality due to non-Muslim status or it doesn't.

*shrug* If they want to pray in a public park, I say let them. I agree that it is a bit odd, but I'd much rather see a Muslim prayer group than a gaggle of Christians handing out tracts and "witnessing".