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| Britain |
| Get off my bus, I need to pray |
| 2008-03-31 |
| A MUSLIM bus driver told stunned passengers to get off so he could PRAY. The white Islamic convert rolled out his prayer mat in the aisle and knelt on the floor facing Mecca. Passengers watched in amazement as he held out his palms towards the sky, bowed his head and began to chant. One, who filmed the man on his mobile phone, said: “He was clearly praying and chanting in Arabic. “We thought it was a wind-up at first, like Jeremy Beadle.” The 21-year-old plumber added: “He looked English and had a London accent. He looked like a Muslim convert, with a big, bushy beard. “Eventually everyone started complaining. One woman said, ‘What the hell are you doing? I’m going to be late for work’.” After a few minutes the driver calmly got up, opened the doors and asked everyone back on board. But they saw a rucksack lying on the floor of the red single-decker and feared he might be a fanatic. So they all refused. The passenger added: “One chap said, ‘I’m not getting on there now’. “An elderly couple also looked really confused and worried. “After seeing that no-one wanted to get on he drove off and we all waited until the next bus came about 20 minutes later. I was left totally stunned. It made me not want to get on a bus again.” The bizarre event unfolded on the number 81 in Langley, Berkshire, at around 1.30pm on Thursday. The passenger said he rang the bus firm to complain but claimed it did not believe him. He said: “They asked me, ‘Are you sure?’. Then they said they would get back to me, but they weren’t taking me seriously at all.” Yesterday the driver, who said his name was Hrun, told The Sun: “I asked everyone to get off because I needed to pray. I was running late and had not had time. “I pray five times a day as a Muslim — but I don’t normally ask people to get off the bus to do it.” |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #7 ...When I was stationed in KSA, I lived at Eskan Village - roughly equivalent to a mid-range condo development here in the states. It was patrolled by Saudi Army troops who came in every day from a nearby base, and rode around in armored cars that patrolled the base perimeter. As I would run the perimeter every day, it would occasionally happen that their prayer time coincided with my running. When that happened, they'd get out of the van and perform their prayers at the roadside - and I would stop a respectful distance away while they took care of things, then continued my run. After a few weeks of this, one of them actually motioned me over and in quite good english asked me why I stopped. My answer was that I would no more consider running through or past their prayers than they would consider running through my church during ours. That seemed quite reasonable to them, and for the rest of the time I was there, if they saw me running they would always stop and say hello for a few, and on a couple of occasions I had an armored car escort as I ran. My point here is that I have wondered ever since how those men - raised in a strict Wahabbi society - could have been so polite, and how men like the one in the story could be so utterly asinine. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2008-03-31 17:22 |
| #6 Yesterday the driver, who said his name was Hrun, told The Sun: “I asked There, fixed that. |
| Posted by: www 2008-03-31 16:06 |
| #5 Probably why Pakistan needs bus drivers... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-03-31 15:52 |
| #4 LOL |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-03-31 15:51 |
| #3 If he tried that in Pakistan, the irate commuters would beat him, make him drive them to their destination, then beat him again. |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-03-31 15:08 |
| #2 “I pray five times a day as a Muslim — but I don’t normally ask people to get off the bus to do it.” How very generous of him, don't you think? Normally, that is. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-03-31 14:45 |
| #1 I hear Pakistan needs bus drivers... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-03-31 14:23 |