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| Olde Tyme Religion |
| An imam's journey from city to suburbia |
| 2007-01-28 |
| Sheik Reda Shata pushed into Costco, a discount superstore chain, behind an empty cart. He wore a black leather jacket over his long, rustling robe, a pocket Koran tucked inside. The imam, a 38-year-old Egyptian, seemed not to notice the stares from other shoppers. He was hunting for a bargain, and soon found it in the beverage aisle, where a 32-can pack of Coca- Cola sold for just $8.29. For Shata, this was a satisfying Islamic experience. "The Prophet said, 'Whoever is frugal will never suffer financially,'" said the imam, who shops weekly at the store and admits to praying for its owners. He smiled. "These are the people who will go to heaven." Seven months have passed since Shata moved to this suburban town in New Jersey to lead a mosque — Masjid Al-Aman, which means Mosque of Peace — of prosperous, settled immigrants. It is a world away from Brooklyn, New York, where he toiled for almost four years, serving hundreds of struggling Muslims for whom the United States was still new. His transition is a familiar one for foreign-born imams in the United States, who often start out in city mosques before moving to more serene settings. For Shata, Middletown promised comfort after years of hardship. He left behind a tiny apartment for a house with green shutters set amid maple trees and sweeping lawns. He got a raise. He learned to drive. But the suburbs have brought challenges that Shata never imagined. His congregation in Brooklyn may have been on the margins of American society, but it was deeply rooted in Islam. Muslims in Middletown were generally more assimilated and less connected to their mosque. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Have to hand it to him, turning a bargain in a case of Coke into a religious experience was something even Madison Avenue never though of. Well, that's all well and good. Now what is he preaching in his mosque with his flock? That is what we REALLY want to know. Bottom line. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-01-28 14:18 |