I was surfing the web again as I am won’t to do and I found this short and interesting description of how Islam came to Korea. Here it is:

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I did a major web surfing session today and while I was on my way I picked up a bunch of quote I thought were cool. Here they are enjoy:

“If voting changed anything they would make it illegal.”

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” -Ben Franklin

-”I believe there must be one true soul mate for every person.”
-”He must be very busy.”

“For tech support press the exact value of 22 divided by 7.”

“Don’t get all ‘mathy’ on me.”

“From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.”

“Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.”

“She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs”

“If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would astound ourselves.”

“Just out farting around with my camera in China and having some fun.” (farting around?)

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.” — George W. Bush

“Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.” Henry Kissinger, quoted by Bob Woodward in The Final Days, 1976

Here’s my latest article at MuslimMatters.org. It’s more serious fare that you may be used to over here at theManOfFewWords lately. In it I discuss the roots of the gruesome and perverted habits that oppressive occupations breed in their perpetrators. It is of course written in standard ManOfFewWords style so it is as entertaining as it is informative.

Also, if you missed it, you should check out the first post in the series Islamify Inspires over at the Islamify blog.

I also want to take this opportunity to invite any of my readers to suggest topics they might want me to write about.  Feel free to comment and let me know.

Sometime while in class working as a substitute teacher, I have just had enough and so this is how I deal with it. (more…)

I just saw the Iron Man movie and I must say I am not an Iron fan. I’ll put aside the demonizing two-dimensional portrayals of Arabs and Muslims and just focus on the movie. (more…)

“Spontaneous, Science Fiction, Politics.” What on earth could these mean? These three words were written in a list on a white board in a friends bedroom. I was stumped and he was away in the bathroom or something when I discovered them. I was rather flustered that I couldn’t get the instant gratification I wanted by asking him what all this was about and settling this mystery. (more…)

For a variety of reasons that I won’t bore my readers with at the moment, I am not enthusiastic about marriage. But I know a good deal when I see one and if you trotted out a lady with the following qualities I wouldn’t turn her away. Keep in mind that religion is a given. So here goes. (more…)

A friend of mine emailed me these amazing pictures entitled “Medina of the Future.” I don’t know their origin or what sort of plans, aspirational or operational, they are but I thought that I should post them up here for everyone’s enjoyment. If you have any details please share in the comments.

I am not sure what this first picture is intended to be but the central structure in the second picture is the Masjid al Nabawi (the Prophet’s Mosque.)

As many of you may already be aware, Imam Mohammad Qatanani of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, is currently facing the threat of deportation. After being here for over 12 years, he, his wife and six children, face the threat of being forced to return to Jordan.The stated reason for his deportation is for answering ‘no’ to a question on his immigration application asking if he had ever been convicted of any crime. Many years ago when the Imam was still in Jordan, he had been detained by Israelis during one of their routine mass detentions of Palestinians while he was visiting his family in the West Bank. He was never charged with anything and never appeared before a judge.

I have met Imam Qatanani personally and witnessed the community work that he has done. His commitment to Islam, Muslims and this country is sincere and demonstrated by his tireless engagement with the Muslim and Non-Muslim communities. Not only does he fulfill the duties of an Imam by leading the prayers but he regularly teaches Islamic classes in both English and Arabic including Arabic language classes. He has made it his duty to draw the youth into the masjid by promoting activities for them and even the building of basket ball courts in the masjid parking lot.

In addition to his workk with Musilms in Paterson, NJ he has also reached out to non-Muslims through various civic and interfaith activities. A testament to this fact is the strong public support of people like Congressmen Pascrell, Governor Corzine, Father Bill Potter, Rabbi David Senter, Bergen County Sherrif Leo McGuire, Passaic County Sherrif Jerry Speciale and many, many others.

The Imam’s trial dates are May 8th, 9th and 12th in Newark, NJ and there is a very large effort to have as many people attend the trials as possible. By attending this rally you would be helping the Imam and his family but more importantly, you will be making a strong statement in favor of the rights of Muslim Americans. Imam Qatanani is not the first to face these kinds of hardships and by making a solid stance now we can ensure that this type of injustice is not inflicted upon us or our most valuable leaders.

Also, on the 9th Imam Siraj Wahhaj is expected to give the khutbah in support of Imam Qatanani. We will see you there inshallah!!!

For info on the trial and different locations to pick up buses from please visit Qatanani.com.

A couple days ago I was at a Muslim wedding.  A couple of friends and I were talking to the groom giving him our salaams and congratulations before leaving.  I off-handedly remarked to one of my buddies that we need our own American Muslim wedding traditions. I know that at Pakistani wedding the bride’s siblings will steal the groom’s shoes and hold them for ransom. At Egyptian weddings we must endure ear piercing ululations. Why not something original for Americans.

I suggested, quite innocently of course, that we kidnap the groom before his wedding night, shove him into a car and drive off. This would be the epitome of jerkdom, which is partially why I thought of it, but it was too evil to actually put into practice … or so I thought.

I turned away for one second only to discover that my two friends had already acted out my fleeting fancy and were hauling the groom out of the hall. After stopping and posing for several photo opportunities they finally made it to the door but the groom’s panicking eventually forced them to put him down. Apparently, the groom thought that they were taking him to the pool were he would be summarily immersed, tux and all, into quite chilly water.

I didn’t know why he would think we would do such a horrible thing until I later discovered that the photographer and the camera man were chasing us and conspiring to have him tossed into the pool so they could immortalize all the drama simultaneously on film and tape. I guess you have to be careful who you hire nowadays.

Well, there you have it, the tempestuous birth of the first Uniquely American Muslim wedding tradition in history!

Anyone have a unique American Muslim Wedding story they would like to share please post in the comments.