Posted on 09/04/2008 11:08:01 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) – As Islam makes inroads in the United States, American Muslims are setting up mega-mosques that combine religious tradition with typical American convenience.
Modelled on the huge, non-Catholic churches that offer their congregations of at least 2,000 members several different sites for worship, US mega-mosques have become a necessity in some places.
"Frequently, we have buildings designed for the Friday prayer, which is the largest, for 1,000 people and you have 2,000 to 3,000 show up," said Corey Saylor of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
To accommodate the overflow, which also results in traffic jams when prayer is over, US Muslim congregations have set up satellite places of worship, again following the lead of the Christian mega-churches.
That is just one way in which US mega-mosques are decidedly American.
They also offer worshippers a progressive form of Islam, in line with the profile and desires of many Muslim Americans.
While more than two-thirds of Muslim Americans are immigrants, mainly from the Middle East, they are also "decidedly mainstream in their outlook, values and attitudes," a report published last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life said.
They have embraced what is often called the Protestant work ethic and believe, as do many Americans, that hard work pays off.
And Muslim Americans reject Islamic extremism by larger margins than do Muslim minorities in western European countries, the Pew report said.
One mega-mosque in Virginia even rents space from a synagogue.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
should make it easier for Homeland Security to collect intelligence this way...
Christian churches have windows.
I have never seen a US mosque with windows.
Muzzies are afraid of the outside world!
With good reason..Sedition!
With good reason..Sedition!
Great observation!
Not to mention the underground mosques either....
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