Eileen Farhat, left, prepares to give Gov. Kathleen Sebelius a tour of the new Wichita mosque on Wednesday.
Posted on 07/16/2005 9:02:48 PM PDT by BigFinn
Wichita-area Muslims on Wednesday celebrated the grand opening of Kansas' largest mosque.
The event drew hundreds of visitors -- including Gov. Kathleen Sebelius -- to join the celebration and tour the facility.
The 10,050-square-foot mosque -- which has yet to be officially named -- is at 6655 E. 34th St. North and adjoins the Muslim Community Center, where Muslims had previously prayed.
The mosque includes a carpeted prayer area on the main floor, a 10-foot-high speaker's platform or pulpit, an area to wash the bodies of people who have died and an office for the imam, a prayer leader.
For Muslims, the opening of the mosque marked the end of nearly 10 years of concept planning and four years of fiscal planning. It was built at a cost of more than $800,000, debt-free.
"It's just like home," said Nabil Seyam, spokesman for the Islamic Society of Wichita. "The mosque, it is a place of worship, but it also is a place where it feels like home. There is no evil in it. It's a place of peace."
Eileen Farhat, left, prepares to give Gov. Kathleen Sebelius a tour of the new Wichita mosque on Wednesday.
As part of the grand opening ceremony, there were readings from the Quran. Muslim leaders and Sebelius gave speeches to a standing-room only audience of several hundred inside the community center.
Sebelius told the group she was impressed with the facility not just as a faith center, but as a community center and education center. There is a school inside the building.
After the speeches and readings, visitors were allowed to tour the mosque. Visitors removed their shoes as they entered the carpeted prayer area. Women were given scarves to cover their hair.
After the tour, Sebelius said she hoped the visibility of the mosque would prompt non-Muslims to visit and learn more about the faith.
"I'm a big believer that the more we learn about one another, the more we learn how much we have in common," she said. "People tend to view each other with a little suspicion until they figure out these are parents and professionals and community leaders. I think this is great."
Assem Farhat, president of the board of trustees for the Islamic Society of Wichita, saw another positive in having such a large mosque in the city.
"It improves the attractability of the city to Muslims" from outside the city, he said. "They would be more likely to consider Wichita."
Following the tours, people gathered in the community center for refreshments.
At one table sat Sharfuddin Shah, the former president of the board of trustees for the Islamic Society. He moved to Dallas last year before the mosque was complete, so seeing the finished building was important and special.
"It's very nice," he said. "I was glad to hear it was finished and glad to see it finished."
Googled,and found Sebelius is a RAT. Well, surprise, surprise/sarcasm off
I really don't get it; it doesn't make any sense.
There must be some explanation that they are not telling us about...they can't all be this dumb. Can they?
Of course she is, she's the one who pushed for the illegal immigrant tuition break, higher taxes, regulate every thing that moves, and most of what doesn't, drive through Abortion clinics, etc.
She ran as a "moderate" Democrat....like you couldn't of guessed that...hehe
Meanwhile we KS republicans should own the state but we always end up in the Sensible Electable Moderate Republican vs Evil Cro-Magnon Conservative fight.
Then the Dems sneak in a governorship or two here and there. predictable really....
The easy thing would be to say "Yes, they are"
But that is not true, they are, in reality, no dumber than we are. In my opinion, they do it because they have a political agenda they want to impose upon us and they will side with anyone who will help them reach it and to hell with the consequences. They can always deal with that later, they feel.
They are louder than we are because the MSM helps spread their message.
I dunno...sometimes I get the feeling that they believe they have no choice but to go along with it. Like there is some kind of nuclear blackmail going on.
I'll dave that pic of Gov. Kathleen Sebeliusm , and after we get hit again I swear I'll print it and glue it on every non moving object I can find...Oh yea, we'll get hit again ..BIG TIME..just wait..The Moslems are VERY VERY VERY patient..<eamwhile we are letting them spread through and through this country//Already too late to know who is who anymore..We're infested
Time to wake up Dorothy.
Can you expand on that a bit more?
I've actually sort of befriended a Jordanian grad student at the center and he is personally terrified of the "gansta muslims".
He's clued me into a lot of what is going on with these guys, and your analysis is spot on .
According to my semi-sensible Jordanian friend, the thug muslims mimick gansta culture because it helps them appear tough, and they conceptualize themselves as outsiders. The false macho makes these 120 lb. guys feel tough. And their hatred of American women, stems from the fact that few of them could ever get a date with an American woman...hehe, so says my friendly Jordanian.
On a serious note, The sensible types are losing ground to the thugs in the muslim community. When discussing this my friend explained to me the two most important events, 1979 and Afghanistan.
In 1979 the Islamis rev. in Iran gave a lot of "loser" muslims something to feel good about. Ah, we've finally stuck it to Uncle Sam. And US weakness under Carter only added to the Islamist feeling of power. This set in motion a two decade power trip on the Islamist, in which they would kick America, and America would run away and hide. The only thing the Fundies respect is power (because they're basically powerless losers)and when the US slinked away time and again it was just like We were asking for more.
Afghanistan was the icing on the cake, as the fundies now felt that they could defeat the superpowers simply by the will of Al'lah...
My friend actually thinks that US action in the Mid-East and Iraq are spot on and should have occured long ago. And he recommends Iran and the Saudi's next.
He's of the opinion that most Arab states are nothing more than mafia's that conveniently blame the US and Israel for all their problems, distracting the masses from poor leadership. Now I should note at this point that he's a Jordanian communist, and tends to get into arguments with his more islamist brothers, but I actually respect the guy for sticking to his guns in the midst of such buffonery.
Another "Wichita Horror"?
Correction, it's hijab, not hajib.
You are right. Even over the last few days we have seen evidence of this. The MSM is, in very small ways, starting to "hint" that there might be a problem with Islam. True realization will not come immediately, but it IS starting to happen. I am extremely frustrated by the large MSM's (CNN, NYT, etc.) still clinging to their anti-American agenda, but the smaller one are starting to wake up and say things.
Looks like in the background of the picture, there ARE women NOT wearing the hijab.
This is a free country. If a group wants to separate themselves from society, it's not a matter of "letting" them or not "letting" them. They will do so if that is their wish.
Not a chance..Even when we get hit again (and we will) the MSM will blame Bush..It's a lost cause .The Libs would rather see us all dead than say Bush is right /PC overides common sense world wide and even self defense takes second place to muticultural bullsh*t..It's insane , totally insane ,suicidal behaviour
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