Memorizing the Way to Heaven, Verse by Verse

NY Times ^ | August 16, 2006 | MICHAEL LUO

[Sabramerican]

The carpeted room is full of children in skullcaps crouched on prayer mats, reciting verses from a holy text. Some mumble the words under their breath; others sing them out. They rock back and forth as they chant, their disparate voices blending into an ethereal melody.

The children, ages 7 to 14, are full-time students, in class 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, even in the summer. But they are not studying math, science or English. Instead, they are memorizing all 6,200 verses in the Koran, a task that usually takes two to three years.

It would hardly be an unusual scene in Pakistan, Afghanistan or elsewhere in the Muslim world, where religious schools devoted to memorization of the Koran and Islamic studies are common. But this class meets in the prayer room of a small mosque in Flushing, Queens, that caters mostly to South Asian immigrants and their children.

Schools like this one at the Muslim Center of New York are rare in the United States, but are emerging, especially among South Asians, as the Muslim American population becomes more established.

....By not offering instruction in other subjects,

[Sabramerican]

Jihad U?

[Sabramerican]

Here

[Pyro7480]

Columna quinta delenda est.

[beethovenfan]

Only one verse is necessary, and it ain't in the Koran:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by Me."

[FarRightFanatic]

Lovely, just lovely. Our own madrassas. We will really stop at nothing to make these evil, backward-thinking Islamonazis feel at home. I wonder how many terrorists will be spawned from this.

[Carry_Okie]

Got it.

We're in a heap of trouble.

[cardinal4]

Well, the Madrassas are here...

[hoagy62]

Not being familiar with Latin, could you translate, please?

[Pyro7480]

The Fifth Column must be destroyed (paraphrasing the ancient Roman senator Cato the Elder, "who ended every speech of his during the Punic Wars with ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam, literally 'For the rest, I am of the opinion that Carthage is to be destroyed.' Other translations include 'In conclusion, I declare that Carthage must be destroyed. and 'Furthermore, I move for Carthage to be destroyed.'")(source: List of Latin phrases, A-E)

[Lucky9teen]

I was listening to CSPAN the other night and they were interviewing Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, who is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University in Washington DC. He is “the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam” according to the BBC.

He was saying that a lot of what is being taught of the Koran is being interpreted wrong and that the Koran and Muslims in general, are taught to be loving and caring and respectful to others and that we are all equal. These islamofascists are interpreting the Koran to mean what THEY want it to mean and only taking passages that allow them to do what they do and kill others, etc.

Kind of like extremist christians misread/misquote the Bible and take it out of text, etc., the same is true for the Koran.

It was an interesting interview anyway.

[talleyman]

How long does it take to memorize "Kill the infidels" ?

[Lucky9teen]

Just to add, it is really sad and messed up that these children are being taught the extremist way.

This is a war of religions, not nations, imo.

[bird4four4]

ages 7 to 14, are full-time students, in class 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, even in the summer

Where is child protective services. These kids need to be in a proper school, and pass state exams, not memorizing arabic, 45 hours a week.

[DonaldC]

If only Christians embraced their faith as much as the muslims do theirs.

[BigFinn]

Boy, does this verse ever come to mind when reading this....

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

[Argus]

With this type of education under their belt, they should also memorize this phrase:

"Would you like fries with that?"

[bird4four4]

Kind of like extremist christians misread/misquote the Bible and take it out of text, etc., the same is true for the Koran

Yes but when people put hoods on and waved the Bible around and killed n-gros, other Christians put them down, and they are a footnote in Chritianities history. Muslem need to stand up now, loud and strong, and take out their masked hoodlims who go around killing jews and infidels.

[Bommer]

He was saying that a lot of what is being taught of the Koran is being interpreted wrong and that the Koran and Muslims in general, are taught to be loving and caring and respectful to others and that we are all equal. These islamofascists are interpreting the Koran to mean what THEY want it to mean and only taking passages that allow them to do what they do and kill others, etc.

Funny how no Imams condemn this form of teaching. As a reader of the Koran, believe me there is nothing to misinterpret when it comes to Christians and Jews and how to hate and kill them!!

[Lucky9teen]

The Bible is the ONLY book to read and gain spiritual guidance and knowledge from, imo.

[CaptainK]

By not offering instruction in other subjects, the school may be inadvertently running afoul of state law, according to city and state education officials. Private religious schools like the Muslim Center’s program are required to provide “substantially equivalent” instruction to that offered in public schools, they said. But tracking every school-age child who leaves the public school system can be difficult.

New York State has made it virtually impossible to home school because they will not issue a diploma to anyone who is home schooled after the freshman year. Funny how the state is now dragging their feet in regards to the Muslim private schools.