Come join the Nomads at our panel discussion this Thursday! You’ll get a chance to hear more personal insight, see footage not posted on the blog, and be able to ask us any questions you may have.

When: Thursday, October, 27th, 2011 at 7pm
Where: Duke University, West Campus, Perkins Library, Link Classroom 5 (071)

Looking forward to seeing you all!

And now a column in the Duke Chronicle!

http://dukechronicle.com/article/nomads-north-carolina

Featured in The Herald Sun!

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/16018353/article-Getting-to-know-other-N-C–Muslims-?instance=homeseventhleft

A Piece of History

Wali Waheed was born in Mississippi in 1933 to Christian parents. His family would relocate to Alabama, and then to The Bronx in New York City where he would grow up. When he was older, he moved to New Jersey where he spent most of his life. He moved down to North Carolina a couple of years ago and has been part of the Masjid Ash-Shaheed community ever since. He agreed to talk about his experience with joining the Nation of Islam and living through the Civil Rights Movement.

New Places, Interesting Faces

Every town we visit is different: the culture, the unity of the Muslim community, and most importantly, the people. Only after exploring each town did we discover those differences. Fayetteville was different.

Our first stop in the city was a mosque in a quietly dangerous part of town. Most places around were either houses or small shops with caged windows. We brushed these judgments aside, however, and found Masjid Omar Ibn Said, named after African-born Muslim slave and scholar Omar Ibn Said. The mosque looked nice on the exterior but it was closed, even though we were there at prayer time. A local tire shop owner told us he only sees people there on Fridays at noon. Disappointed, we drove a few feet down the road to discover another mosque, Al-Furqan. This was a small house with caged doors and windows. The name of the mosque was painted green on the sides of the building, along with a few decorated bricks and the name of Allah. The mosque looked like it was occasionally used and the neighbor (and landowner) confirmed this for us.

All Creatures Pray to One God

After a late lunch at Panera Bread filled with some spiritual reflection and blogging, we made our way to Atlantic Beach to continue reflecting on this trip’s enriching experiences. We sat quietly at a lifeguard post, looking off into the endless ocean.  As I looked around, I could tell that none of us wanted this trip to end, but it was finally done. Or at least we thought it was.  It was time for prayer, so we took wudu in the public restroom. As we walked out of the restroom, we saw an enormous group of seagulls clumped together on the grass. They were suspiciously quiet and still, with their beaks and bodies pointed towards a single direction. We originally paid no attention to them, so Ahmad J proceeded to pull out his smart phone to locate the qiblah, the direction to the Ka’aba that Muslims pray towards. Subhan’Allah, what I write in these next few lines is pure, untainted truth. Ahmad Jitan suddenly exclaimed, “They are all facing the qiblah!” All praise be to God, it’s as if they were offering their prayers with us. We prayed about 10 feet in front of them. At the conclusion of the prayer, we stood up, and Ahmad Alshareef jokingly said, “Shouldn’t they be done with their prayers too?” Instantly, all the seagulls dispersed and flew away, back to the beach. I guess they had completed their prayers.  This was a miracle; things like this don’t just happen. I believe that this is a sign that we were successful on our spiritual journey and insha’Allah (God Willing), Allah is satisfied with the work we have done.

Distances and Places

Charlotte represents the center of our loosely planned itinerary. The middle of a trip is when you can fully fledge yourself into “living in the moment” without the anxiety of the beginning and the nostalgia of the end. Charlotte was always a place that has “a lot of Muslims” but I never imaged that the city would one day become part of a narrative that I would write to share with the world.

Alhamdulillah the Nomads of North Carolina have arrived at Duke safely. Thank you everyone for keeping up with us as we traveled, be on the look out for upcoming posts!

What’s in your cup?

“And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the differences in your languages and colors. Verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge
-Holy Qur’an (30:22)

It isn’t hard to discover the importance of community in Islam through the Qur’an and Sunnah. As Imam Khalil Akbar of Masjid As-Shaheed in Charlotte put it: “The whole idea of worship is to form a community.”

How much do we incorporate these ideas into practice?

Prayer on the beach

We decided to pray dhuhr /asr on the beach. The nearby tavern decides to play “God bless the USA” with a complete sing a long directed at us. God bless the USA.