30 Mosques 30 States in 30 Days

[MCMLXXXII]

I wanted to tell others about this blog I am following. It is 2 Muslim guys driving around the US all of Ramadan to visit 30 masjids in 30 states.

http://30mosques.com/

I love this blog because it is so amazing to see the diversity of the Muslims in the US. There are African-American, Arab, Pakistani/Indian, Cambodian, Albanian, Bosnian, and so many other types of Muslims here and even the style of masjids varies from the south west to the north east. It is also different to see how communities live in smaller communities like in Maine and in large centers with thousands of people.

Last year, they went to 30 different masjids in New York City and this year decided to go around the whole country.

I learned about their story after reading about it on the front page of CNN.

[Toony™®]

Amanullah oversees slot machines at the MGM Grand Casino and is a board member of the Jamia Masjid

How Ironic.

[MCMLXXXII]

That was one of the most interesting posts to read. How do Muslims cope with living in Las Vegas. the person says

“I had no money,” he said. “I used to walk my daughter to school and I would have no money to even buy her milk. I was only making enough to cover rent.”

But on the other hand, you will see that he has been working in that place for 16 years.

Compare this to the one about Bosnians in Idaho, they came as refugees and started working jobs in construction and electrical. They were skilled enough to construct their whole masjid by themselves.

Similarly if you read the one in Houston, it talks about Muslims owning gas stations where they rely on selling Alcohol for their income. Most of these folks are living in a dilemma also.

Then there are stories of very small communities like the on in Augusta, Maine where there are 12 families and they pick a person every week to drive 4 hours down to Boston to buy halal meat for all the families. Similarly the Muslims in Montana have halal meat sent to them via FedEx from Iowa very month, or the ones in New Mexico where they have their own animals which they slaughter on their farm.

I must say I was most impressed by the Cambodian Muslims in California. And the Mazar in Pennsylvania. Who thought their would be a sufi mazar in the US?