Muslim in America - Orlando, Florida

I recently found out that a good friend of mine got profiled by one of the local fish wraps a couple of months ago. I was rather pleased with the article, since it presents a pretty sympathetic view of what a lot of Muslims have gone through in this country since 9/11:

Muslim in America
by Leigh de Armas
Orlando Weekly - 12/23/2004

Shaykh Abdurrahman Sykes is a rising star of Islam in Central Florida, where he serves as a full-time Muslim chaplain in a nearby Federal prison and is well-known as a frequent guest speaker at fundraisers and related events. I find it impressive that both he and his wife, who is also a convert, are originally from different areas of the world that used to practice severe forms of racial oppression: the American South (North Carolina to be more specific) and South Africa, which is just another example of how people can rise above the ignorance and bigotry that their society tries to hand-off to them...and Allah guides whom He will.

As a former Evangelical preacher and cancer survivor, Abdurrahman Sykes certainly is a living example of the power of Islam in people's lives and an inspiration for many. I feel a special kinship with him not only because we both spell our Abdurrahman adopted first names the same way (and there seem to be at least a half-dozen ways to spell it in English and even two in Arabic), but because we're often mistaken for each other. I'm not sure why other than the fact that we're both Caucasian and around six feet tall, since his beard is usually a lot longer than mine and I have a lot more gray hair (although I'm a bit younger). Seemingly to some people, all of us white converts look alike (and I experienced that while in Kuwait as well). I'm not complaining or drawing any conclusions, but just making an observation...Allahu 'alim what some people are thinking (or maybe they're just not thinking).

Anyway, I just wanted to share this profile of Muslim life in Central Florida.