Seeing Islam in another continent (672 hits)
Category: PoliticsRating: 1.75 on 35 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Pumper of Tarts (View user info) at 2007-02-13 11:03:28 EST
So you want more from Nigeria?
I would tell you the story of how I got shot in the ass but I dont have the pictures with me to show you the damage a stray AK-47 bullet can do to your right buttock. Anyways...
In Nigeria I was volunteering as part of Global Xchange so its volunteering there for 3 months and then volunteering in the UK - Edinburgh to be precise - for 3 months. Theres 9 UK volunteers and 9 Nigerian volunteers and we live in 'counterpart pairs' which means 1 Nigerian and 1 UK volunteer living together.
Alll the Nigerians are very religious. Very religious. In the south of Nigeria about 90% are Christian, in the north about 90% are Muslim. Eight of the nine Nigerian volunteers were Christian. Guess what religion my counterpart pair was/is? Yep, Muslim.
How many of you could say you could live with, eat with, sleep with (sleep in the same bed that is) a Muslim for 3 months? Before I went I would have said 'Not a chance mate'.
In Preston, England, where I live there are thousands of Asian muslims and Im sure most of the English people will verify that, so you dont often assume black people are muslims. I knew bits about Islam such as Hallal meat, praying, mosque and all that but I didnt know how serious these guys are.
Our first week Umar told me he was going to start fasting for Ramadan which lasts for (I think) a month-ish. Now fasting is not just not eating while its light, its not drinking as well. In temperatures of 45degrees that is not easy. It gets light around 5am in Nigeria so he had to get up at 4.15am - 4.30am to pray and then eat which was fucking annoying to say the least. By the end of the day he was nearly passing out. After 2 weeks he must have lost a stone and he couldnt do anything because he was so weak so he was absolutley useless at the volunteering programme. He would miss sessions when we had organised stuff like helping in schools and in old peoples homes. This started to annoy me.
One morning, probably 3 weeks into his fast, I was woken at 4am to see Umar praying, mumberling something in Arabic. For me, not having a day off from this either started to really get me angry now.
'Umar' I said, sternly, 'Stop wasting your time you prick and go back to sleep. Sleep will do you more good than praying to something that doesnt exist'.
Umar looked at me. You could tell by his eyes he was deeply offended. He picked up his prayer mat and went into the other room to eat.
That night Umar came to me and asked me what my religion was. 'Im called an Athiest Umar, you could say I dont have a religion'
'No, really, which God do you pray to?' said Umar.
'I dont' I replied.
He began to laugh at me. 'How can you not believe in a God? Who do you think made you?'
'I dont know Umar' I said quite offended 'but I know we came from single cell organisms that evolved over time until we became what we are today.'
Umar looked at me blankly. It turns out he has never heard of evolution, never heard of the dinosaurs, couldn't name any of the planets and didnt know there were any other religions except for Islam, Chritianity and Hindu (which he thought was the same as Islam).
That night I explained it all, as best I could. Darwins theory, the Big Bang, humans, space, time, and we were joined by our host brother 'Junior' who is a devout Christian.
They were amazed at what I had told them. They accepted what I had said and did believe me but it would not affect their religious beliefs in anyway so I accepted what they said and what they believe and we finished the discussion with mutual respect for each others points of views and ways of life.
We started the discussion at around 9pm at night and finshed talking at 3.30am. After that I stayed up with Umar till daylight and prayed and ate with him that morning.
Me and Umar still live together in Edinburgh in a pokey flat with an in denial, alcoholic. Its been five and half months we have been together, every night, but we dont share a bed anymore. We have 2 beds! We have 2 weeks left and then he goes back to Kano State in Nigeria and I'll go back to good old Preston.
I'll be quite upset to see him go. I wont miss his praying and he is quite strange as a whole but...
Maybe the world should read this or try living with an opposite religion for a time. Maybe it might change a few things.
NB: The picture is of a mosque I visited in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. This place is unbelivabely big. I wasnt allowed in because I was white....
User Reviews
Submitted by JoeyG (user info) at 2007-02-14 11:52:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Beano312003 (user info) at 2007-02-14 07:21:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
The big bang theory is ace. As is the universe, it's contents and it's reason.
If I had a brain like Steven Hawkins I'd be a very happy man indeed.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2007-02-13 22:17:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
hahahah
fair enough mate.
no personal attack was launched - i just found that statement ridiculous.
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-02-13 22:12:37 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2007-02-13 19:33:47 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:17:42 (#)
Ranking: 2
That said, if you really look into all the speculation surrounding the Big Bang, I don't know that it's any less of a fairy tale than the Garden of Eden or the earth being shat from a giant space goat. To each their own I guess.
dont be ridiculous.
just because your tiny little pea brain doesn't understand it doesn't make it a fairy tale.
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If you're going to insult people for misguided responses, at least give credit where credit is due. icarus1987 is the person responisble for the above statement, not myself.
If however you were trying to insult me particularly and were just taking the above statement as an easy excuse to do so, I've actually made a lot of my own boneheaded statements on this website and I would be more then happy to point you to a few of them so that you can mock me more properly.
Submitted by whiskey_jack (user info) at 2007-02-13 22:02:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh I sooo wanna find a muslim like that and tell them I'm a Norseman. I'd tell them I worshipped Odin and crap. How awesome would it be to have people sincerely believe you were a fucking Viking? I'll tell you, pretty fucking awesome!
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2007-02-13 19:33:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:17:42 (#)
Ranking: 2
That said, if you really look into all the speculation surrounding the Big Bang, I don't know that it's any less of a fairy tale than the Garden of Eden or the earth being shat from a giant space goat. To each their own I guess.
dont be ridiculous.
just because your tiny little pea brain doesn't understand it doesn't make it a fairy tale.
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2007-02-13 17:17:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
great story !
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-02-13 16:55:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
...um, no?
I have a great article in Discover magazine about weaves within space-time that have been traced back to something like 10 milliseconds after the Big Bang occurred.
The evidence supporting the Big Bang is exponentially greater than the evidence supporting the Garden of Eden.
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Yeah but if you take everything the scientists say as absolute truth, especially what the astrophysicists say, then you're just as dumb as the people who take the Bible as absolute truth. Thats not to say that astrophysicists arent very, very smart but the field they work in is very, very, VERY complicated (see: the Champagne Supernova).
Submitted by locksly (user info) at 2007-02-13 16:34:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
cool
Submitted by jojo747 (user info) at 2007-02-13 15:15:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
That said, if you really look into all the speculation surrounding the Big Bang, I don't know that it's any less of a fairy tale than the Garden of Eden or the earth being shat from a giant space goat. To each their own I guess.
Perkman is that you?
Submitted by bob (user info) at 2007-02-13 14:44:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:16:06 (#)
Ranking: 1
That said, if you really look into all the speculation surrounding the Big Bang, I don't know that it's any less of a fairy tale than the Garden of Eden or the earth being shat from a giant space goat. To each their own I guess.
______________
...um, no?
I have a great article in Discover magazine about weaves within space-time that have been traced back to something like 10 milliseconds after the Big Bang occurred.
The evidence supporting the Big Bang is exponentially greater than the evidence supporting the Garden of Eden.
Submitted by bob (user info) at 2007-02-13 14:28:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
seems like a cool program. education really is the best tool to overcome ignorance but when that ignorance has an 20 year start over education, its an almost impossible fight.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2007-02-13 13:06:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
yep.
houston.
Submitted by ubetidid (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:54:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
2 for Tolerance.
i like your name.
pumper of tarts.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:40:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
good show
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:21:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:17:42 (#)
Ranking: 2
That said, if you really look into all the speculation surrounding the Big Bang, I don't know that it's any less of a fairy tale than the Garden of Eden or the earth being shat from a giant space goat. To each their own I guess.
---
So you dont believe in gods and you dont believe in gravitational singularities. What exactly does that leave you with?
===
THE GOAT THEORY!
Submitted by tartpumper (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:19:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:14:12 (#)
Ranking: 2
YOU SLEPT WITH THE ENEMY!
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Please dont tell my real mates.
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:17:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
That said, if you really look into all the speculation surrounding the Big Bang, I don't know that it's any less of a fairy tale than the Garden of Eden or the earth being shat from a giant space goat. To each their own I guess.
---
So you dont believe in gods and you dont believe in gravitational singularities. What exactly does that leave you with?
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:14:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
YOU SLEPT WITH THE ENEMY!
Submitted by tartpumper (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:13:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Apollo do you really live in America now? I thought you were lying...
Submitted by GetNakeddd (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:09:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
i thoroughly enjoyed this and may bookmark it
good on you, sir
Submitted by tartpumper (user info) at 2007-02-13 12:06:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I didnt dare sleep with anyone, you get warned off by the zillions of AIDS posters you see. On top of that I couldnt wank because I was sharing a bed with another man. I tried the shower but the shower is more of a 'bucket with a cup in it' which only produces cold water so its a bit off putting, ice cold water down you back when your wanking.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:56:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
so did the whores tell you to have a blessed day whilst you were ass raping them?
I hope you wore a nodder.
Submitted by tartpumper (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:53:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by sexualchocolate1984 (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:49:36 (#)
Ranking: 1
Um, Gay?
Seriously, this is a nice insight into the forsaken religion of hate. I would have enjoyed it more however, had it included some rape, drugs, violence, gore, or if it were something a little more than "interesting"
=======================
This is the boring story. The story about me getting shot in the ass by a policeman is next. Im just waiting to get the picture to back it up.
Submitted by Stabkill (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:51:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Hey, motherfucker, could you explain yourself?
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2005 08:58:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tartian Pumpadia [tartpumper.at.hotmail.com]
To: stabkill.at.gmail.com
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL PROPOSAL
My name is Tarian Pumpadia. I work in the credit and accounts department of the Federal Union Bank of Lagos, Nigeria. I write you in respect of a foreign customer with a Domicilliary account. His name is Engineer Manfred Becker. He was among those who died in a plane crash here in Nigeria
during the reign of late General Sani Abacha. We are unable to find any next of kin. He had only $18.5 million in his coded account with us. It is only an insider that could produce the code or
password of the deposit particulars. As it stands now,there is nobody in that position to produce the needed information other than my very self considering my position in the bank.
I hereby ask for your co operation in using your name as the next of kin to the deceased to send these funds out to a foreign offshore bank a/c for mutual sharing between myself and you. At this point I am the only one with the information because I have removed the deposit file from
the safe.By so doing, what is required is to send an aplication laying claims of the deposit on your name as next of kin to the late Engineer. I will need your full name and address telephone/fax number,company or residential, also your bank name and account,where the money will be
transfer into.
Finally, we will split the funds after you have paid me $30,000US to secure a release of these funds. After I receive this money, I can get a full release to your bank account. At this time, you will give me 50% of what is deposited into your account minus the $30,000 you have given me. Kindly send your reply to my private email address at tartpumper.at.hotmail.com.
Trusting to hear from you,
I remain Respectfully yours,
Tartian Pumpadia
tartpumper.at.hotmail.com
(0031 623 866 723)
---------------------------
By the way, you are lucky you didn't convert this muslim out of his faith. Most fundamentalists believe apostasy should result in the death of that individual.
Submitted by sexualchocolate1984 (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:49:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Um, Gay?
Seriously, this is a nice insight into the forsaken religion of hate. I would have enjoyed it more however, had it included some rape, drugs, violence, gore, or if it were something a little more than "interesting"
Death to Mohammed!
Submitted by tartpumper (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:17:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:10:21 (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool picture.
Is it true that Muslims only see catcher as gay, and not the pitcher? You know....the whole sharing a bed thing...
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He would be probably be the least gay person ever. If you are found to be gay in Kano State, Nigeria, Sharia law says you get your throat slit.
Funny cause Umar accidently put his name down to work at 'LGBT' in Edinburgh. Little did he know it stands for 'Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transvestite'.
I asked him what he would have done if he had have been placed there. He said, and I quote, 'I would have put a knife to all their throats!'.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:17:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:16:06 (#)
Ranking: 1
That said, if you really look into all the speculation surrounding the Big Bang, I don't know that it's any less of a fairy tale than the Garden of Eden or the earth being shat from a giant space goat. To each their own I guess.
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INFIDEL! Do not mock the great space goat!
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:16:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I used to work with a Muslim at my Alma Mater. While he brought in some kick ass pastries, all the moron would prattle on about was how he liked to kill Jews, how women were disrespectful here, and how anybody who told him to 'fuck god' deserved to be shot in the face. He got the crap kicked out of him shortly after 9/11, and I don't think anyone was terribly surprised.
That said, if you really look into all the speculation surrounding the Big Bang, I don't know that it's any less of a fairy tale than the Garden of Eden or the earth being shat from a giant space goat. To each their own I guess.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:14:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by GMCrayon (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:12:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by sicosemen (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:11:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:10:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool picture.
Is it true that Muslims only see catcher as gay, and not the pitcher? You know....the whole sharing a bed thing...
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:10:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Interesting
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2007-02-13 11:07:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Pump any tarts while youre out there?