After 30 days on the road, what’s next? Speaking tour Bloggers take audience behind mosque adventure BY MARIUM MOHIUDDIN
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After spending 30 days on the road visiting 30 mosques in 30 states, Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq, the duo behind the roadtrip blog, are hitting the road again, but this time on a speaking tour to discuss their adventures. “This speaking tour is not just about the trip, but we are going to share a lot of stories, photos and videos we didn’t have time to post,” Ali said, adding that he and Tariq are hoping to expand upon their travels and talk about the future of Muslim American community, as far as what is our next step as Muslim Americans. Their speaking engagements already have taken them to Harvard University, with plans on speaking in New York and Washington D.C. Ali said they would like to bring the tour to Texas, but have not set up any arrangements. Ali said that the project has leant itself to a lot of discussion such as voice of moderate Muslims and discussing anti-American sentiments. “I don’t want to discredit or imply that Amer-
Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq spent the month of Ramadan traveling to 30 mosques in 30 countries. Now the duo may be coming to a city near you to speak about their adventures.
ica is a country we should be afraid,” Ali said. “America is a very embracing country, and we experienced that first-hand.
speak about this because we want people to hear the story.” Ali and Tariq’s adventure began more than a year ago, when Ali, a stand-up comedian from Colombus, Ohio, met Tariq, a filmmaker from Houston, in New York and, one day while praying at a jam-packed mosque, the pair embarked
“Our work is definitely not finished,” Ali said, adding that Muslim Americans need to finish this conversation. “We are at a critical point. The world is read to either embrace us or they will shrink from us. That’s why we want to continue to 30 Mosques continues on page 7 >>
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Three Texans explain why they burn Qur’ans BY RACHEL RENDISH
This past September, Pastor Terry Jones created a media fiasco when he announced that his congregation was going to burn Qur’ans on Sept. 11. Jones eventually backed down from his threat; however, three Qur’an burners in Dallas went unnoticed. In a small town 45 minutes from Dallas, three men who define themselves as “good Americans” and who are are willing to fight for the U.S., have been burning Qur’ans for the past year. These men can be described as the average American man -- educated and middle class. You could pass them on the street and greet them without guessing their book-burning past time. The first,
Mr. B, was raised Baptist and is in his 40s, the second. Mr. P, was raised Catholic, is now nondenominational and also in his 40s, and the third, Mr. K, is agnostic and in his early 40s. Privately and without a publicity, these men never got a call from The New York Times and the Dallas Morning News never called. They believe it’s because they don’t fall into the media plan. Without prejudice and argument, the Lone Star Crescent interviewed this small group to learn about what drives them to this action and to ask two questions of each of the men: “Who is the enemy of the United States and how do they know?” Frankly and openly these Qur’an continues on page 10 >>