The following is an interview I held online with the administrator of Fort Collins Jihad!. This is the original transcript - nothing has been modified except for the name of the person I interviewed (he or she wished to remain anonymous). Please read the interview for what it is, and come to a conclusion by yourself. I’m sorry it’s so terribly long. Thanks for reading!

August 15, 2011:

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Hi Tim!

Tim:  Hi Fort Collins Jihad. How are you doing?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Pizza and a Bud! So, fine!

 Tim:  Glad to hear it. You ready to get started?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Yes

 Tim:  Ok. Before we do, I just want to make sure that you are clear that this interview will be published. Your name will be kept anonymous, and there will be no alterations to our conversation. Please take your time and write as much as you would like in response to my questions, and feel free to ask me questions as well. Does that sound agreeable to you?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Fine

 Tim:  Great. To start, could you describe your project for my readers? When and how did it start?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Over the past several years, I’ve had the opportunity to attend the FCIC many times as well as MSA events.  I became curious about the literature I found in both places and simply began to do some research about the authors or groups that published various books and pamphlets I picked.  When I discovered that manyof them have ties to groups that advocate the replacing of secular government with Sharia, or Islamic law, I began to look into other things such as the people invited to speak at events and fundraisers, like Mahdi Bray and Siraj Wahhaj, and it turns out they advocate the same things, and more, like support for Hamas.

 Tim  Do you know any of the members of the ICFC or the MSA personally? And how well? What are their opinions on these speakers?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Yes I know many of them and count them as friends.  If you would ask them about these speakers, many would have no clue about the personal stances of these men, and those that do, would probably not want it widely known what those stances are concerning the ultimate goal of implementing Sharia in this country and around the world.

 Tim  Sharia Law is undoubtedly brutal, but so is Biblical law. For example, in the Bible, death by stoning is the dictated punishment for: adultery, premarital sex, worshipping other gods, disobeying parents, breaking the Sabbath, blaspheming, and being a wizard. Are you equally opposed to those, like Michele Bachmann, who desire Christian law to be implemented in America?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Well, Christian law, as far as I know, is summed up in what Jesus answered his questioners about the greatest law.  Do you remember what he said?

 Tim  I assume we are speaking of the Golden Rule? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Yes

And love God and love your neighbor as yourself

 Tim  Ok. I have no problem following the loving principles of Jesus; but in the Bible, he also said, “I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword.” I personally believe that religious law of any sort should be kept out of American government, as is dictated in the 1st Amendment. It is also apparent that Christians have modernized Biblical law to fit social norms of today. Is this not the case for at least American Muslims as well?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  The sword means that Christ’s offer of salvation will divide the earth between those who accept it and those who don’t.  It’s a metaphor and his message did stir things up in the Jewish world.  We could debate the 1st Amendment, but let’s not.  A great book about the original intent of the country’s founders is called just that, “Original Intent,” by David Barton.  This is an essential read if you want to understand the thinking of the founders in context in their own words.  Lastly, I’m not sure I know what you mean about Christians modernizing biblical law, because the Old Testament was God’s original agreement with man, and yes, it was brutal.  The New Testament is the God’s way of dealing with man by bringing a reconciliation through Christ.  Jesus said the law was like a guardian leading a child by the hand until the time of the new agreement, which is summed up in the commandement to love God and love one another.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  You could also say that Islam, or the Quran, has never had an old and a new agreement.  It’s still the OT without the completion in the NT.  So for them, the brutal old laws still apply, whereas in Christ, they don’t

 Tim  It seems to me that Christians don’t completely follow Jesus’ law of loving one another, and do revert to some Old Testament rules still. For example, many Americans still want to outlaw gay marriage. Homosexuality is condemned in the Old Testament. What I’m saying is that while Jesus, according to you, is the new agreement, the old agreement still has influence. That being said, the Qur’an is not exclusively brutal. The Qur’an says, “If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear God, the cherisher of the worlds. Don’t you think that Muslims have the ability to pick and choose which Sharia laws are still applicable today?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  You can’t pick and choose which Sharia laws you like .  Try that in Saudi Arabia and see what they say.  Just a sidenote on homosexuality.  Jesus did teach about right and wrong and called homosexuality wrong.  The consequence of which is not stoning, as in the Old Testament, but the fact that that person cannot be reunited with God as long as they live according to their own definition of right and wrong instead of his.

 Tim  Are you opposed to Muslims building a Mosque in Fort Collins?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Yes

 Tim  I’m sorry to go back to the 1st Amendment, but isn’t your viewpoint in direct violation of, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof?”

 Fort Collins Jihad:  It would be if not for treason.  Sharia, again, advocates no other authority but Allah’s and the endgame for Islam is the establishment of Sharia everywhere.  You did read the Memorandum of the Muslim Brotherhood on the website, right?  America can afford to take in any religion, but one that advocates its overthrow should not be allowed, that is called sedition and treason and there are laws on the books, like the Smith Act, which clearly could be applied to the statements and intentions of the many groups that say they represent the Islamic community  in the US, and the disturbing thing is, the ICFC (thank you) and the MSA, both have ties to these groups or are at least tolerant of them based on the literature they choose and the people they invite to speak to them.  The MSA was started in this country by the Muslim Brotherhood, which has as its main tenant, as anyone can read fo themselves if they’ll read the Memorandum, is to overthrow this gov’t and replace it with Sharia.

 Tim  Are you then opposed to allowing groups like the Westboro Baptist Church or the Ku Klux Klan to practice and demonstrate their beliefs?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  As long as they don’t advocate the overthrow of the gov’t or killing someone just because he’s black and replacing it with something else.  Have they done that?  I absolutely don’t agree with them, but they have a right to exist as guaranteed by the 1st Amendment, much as I might detest them.  If we say certain groups may exist and others not, it will never end until some force eradiates all opposition.  So, in order to preserve my right to worship, or not, as I see fit, I must allow others the same opportunity.  It’s when groups advocate my erasure that we should all draw the line.  Instead, like the website says, we are trying to tolerate those who are intolerant of the rest of us, ie, Islam does not tolerate, in terms of its long term objectives, other faiths on the same level.  You can be a dhimmi, a tribute paying second class citizen in Islamic society, but never allowed to practice without prejudice of some sort or another.

 Tim  First of all, is the stated purpose of building a Mosque in Fort Collins to overthrow this government? Because  you have to look at these things on an individual basis. Second, isn’t the goal of many Christians to go out and convert, even implement Christian law? Finally, extremist groups like the KKK would very much like to see a black president overthrown and replaced with a white, Anglo-Saxon protestant? Isn’t the limit on action not ideology?

 Tim  Pardon the question mark after “protestant.”

 Fort Collins Jihad:  A mosque is the statement that Islam is planting its flag on that soil, with the intent of becoming the dominant force, even if it takes centuries.  Islam is not on an indvidual basis, you are part of a much larger group that adheres to the Quran, the Hadith and the Sharia.  The literature that I have picked up at the ICFC and the MSA all demonstrate their allegiance to the Ummah, or global brotherhood of Muslims.  Someone like Zuhdi Jasser, or Irshad Manji, would like to promote something they call moderate Islam, but what they envision is something that the Quran, the Hadith and the Sharia do not reflect, in other words, Islam can only be moderate( a broad term) in spite of those teachings, never because of them.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Christian law, like I said, is loving God and loving others, which can’t be legislated.  If the KKK would like to go through the normal channels ofgetting whoever they want elected, well, give it a go, but overthrow is against the law of this country.

 Tim  Then shouldn’t Muslims be allowed to go through those same channels of trying to get whoever they want elected? And should they be denied the right to worship the way they see fit?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Again, if the main goal is to see the Constitution abolished and replaced with Sharia, that contradicts the Constitution, so of course, it should not be allowed.  I’d love it if Islam simply advocated piety, which it does, good behavior, which it does, without the added political side.  Islam is a three stranded rope: religious, political and military and unfortunatey you can’t get just the good bits and leave out the ones that want to replace your gov’t with their laws.  Have you read, Tim, the life of Muhammad?  In the Meccan period, the group was small, weak and just not getting anywhere.  This is the period when Muhammad said he received verses via Gabriel that were in the main, peaceful and conciliatory.  After the Hijra, or emmigration to Medina, Muhammed’s power grew to where he could form Islamic society the way it should truly be, and that’s where the harsh verses towards anyone who opposed Islam began.  The example that Muhammad gave at that point in history is what all Muslim society hopes to imitate one day.

 Tim  I have not read the Life of Muhammed, but I will look into it. It would appear to me (as was evident in the Crusades and the Inquisition) that want of power in the name of spreading the Word is a commonality between most organized religions. I would like to ask you now about the terrorist attacks in Norway. The murder of those children was the direct result of Islamaphobia. Do you think that efforts like yours could result in similar violence?

 Tim  I’m not asking whether you advocate such violence, because I don’t think you do, but rather if you think that violence is a possible side effect.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  The first biography written about Muhammad is called, “Sirat Rasul Allah”  by Ibn Ishaq.  The English version is “The Life of Muhammad” by A.Guillaume.  This was written so early as to be a real unvarnished version of M’s life.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Norway.  What can I say?  If Jesus said to love your enemies and I go out and do the opposite, in what way am I listening to him?

 Tim  I’m not saying that Breivik acted in a Christ-like way, which he certainly didn’t. I’m addressing the strong sense of Islamaphobia that you and he both share.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Islamophobia.  A phobia is an baseless fear.  If, however (Phone, just a sec)

 Fort Collins Jihad:  there truly is something disconcerting about Islam, then a healthy fear is fine and not baseless

By the way, I love Muslims, but I don’t like the agenda of the Quran, the Hadith and the Sharia, to overthrow the gov’t.

If I think there’s  fire in my house when there isn’t one, then I’ve gota phobia.  If there is a fire, then I have healthy concern and reason to be a littl fearful

 Fort Collins Jihad:  By the way, I think by calling something a phobia it undermines the real issue.

If you want to make someone look out of sync, just attach “phobia” to whatever it is they believe or do.

 Tim  I simply think that the fear of Muslims is baseless. It is the argument from division - the logical fallacy of applying a property of the whole to an individual part. In this case you say that all Muslims advocate the overthrow of American government, and this simply does not appear to be true. I think that it is intelligent to question and criticize all religious beliefs, but the fear of them just allows you to look past each person on an individual basis and categorize them based on their religion. It occurred to me to ask you: are you opposed to the construction of synagogues? As you said, the Christian law is that of loving God and neighbor, but Jewish law still stems from the Torah, correct? Have they not had the “new agreement?”

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Tim,  look up a few lines.  I love Muslims because the are God’s creation.  Islam is the problem and I state that Islam, the ideology has world wide domination as its goal.  Individual Muslims vary like snowflakes.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Synagoues.  Do Jew advocate the overthrow of the gov’t?  I don’t think so.

By the way, the first Christians were Jews that accepted the new agreement.  Its still hppening today.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Remember Islam means submission, not peace like we define it.  The goal is that all the world submit to Allah’s will.  Do you want to do that?  Do I?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  As an atheist, you would be put to death by Islamic law, so would homosexuals, adulterers.  I don’t think you’ll give them a yes vote.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  ”If someone chooses a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him”  Muhammad

 Fort Collins Jihad:  It’s a sticky issue, I understand, but we must learn to live in the tension of loving Muslims while resisting their religion, because their religion stifles all other opposing views/

Muhammad had poets killed that simply wrote critiques of Islam

 Tim  I think that the goal of most religion is to establish universal acceptance, thus the Christian missionaries, Christian wars. Approximately 200,000 people were killed in the Crusades. Popes have had people murdered for saying the earth was round. The passion of belief is such that not only are you told to spread the word, but you want to. What religion accepts opposing views?

 Tim  Religion and violence have walked hand-in-hand for a very long time. We cannot now judge modern adherents for past transgressions. We allow Christians to practice despite their history of aggressiveness (including the Norwegian terrorist), and we must also allow Muslims to practice despite their past. Sharia Law is obviously detrimental in Saudi Arabia, but there is a cultural element not to be ignored. So long as Muslims operate under the set laws of American government, we cannot limit their freedom to practice their religion.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  It goes back to what the founders of these religions said.  Jesus said to love your enemies.  If a Pope kills, how is he following Jesus.  Muhammad demonsrated by his actions that Islams enemies are legitimate targets for death and he showed people how to do it in his lifetime.   I don’t invite people to look at people.  I invite them to look at Jesus, look at Muhammad and compare.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  I agree that Muslims operating under US law is great.  Like I say in the website, it’s the tail that wags the dog.  Most Muslims are content to just live like everyone else, but the leadership who know Islam and it’s goals, they are the ones pushing, example, the Muslim Brotherhood and all its front group in the US, like CAIR, MAS, ICNA and many many others, they are influencing the majority towards this view, and when asked whether Sharia law should by rights be the law of the land, Muslims must answer in the affirmative, or else they are saying Allah’s laws are worth less than US laws, and that’s blasphemy.

 Tim  That concludes what I wanted to ask you for this interview. Is there anything you would like to say in closing?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Well, I have been wondering if it was what Jesus said and did in the Bible that caused you to call yourself an atheist, or was it people who claimed to be followers of his, but by their actions proved they were not?  Or was it something totally different?

 Tim  My atheistic worldview is based purely on observable evidence. There is no evidence that any gods exist, and so I choose not to believe in them. I also assert that the proposition of the Abrahamic, monotheistic god is certainly refutable, so I am gnostic in my atheism. The only “proof” that God exists lies within the pages of your Bible, which is most definitely flawed, so I do not accept the conclusion that God exists. You do not believe in the gods of Islam, Hinduism, paganism, or Greek mythology because there is no evidence that they exist. I simply don’t believe in the Christian god either.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Tim, you said we mustn’t judge modern adherents for past transgressions.  That would be great if the modern adherents had foresworn transgressions, but what the website is saying is, that Islam has not changed and continues on with same agenda as always.  Jesus divides history from ideologies like jewish law and Islamic law from his teachings of loving one another, serving one another and learning throughout life to imitate the example of Jesus.  Ask yourself, given the bloody example of Muhammad and the forgiving life of Jesus, which would be the better solution for our world?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  by the way, Dr. James Lindsay teaches Middle East history at CSU and is an expert on Islamic history.  I could put you in touch with him if you’d like to explore this in depth, or you could sign up for one of his courses.  He sometime holds classes on this at Timberline church, so you could kill two birds with one stone, hear him and visit another church in town.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  I hope at the end of this you will have understood me correctly.  Islam is the problem, not the people.  Only that small proportion that espouses true Islam can be dangerous, but it only takes a few to cause great havoc.  9/11

 Tim  I think that there are positive lessons to be learned from both. I disagree wholeheartedly with regarding either of them as holy or supernatural in any way. I think that the best solution would be to acknowledge those positive lessons and to adopt modern, secular morals which are applicable to our current understandings of human behavior and morality.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  What are secular morals?

Without a foundation, anyone can decide what is moral to him or her.

 Tim  Morals without a religious foundation.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Man without God, just makes up right and wrong, and tell that to Mao or Stalin.

 Tim  Are you really going to try to say that men “with God” always make good decisions?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  IF they listen to him, yes

 Fort Collins Jihad:  What’s wrong with his injunction for us to love and care for each other

to forgive and show mercy?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Can you give me an example of someone who followed Jesus example and ended up making a bad decision?

 Tim  You cannot listen to God. Like I said, there is no evidence that he exists. Listening to God means taking what one learns from the Bible (or other religious work) and applying it with one’s own interpretation. The ideals of loving, caring, forgiving, and showing mercy are all beautiful, man-made injunctions that have unfortunately been credited to a being for which there is no evidence.

A person who actually followed Jesus or someone who claimed to be a Christian? Big difference.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Exactly!  Big difference!

 Tim  And I’m all for people following what Jesus actually said. However, religion has muddled up Jesus’ words in a horrifying way. Read “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.”

 Fort Collins Jihad:  I’m human.  You are too.  The reason I don’t put a fish on my car is because I know I’ll be human and screw up sometimes, then Jesus will get the blame for it.  So, I agree, people muddle up religion all the time. That’s why I’m personally observing how he is  in the NT, and learn from what he says.  I do that before I listen to anyone in church.  We all should!

 Fort Collins Jihad:  That’s what I’d like you to try for awhile, atheist or not.  Just grab your new testament and read th gospels again and observe Jesus.  See how he treats people, the wisdom he has for our lives and how much he loves.  Give it a whirl.

 Tim  But the NT is again a faulty representation of Jesus.

 Tim  I have read most of the NT, and I agree that the majority of the messages of Jesus are of peace and love. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make it accurate. I completely reject the claims of his divinity (whether he said them or not, which I don’t think he did).

 Fort Collins Jihad:  When I went to study the Bible in Europe and in Denver, I had the opportunity to learn to read Greek and study some of the thousands of Greek manuscripts of the NT.  These being the priciple evidence for the life of Christ, what secondary sources are you thinking of that would make the NT picture of Jesus faulty?

 Fort Collins Jihad:  By the way, there’s plenty of evidence for Jesus.

 Tim  We have tremendous evidence that the Catholic church modified and removed lots of the New Testament (Council of Nicaea), and furthermore, the New Testament has been translated from Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew to thousands of languages. The stories of Jesus were also written long after his death. I’m not denying his existence, but his divinity is, (in my opinion and probably his as well), inaccurate.

 Tim  Stories of Jesus’ divinity are derived from myths written long before Jesus’ time.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  The Catholic Church didn’t come into existence until well after most of the NT manuscripts had already been written.  We can consult them now.  They’re all online.  It doesn’t matter how many languages the bible has been translated into if we have the wealth of manuscript evidence to translate from.  I’ve studied them in greek and the message is the same, whether you read the translation in other languages or the greek.   Of course, certain translations do a better job than others, and language moves, so we are always making new translations so the message is understood in modern parlance.  The King James is a good example. No one talks like that, so we needed a new translation to make it more accesible to our understanding, but the message is the same.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  The earliest manuscripts come from when people that knew Jesus were living.  The earliest has been dated to ca. 50AD

 Tim  Please read about the Council of Nicaea.

 Tim  I would like to close by saying that Christianity does not have a monopoly on peace. The book, “An Emissary of Light” starts each chapter with a prayer of peace from ALL the major religions. Personally, I think that our morals should not be based on religion because there are so many differing opinions and beliefs. We as humans have established what is right or wrong, and we don’t need religion to tell us that.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  1st Council was in 325.  Well after the majority of the manuscripts had been written.  We have definitely not established as humans what is right and wrong.  Stalin and Mao thought they were right.  Totally convinced of it.  If there’s no outside standard, anyone can do what’s right in his own eyes.  As you go hrough life and start to justify certain behaviors, you’ll know that we aren’t able to be our own definitions of right and wrong because we muddle lines to suit our own whims and desires.  If we didn’t have an objective source of truth, no truth would exist.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  And I’m not talking about religion,  I’m talking about the person of Jesus who as far as I’ve seen around the historical block, is matchless

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Peace has many definitions.  I did not say Christianity has a monopoly. Peace with God is what Jesus is talking about.

 Tim  Absolute truth does exist; absolute morals do not. We as evolved humans have determined what is right or wrong, and it is your option to attribute that to the deity of your choice. Thanks for your time.

 Fort Collins Jihad:  Thanks, Tim!  Let me know if you ever want to discuss the site again.

 Tim  Will do. This interview will be online this evening. Good day!

As I said in the post preceding this one, today (and it looks like tomorrow as well) is focused on Islam. I am still in the process of conducting the interview with the person from Fort Collins Jihad!, and that post will come out sometime tomorrow, hopefully. Anywho…

I entered the Islamic Center of Fort Collins with a Qur’an in my hand, as well as my trusty notebook. A young man at the door removed his shoes, and I did the same. He greeted me and ushered me into the prayer hall, where he showed me to a chair and then grabbed a Qur’an and sat on the ground beside me. Though it was obvious that I was out of my element (this was my first Jumu’ah - Friday prayer), the young man asked me if I was a Muslim. I told him no, and that I was actually an atheist exploring a variety of faiths and writing this blog. He smiled and told me that if I had any questions after the service he would be happy to answer them. Unfortunately, other members of his family arrived later and I was unable to find him after the service. Regardless, I already felt quite welcome at the Islamic Center.

I sat in my chair and casually opened my Qur’an while I observed the room and the people entering it. Like most prayer rooms, there was no furniture except a modest minbar (a pulpit in a mosque) so as to allow maximum space for members when they kneel on the ground in salah (prayer) to Allah. On the floor were taught strings stretched diagonally across the room and separated by approximately five feet each. Every member who entered the prayer hall found a place along these strings so that they were directly facing Mecca (the location of the first mosque built to worship Allah in Saudi Arabia). After finding a place in the room, each person raised his hands to the sides of his face and quietly said, “Allahu Akbar” - “God is the greatest.” Then each person began praying in the traditional Muslim way: bowing, standing back up, and finally kneeling and pressing one’s forehead to the ground. The uniformity, while not at all ostentatious like the many forms of Christian prayer, does bother me. Mass blind faith of any type is dangerous, and those who practice it seem exceptionally susceptible to following orders that could be potentially harmful.

For whatever reason, it took me until this point to realize that there were only men in the room. Given the Islamic laws governing the roles of men and women, I should have known that the sexes would have been separated, but I somehow neglected to expect it. The religion separates the genders for “reasons of modesty,” and the Islamic Center’s goal of building a mosque is partly to give the women a better place to worship, but I still have a problem with my perceived inequality within the religion. Every religion has extremists and quarrels within itself, but Islam’s treatment of women surpasses that of all other religions I have encountered thus far (it is important to note that this is not to say that other Abrahamic religions allow total equality for women). The economist Dr. Lopez-Claros once said, “When, because of tradition, a misunderstanding of the purpose of religion, social taboos or plain prejudices, half (the) … population is prevented from making its contribution to the life of a nation, the economy will suffer” (One Country, April-June 2008).

As more men filed into the room, a man stood at the front and made the adhān - the call to prayer. His bellowing voice filled the hall, and men greeted each other with kisses on both cheeks. A few young boys were in attendance, and they too practiced the same prayer routine as the older gentlemen. Soon, a second man began the iqama, which summons the congregation to line up for prayer. Finally, Nayeem, the man with whom I had been in contact before attending the Islamic Center of Fort Collins, stood at the front and faced the congregation to deliver the khutbah (sermon). 

Nayeem began by reading prayers in Arabic, which he translated to English afterwards. The prayers were strikingly similar to Christian prayers: “Whoever Allah guides no one can misguide, and whoever Allah misguides no one can guide them to the truth”; “Be dutiful to your Lord who created you from one man and created for him a wife”; and “He will guide you to do good things and will forgive you your sins.” After these prayers, Nayeem began speaking almost entirely in English, and I was able to understand the lesson of the day’s sermon.

The subject for Friday was “opportunities in life.” Nayeem said the Muhammad instructs us to take advantage of five opportunities in life: Youth before old age, health before sickness, richness before poverty, free time before becoming busy, and life before death. From there, he continued to tell the congregation that death is inevitable. He reminded everyone that “we have to move to the next world.” He said that if “you do an atom’s worth of good,” Allah will recognize it. Nayeem solemnly told us that someday everyone we knew and loved will be gone; and that when we die we will be held accountable for what we’ve done, and our “good deeds will help us.”

This lesson was the introduction to the subject upon which Nayeem really wanted to focus that day: building a mosque in Fort Collins. He said that the construction of the mosque is part of giving praise to Allah, and that on Saturday there would be a fundraiser for the mosque. As had happened at Foothills Assembly of God, I started to become annoyed with the plea for money. My attention was waning when Nayeem said, “You may not be able to donate money; that’s okay. We just need you to show support.” This simple sentence sent a wave of relief through my body. While Foothills Assembly of God had asked for all your money regardless of your financial standing, the Islamic Center of Fort Collins was acknowledging the financial burdens of its members, which removed the sense of guilt imposed when asking for donations. I was elated to hear Nayeem continue to say, “Even if there’s nothing, we can still share time together.”

The sermon was exceedingly short, and soon afterwards iqama was called again for the final prayer. More men walked into the hall, and the room was filled as the congregation stood shoulder-to-shoulder and engaged in rakaʿah, the movements of the traditional Muslim prayer. After twice bowing and kneeling, the members of the congregation sat with their feet underneath them and turned their heads left and right and said in Arabic, “Peace be upon you, and God’s blessing” to their neighbors. As the men rose to their feet, some final announcements were made regarding the fundraiser and the room began to empty.

I joined everyone in the entrance hall, where I found and approached Nayeem. I introduced myself and he too asked me about my blog. I explained that I am exploring a variety of faiths though I am an atheist, and he showed genuine interest in my project. I must emphasize that I did not receive any reproachful looks at the Islamic Center when I explained why I was in attendance. Nayeem smiled and shook my hand as I left, and he invited me to return any time I wished to do so.

After gathering my shoes, I walked to my car and got inside. As I started the car, Nayeem ran, still barefoot, out of the Center and to my window. He told me that he had forgotten to ask where he could read my blog, and I happily gave him the website. He shook my hand again and walked away, and I drove from the Islamic Center.

My experience on Friday was quite enjoyable. Perhaps the participation in something that I have seldom experienced ignited a sense of joyful curiosity in me, but I think that the main reason I appreciated the service was the sense of humbleness and sincerity. Though I do not condone the spread of religion by any means, I can empathize with a group of people who believe something so dearly and only want to construct a worship center specific to their beliefs in a town full of churches. In comparison with Christians, the number of Muslims in Fort Collins is miniscule, and they simply don’t have the man power to raise money quickly for a proper mosque. Their true dedication to their faith is evident in the 10-year commitment to building a mosque that the members have demonstrated.

I am far from converting to Islam. It is still an exhibition of belief based solely in unfalsifiable claims to which I choose not to adhere, and I disagree with many of the principles upon which it is founded. That being said, the members of the Islamic Center of Fort Collins displayed an earnest commitment to positive interactions with other humans. I never felt ostracized for being an atheist; in fact, any amount of isolation was the result of my own timidness. I appreciated the friendliness shown to me by the congregation.

If I made any mistakes in describing service, please forgive me and feel free to comment with corrections. You can also email me at tmpate.csu@gmail.com, and I will be happy to fix anything. I’m looking forward to hearing from everyone, especially Nayeem. I hope you enjoyed this post, and look for the interview with the administrator of Fort Collins Jihad! soon.

Nayeem from the Islamic Center of Fort Collins:

I want to thank you Tim for this wonderful write up. I am glad you were
able to make it to the Islamic center and be able to experience the friday prayer (Jum’aa). I appreciate your openness to explore a world beyond your beliefs and for being willing to hear first hand from others that don’t share the same beliefs as yours.

Now to some of the comments about the contents of the post.
I wouldn’t call Mecca the capital of the the muslim world but home to
Kaa’bah, a mosque built by Ibrahim and his son Ismael (peace be upon them) toward which we turn while praying. Muslims believe this is the first mosque ever built for the worship of ALLAH.

You mentioned about the absence of the women in the room. The women were present but in a separate room (the basement). One of the reasons we want to build a new mosque is because of women since they don’t have a nice place to pray at. In islam we pray at the same time but are separated for reasons of modesty.

Quoting from the khutbah you wrote “He (Allah) is impossible to misguide, and those he has misguided cannot be led to the truth…” in the blog. In the khutbah it was mentioned ”…..whoever ALLAH guides no one can misguide and whoever ALLAH misguides no one can guide them to the truth…”

About the 5 opportunites it is actually one of the traditions of prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) and not from the quran.

Actually, about we being left with our deeds alone, that you referenced in the post, is when we die and are buried and everyone leaves us there. Muslims believe that everyone will be held accountable for their own deeds. So when we die our good deeds will help us.

Tim, I am impressed by your note taking skills. I wish you best of luck in your pursuit of whatever it is that you are looking for and I hope to see you again.

Please feel free to visit the islamic center whenever you wish to do so in future. I am looking forward to read your interview with the administrator of the Fort Collins Jehad website.

A: 

Nayeem, it was a pleasure meeting you and attending service at the Islamic Center. I appreciate your help and your openness. The mistakes that you noted will be corrected immediately. Thanks so much for your feedback.

I just got back from camping, and I’m exhausted; so, I’m going to make this post a quick one. Tomorrow, we shift gears from Christianity to Islam. I have the great opportunity to attend service at the Islamic Center of Fort Collins at noon. In the Islamic faith, it is currently Ramadan, the month that Muslims claim the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the prophet, Muhammad. During this month, Muslims fast and abstain from sexual intimacy during daylight hours. Attending the service tomorrow ought to be very eye-opening, as I know far less about Islam than I do Christianity.

After my time at the Islamic Center, I will be interviewing a person (who wishes to remain anonymous) who runs the website Fort Collins Jihad!: a website dedicated to stopping the spread of radical Islam in Fort Collins. I chose to interview this person after my trip to the Islamic Center so that I could compare this person’s claims to my experience with actual Muslims in the Fort Collins area. I will be evaluating this person’s responses as well as the content of the website tomorrow.

Thanks for staying tuned! Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day, and I hope to hear from you as I continue my atheistic journey, one religious center at a time.