Thursday, August 24, 2006

My multicultural childhood

I grew up in a multicultural household. My parents have got a big flat, so they used to let out one of the rooms to postgraduate students from Edinburgh university. Over the years, we had lodgers from all over the world staying with us, from countries such as: Egypt, Gilbert Islands, Switzerland, Pakistan, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. I learned about Islam from an early age; about prayer mats facing towards Mecca, and about not eating pork. One of our lodgers is a senior engineer in his country's power industry, and another became his country's education minister. With this upbringing, you can understand why I hold a favourable viewpoint towards Islam.
The mosque in Edinburgh serves lunches. For a small charge, you can partake of some tasty Indian cooking in the middle of the day, if you've been shopping. If you don't have the good fortune to live in Edinburgh, why not check out what the mosque in your area is doing for the community, and go along. The only way to break down barriers is for you to do something.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds intresting, productive and just plain fun! Will look into it. I'm here near San Francisco, California and I have no clue where the nearest mosque is!

My son graduated from Notre Dame with a double major in Arabic and Political Science, so I see a different side of Islam than that so often portrayed in the media......