Inside American mosques

Noam Chomsky wrote in his book, Requiem for the American Dream, that the arrival of tax season in America every year should be a time of celebration in this country because it means Americans collectively get to fund the programmes they are excited about. But that is not what happens and it is in reality a sad time because Americans pay their hard earned money in a tax system, which is strongly believed to be corrupt and realistically tilted toward benefitting the richest and taking from the poor and middle class in America. The tax returns are filed just because they have to be done, not because that is something that fulfills the promise of America, not because it makes possible the things Americans care about.

Mosques in America are no different. I go there not because I am excited about it but because I must go, at least every Friday. And I am not excited not because I have some faith issues but because religion is the last thing that is a priority there. Sure, there is a service with an imam talking about religion and the virtues of it. But talk is all there is. And the same talk as from the previous week and the week before and so on.

Wouldn't it be much better if mosques were the places where we went to talk about things we deeply cared about and were deeply curious about? Despite what you might hear in the media or from the advertisements of the imam (Yes mosques are advertised here in America), no such thing happens. I understand that we only go to mosques for prayers in Pakistan also but the mosques in America are a whole other game.

Big money is involved. Mosques in Pakistan may collect charity so as to build it and pay its bills but American mosques are profitable corporations. Cherry on the cake, they don't pay any taxes because they are not registered as some for-profit organisations. But rest assured, profit is all they do.

Normal for-profit corporations might do some charitable work such as buying someone food or even as little as a bottle of water. Mosques? Let me tell you a story. I was once inside a mosque in Houston. The imam happened to be a friend since we played ping pong together a lot. He asked me to pay for the Quran lessons of a little kid since his parents weren't able to afford the fee. I instantly agreed. But then I asked him the details. I realised that he was teaching over 30 kids who were all paying customers.

The imam refused to teach this one poor kid for free who could have just been sitting with the other bunch without anyone even noticing. He wanted me to pay for his fee because the fee was for the imam. That is how an American imam can be. So much for not for-profit organisations.

Just like the taxes, I personally do not get the feeling of fulfillment whenever I visit the mosque. And it is precisely for a simple reason: these corporations disguised as mosques are run by people who want nothing but handsome money while working in the shadows. The most disgusting thing is that the truth is spoken in parking lots but is never uttered inside the mosque.

For example, the imam would say things such as both the Israelis and the Palestinians have a right to peacefully coexist in that region, even though the truth is that Palestine does not belong to the Jews and there is no such thing as Israel that should exist there. However, that truth and many others are never uttered there inside the mosques. If the truth can't be uttered, at least they should avoid repeating the lies. That nonsense about peaceful coexistence is nothing but a lie. A lie that is always uttered inside the House of Allah.