A Mosque in Morgantown Splits the Community
New America Now Radio, 
, Sandip Roy Posted: Jun 15, 2009
With its red-and-gold fall colors and ducks swimming in the river, Morgantown seems an unlikely battleground for the soul of Islam in America. But that's what happens when journalist Asra Nomani walks up to the door of a nondescript mosque in the West Virginia university town. Her demand that women be allowed to pray with the men, instead of being relegated to the backroom, ignites a national controversy. THE MOSQUE IN MORGANTOWN goes behind the sensational rebel in the mosque headlines to present a nuanced, complex portrait of the real tensions in a community that since 9/11 finds itself under a harsh spotlight.
Asra Nomani discusses her struggle to find her place in Islam with New America Now host Sandip Roy.
Brittany Huckabee, director of The Mosque in Morgantown talks about how as a non-Muslim she delved into the schism in the community in Morgantown.
The Mosque in Morgantown premieres on PBS nationwide on June 15.
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User Comments
Daniel Lion on Jun 16, 2009 at 17:07:57 said:
Muslims being Muslims. can we have something new to read or hear please! I am bored of hearing Western Muslims who are 'surprised' about the realities of Muslim life. What's next? " Palin knows nothing about anything!"......yawn....
Rudy V on Jun 16, 2009 at 12:17:25 said:
I agree with part of what Ben said. Their place of worship, their rules. I was raised a Catholic in Chicago. As an adult I was in Mexico and on Sunday was in a small town. I went to the local Catholic church walked in and sat down and waited for the service to start. I saw several people wave at me indicating they wanted to speak with me. I went back to the entrance and they pointed out something I had missed when I walked in. A sign which showed Women to the left and men to the right. I had seated myself on the womens side, I moved over to the other side and attended service. While I do not agree with them it was their church. If my wife had been with me we probably would have left. I find it interesting that the first thing Ben mentions however is the womens backside and what is perceved as a lack of modesty. When I am in church, it is my lack of focus that might make me notice a womens backside or frontside. The women is not commiting the sin, it is my inability to control my thoughts that is my problem, not hers.
Urman on Jun 16, 2009 at 11:41:13 said:
Why Asra Nomani is trying to impose her own belief on all the other Muslim women. You said "Her demand that women be allowed to pray with the men, instead of being relegated to the backroom, ignites a national controversy", I am a Muslim activist and very involved in the American Muslim community at large, I have not seen any ignition of national controversy. She chose to have a life style for herself nobody is stopping her from it, nobody is going to her doorsteps and trying to teach a clean Islamic way of conduction her life then why is she trying to break something that is not broken for us? Really even in the movie she was just a lone voice. Mosques are just a place of worship not a place for social gatherings. She refuses to see the difference.
Ben on Jun 15, 2009 at 20:54:02 said:
Hmmm... I'm not certain why an individual wanting to change an entire religion is newsworthy. We KNEEL with our backsides in the air during prayer. A truly modest woman would not want a man other than her husband to see her in such a position.
-->Lets put it in context for those who cannot step outside their own belief system: try walking into an Orthodox Catholic Church as a woman and demand to become a priest. Not likely to happen. That is part of their belief system. I am not judging. Follow your own heart and belief to worship God Almighty but don't try to force a religion (as a whole) to change for you.