By Muhammad Bilal Lakhani
It is 1 p.m. and the Friday prayers have ended. The Imam had called
for people from all walks of life to join a protest against Hosni
Mubarak in Times Square. Egyptians are now gathering in small groups
outside the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge.
“There is a feeling of revolution in the air,” says an Egyptian man
who declined to give his name because he didn’t want the mosque to be
associated with the protest.
In his sermon, the Imam asked congregants to respect each other’s
opinions about what is happening back in Egypt. Worshippers poured
onto the street as the Mosque reached full capacity during the prayer
service. After prayer, the Imam’s voice could be heard outside through
the Mosque’s sound system. He was pleading for worshippers to be
generous with their donations. They were raising money for food and
medical supplies for people in Egypt.
After prayer, some were going back to work. Others were planning to go
to Times Square.
At 3:30 pm, crowds were beginning to line up in Times Square. One
Egyptian teenager from the Bay Ridge mosque was carrying a placard
reading “Long live Egyptian Intifada.”
“I wanted to go back and do my homework,” he said. “But my father
forced me to be here.”
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