Reality Religion

Andrea Elliott of the New York Times concluded a revealing series this week about American Muslims. The three-part "An Imam in America" follows Sheik Reda Shata, the beloved imam of a Brooklyn mosque. Elliott gives us a nuanced portrait of Shata as he chaperones young Muslim couples as they date, endures an FBI interview and settles a neighborhood dispute between hot dog vendors. I learned more about the reality of Islam from "An Iman in America" than from anything else I've read. James Estrin's photos brilliantly capture Shata's day-to-day life at home, in his mosque and on the streets of New York.
www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/nyregion/07imam.html