New York: Islam on the subway



This new initiative which aims at making Islamic values and ideas more congenial to New York subway passengers:


A Brooklyn imam who has been linked to various terror plots to destroy landmarks is targeting New York City passengers in 1,000 subway cars with a new campaign to draw people into Islam.

The promotion video opens with a Quran passage stating, "Invite them to the way of your lord with wisdom and fair preaching."

Imam Wahhaj opens the video saying 4.9 million people ride New York City subways daily.
"That's a lot of people," he said. "I want you to think about those 4.9 million people. Imagine them seeing the name of Muhammad. Imagine them seeing the word Islam. Imagine them seeing the word hijab [modest dress]."

Simple black and white ads designed to immediately capture passenger attention state "Q: Prophet Muhammad?" or "Q: Islam?" or "Q: Head Scarf." The answer to all questions is "A: You deserve to know."

Well, I'm not sure if this should make for exhilarating reading in the morning, as one commutes back and forth. Speaking for myself only, I'd much rather be entertained on my metro or bus rides by colourful posters advertising the next performance of "Les grand ballets de Montreal", or Formula One weekend event, or jokes, or ....

Seattle: Poetry on buses

Since 1992, Poetry on Buses has been inspiring residents of King, Pierce, Kitsap and Snohomish Counties to write and reflect on a theme as a community. (Metro online)

When you go to work n the morning, would you rather read this:

If I Were a Bus

If I were a bus I’d go to the rainbow sparkly store,

I’d go to aquarium sparkly land

I’d go to a castle

I’d go to rainbow sparklyland New York

I’d go all over the world

I’d go to Oochworm town

If I were a bus I’d go everywhere

Or this:

Inside Outsiders

Tapping on my laptop keyboard,

I look outside the window

to find a child bundled in a maroon coat

pointing her finger upwards

at a red-crested pileated woodpecker

tapping its beak into the willow tree

behind the bicyclist

holding a steady foot on the pedal

at the stop light.

Or this?

"In the black background, the following dark gray words are barely visible: Terrorism, peace, fundamentalism, Abraham, Jesus, Moses, Shariah, submission, peace, paradise, afterlife, monotheism, charity, guidance, repentance, Allahu Akbar [God is great], Assalamu Alaykum [Peace be upon you], 5x day, faith, belief, morals, worship, misunderstood religion, Prophet Muhammad, Allah, no pope and 1,500,000,000 followers."