Australia's surfer Imam

Salam/Peace:

Blogger's note: this is actually an old article, but I have never before heard of this very cool Imam from Australia. Surf's up!

Here's a BBC video:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/
newsid_7130000/newsid_7130000/
7130029.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1

and here's an article about him:

WHEN he's in the line-up off Sydney's popular beaches, Haisam Farache is just another surfer waiting for a wave.

But once he's out of the water he swaps his wetsuit and surfboard for a robe and turban and assumes the role of an imam at Australia's largest mosque.

"For me it relates to how I am as an Australian and a Muslim," he said. "When I go to the beach I feel rejuvenated. I feel like a new person and whatever stresses I have in my life are being washed away with the waves."

The 34-year-old, who began surfing at 11, said his pastime intrigued his students at the Lakemba Mosque. Most laughed, he said, when they discovered he was a surfer, and found it difficult to believe a religious leader had an interest outside teaching Islam.

Read the whole article at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dont-laugh-its-swell-being-an-imam-surfer/
2008/01/26/1201157739767.html