Praying in public

[john313]

i just wanted to share my experience last week.

i was traveling through the midwest and was in central illinois when the salat time had almost expired. i was with 2 Muslim brothers and we decided to stop in a park and pray. as we were about half way through a cop came up and tried to interrupt us. we finished salat and then acknowledged him, he had called for back up and 2 other cops showed up also. they took all of our drivers licenses and questioned us separately 3 different times each and searched the car, digging through everything and writing things down in a notebook. we were there for over an hour and a half even though we did absolutely nothing wrong. the cops went all around the park and looked in all the garbage cans and searched in the bushes and all around the ground where we were praying. they asked me several times if i had and military training and if i had been out of the country. they had to make several calls on a cell phone also, but i do not know who they were calling or why they would need to do that. they finally realized that none of us had done anything wrong and they were harrassing us for no reason and let us go.

Has anyone else had any problem with big shot cops being prejudiced because of their own ignorance about God?

p.s. i would recommend not praying in public in Princeton, Illinois if you do not want hassled by the cops.

 

[ayani]

john, that is awful!

i'm so sorry those jerks had the audacity to harass you for praying. you could, i believe, file a suit against them. for unlawful searching and interrogation, as well as for religion-based discrimination. what they did was simply unacceptable.

 

[john313]

part 2.
i just found out a few days ago that the cops that harrassed us reported us to the FBI also, even though we did nothing wrong and were not charged with anything and we all have clean records except for traffic violations like speeding . the feds contacted one of the guys that was with me and met with him to ask him questions. it keeps getting better and better. your tax dollars hard at work to stop people from praying in public

wa salaam

 

[Kramer]

What a sad state of world we live in. I'll be sure to keep those cops in my prayers, they need the help.

 

[spdoulos]

john313,

It is unfortunate what happen to you; they could of, in the least, waited until you had finished. Perhaps, they believed they were doing what was necessary at the time. I agree with Kramer in that we live in a sad state right now. People (in general) associate terrorism with muslims, when in fact terrorists are not true muslims. Just as those who blow up abortion clinics or claim that "God hates ****" are not true Christians. Just ignorant, violent people using "religion" to boost their demented intents. As a Christian I do not agree with your faith, but you will always be treated respect. What the officers did was disrespectful.

 

[john313]

Peace,
i do not blame the cops personally. they are taught by others that muslims are terrorists and they did not know any different before that night hopefully they will open their eyes and wake up. we totally ignored the cops until we were finished praying, i think that really surprised them since it was something the feds mentioned. the cops were doing what they though was right, even though it was obviously wrong from my shoes, it was right from theirs. if it opens the eyes of just one of them i guess it was worth it.

wa salaam

 

[john313]

john, that is awful!

i'm so sorry those jerks had the audacity to harass you for praying. you could, i believe, file a suit against them. for unlawful searching and interrogation, as well as for religion-based discrimination. what they did was simply unacceptable.

interesting thought, but i think it would only cause more problems in that area and cause more hatred towards muslims in general.