Omar Suleiman

We want to be engaged and engage fully as Muslims and be respected as American Muslims.

You know, I wrote something at the time actually of Muslim ban.

I wrote an article for CNN called, I am not your American Muslim.

I am not your American Muslim.

because we are not a tool of liberals against conservatives, nor are we simply to be made out to be your villain or your victim.

We're a people of faith.

We're people that have values.

We're people that want to see our places of worship thrive.

We're people that have something to offer to this country, to the people around us of good.

but ultimately we want to engage and be engaged with on the basis of who we actually are not who you need us to be right now and that's been the problem uh that we've had so it's not it's not a lack of representation as much as a lack of authentic engagement you mentioned uh

Sure, absolutely.

Sure, so prayer is the central pillar, if you will, of Islam.

It is the life of the believer encapsulated into a very specific act of devotion that's done at least five times a day.

So there are different types of prayer.

There's prayer, there's supplication.

So the five daily prayers are called salah, which is the obligatory prayers.

And then beyond that, there are voluntary prayers that are done throughout the day as well.

So you can pray before and after.

the obligatory prayers and then there are other times of the day that you can pray also and the best prayer voluntary prayer is at night in the middle of the night because it's the time that you're closest to god uh sincere um away from the eyes of people uh just in the still of the night and you'd pray in a similar way with the standing and the bowing the prostration reciting the quran and then you have supplication and words of remembrance that you are to do throughout the day

between all of that.