Imam Qatanani is our local imam in the Paramus area. Unfortunataly, due to previous commitments, I can’t make it on any of the specified days :(

Assalam Alaikum

Although the pictures from this newspaper website do not show the true extent of the large turnout, the pictures are fairly good.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/photos/gallery.ssf?cgi-bin/view_gallery.cgi/njo/view_gallery.ata?g_id=9818

They are all from Thursday, the first day, of the court days. Friday, the second day, was said to have a larger turnout despite the heavy rain, but unfortunately, I could not find any pictures for that day. When I do, I’ll be sure to post, Insha Allah. And just to give you an idea of the crowd since I dont think any of the pictures really grasped the massive amount of people present: Organizers of the rally have estimated that about 1,000 attended just the first day. Allahu Akbar!

Hope this was a glimpse of what you were looking for. Personally, I was there at the rallies, and these pictures do not do justice to the whole experience. Words cannot describe it; this is history in the making.

Insha Allah, I’ll try to add more of my feedback about the days within the coming days.

bint3li

ps..Tomorrow (Monday) will be the third court day and next Monday (May 19) will be the last day. The court decided Friday to extend the three-day trial an extra day so there’s an another chance for you to show your support for Imam Qatanani and ultimately for the whole community.

Assalam Alaikum

Sorry for the delay but heres what I promised earlier.

Just to give you an idea of how it was like: We were standing on the street across the federal building in which the court proceedings were taking place. The street we were on was a very wide street so people could walk to and fro quite easily. We also had a stage on the street; this is from where various speakers spoke throughout the entire 3-day period.

Although I missed the morning of the first rally day, I was able to attend the rest of the three days. As I mentioned earlier, these three days were truly history in the making. The most emotional part of all three days were the times when the Shaykh and his family would be entering and exiting the courtroom. Surrounded by security guards all the way across the busy street, the Shaykh and his family seemed so surreal, out of reach, almost. And then, the overwhelming realization about what was at stake would strike us all during those few minutes; thats what would get the tears flowing.

Overall, the rallies showed staunch support of the Shaykh and his family because both days, Friday and Monday, had terrible weather. Friday’s constant rain left everyone utterly soaked even though there were about 7-10 tents set up. And Monday’s heavy winds and chilly temperature forced everyone to stick closely together to stay warm. Alhamdulilah, both days were full with people till the very end, despite the radical weather. Friday had the highest attendance at 3,500 people but between 1,000 to 2,000 people attended each of the other days.

There was alot of coverage of the Shaykh’s case by local news channels and I have heard that Eyewitness News did a pretty good job of delivering the message.

The court proceedings were supposed to last 3 days, but the court decided to add another day on June 2, 2008, same place, same time. You can visit americans4qatanani.org for more info regarding free busing and news clips and articles. Other than that, be sure to show YOUR support on JUNE 2! Mark your calendars today!

Jazakallahu Khairun for your patience and support.

bint3li