How would you describe his place on the social/political spectrum? Is he a conservative, a liberal, or middle of the road? Back up your description by giving examples from the article.

When I just came to the states, I had so many questions to ask. I either asked my friends or went online. I wish I knew someone like Mr. Shata. Of course, there are many centers that help the immigrants with different issues, but Mr. Shata seems to react to all the problems of the Muslim community in Bay Ridge from another angle.

To my mind, he is conservative, yet he tries to adapt to American lifestyle. It was interesting how he solved the problem of stealing the donated money: he had “the man swear an oath on the Koran.” “Whoever lies while taking an oath on the Koran goes blind afterwards.”

In general his resolutions of the peoples problems seem softer than in Egypt or elsewhere in Muslim world. He says that the oral sex can be performed while in marriage, and on the other hand, it is very hard to get a divorce from him, since he will be responsible for it. The imam lets Muslims eat McDonald’s, “but not bacon cheeseburger.”  These are all the examples of the adaptation of a Muslim to an American world. One more thing I liked when the author compared two countries, the US and Egypt, is when he talks about the order: “Americans stood in line. They tended their yards. One could call a police and hear a rap at the door minutes later.” Egypt lacks all this, and it sound so familiar with Russia.

This article is a nice piece describing the liaison of two cultures and two completely different world, where Mr. Shata is a conductor.