Don't laugh, it's swell being an imam surfer

[SindSagar]

Re: Don’t laugh, it’s swell being an imam surfer

@hareem01

Footprints in the sand … Haisam Farache at South Narrabeen beach yesterday.

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.
The Auburn-based lawyer said surfing was also an ice-breaker when he visited schools across the country as part of his work with the Together for Humanity Foundation.
He recalls visiting a school on the northern beaches where many students began calling him a terrorist. Once the children discovered he was a surfer, their opinion changed and they saw him as one of “them”, he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dont-laugh-its-swell-being-an-imam-surfer/2008/01/26/1201157739767.html

This is no laughing matter…if we follow Our Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) advice Every Father should teach his Son three things…Swimming, Horseback riding and archery.

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More power to this Imam who can ride the surf…:biggthumb