Excerpt:
Adorned in simple Islamic garb, Shaykh Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee sat stoically, cane in hand, at the back of the Greenwood Library Atrium to impart his proverbial wisdom to the students of Longwood University and community members of Farmville, many from the Islamic Center of Prince Edward County, on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
The talk, entitled "Travels in Muslim Lands," was part of the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf Grant recently awarded to Greenwood Library by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Included in the grant were twenty-five books, three DVDs and access to the Oxford Islamic Studies Online for a year.
"Salaam alaikum" Nooruddeen began with an Arabic greeting of peace, followed by his "high hopes" for America to soon become a Muslim land. A statement, he said, we ought not have been offended by.