Imam Fatty, your boss, Jammeh watches and played soccer and he is a full time wrestling patron. What say you to him? Also, Saudi Arabia is taking part in the World Cup and I'm sure on the days they play everyone watches their home team, from the King to the lowest servant. What say you to them? The Imam said, "it is against the teachings of Islam for grown up men to wear trousers above their knees." Well Imam, the Saudis wear similar shorts, green ones at that. What say you to that? Wreastlers do not even wear shorts, but "Ngemba", I'm sure a more serious offense in your eyes. I take it Jammeh and the Saudis do not know Islam they way you do. The Gadaffi family own or have huge shares in some of the best soccer teams in the world, and his son(s) play the game. What say you to him (your boss' boss)? Regarding hunger and starvation, I suggest you discuss with your boss on the hunger and starvation that is not addressed right under your nose, in The Gambia. Please preach to him as you did right before dinner, and see if you will pertake when the meal is set. Please read on. Imam Fatty Criticises World Cup The Independent (Banjul) June 10, 2002 Posted to the web June 10, 2002 Lamin Njie Banjul Abdoulie Fatty State House's controversial Imam has criticised what he called money wastage in the process of staging the World Cup, while millions of people around the world are feeling the pangs of poverty. Delivering his sermon recently Imam Fatty minced no words as he criticised the World Cup for its supposed extravagance, which he said presents a cruel irony when poverty, unemployment, AIDS and the plight of refugees in war-torn countries require millions of dollars to be addressed. His sermon comes days after the start to the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. He said the organizers would never feel at ease in their conscience as they live with the irony of 'wasting' millions of money not in the cause of the poor and vulnerable but in the cause of a sport that has done much to promote irreligious betting, animosities and open confrontation among peoples. He admonished the world to as he put it 'sit back and watch the tragedy of mankind'. He said it is against the teachings of Islam for grown up men to wear trousers above their knees. He said during the month of Ramadan, some Muslim players don't bother to fast because of matches while some don't even pray when they are playing or watching matches. He said by the time the tournament ends in a month's time, millions of dollars would have been wasted on things which may come secondary to the need to help the world's poverty stricken population, which constitute more than half of the global population. He said it was unbelievable that people were going to spend a stupendous amount of money on a tournament, which do not in any way relate to the suffering of a great majority of people, dying because of the lack of food, shelter, clothing or medicine to keep them alive. He said why should the world rejoice in the World Cup when shocking evidence of malnutrition, disease, drug-addiction, violence and other forms of injustices is indicting world leaders for their apathy and indifference to the suffering of more than half of the world. He said it would have been gloriously effective if a competition to salvage the lives of those hit by poverty was made to replace a competition of such a kind. 'I am not against football as a game but there are too many things in it that Islam detest so much that they are a cause for concern in the Islamic point of view. For example betting on teams is lottery, which is seriously unIslamic' he said. The State House Imam said even Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) used to subscribe to sporting activities with his family but not in the manner they are done in modern times. He said moreover the World Cup is a source of distraction for most students who need to concentrate more on their schoolwork instead of spending much of their time watching matches. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~