VOA标准英语2009年-Muslim Leaders Grapple with How to Pro

At one of the largest mosques² in the United States, Muslim leaders are trying to create a safe haven³ for young people to learn Islam's lessons about peace.

Laurel Bowman | Washington, DC 18 December 2009

 
Muslim leaders are trying to create a safe haven for young people to learn Islam's lessons about peace

 
At one of the largest mosques in the United States, Muslim leaders are trying to create a safe haven for young people to learn Islam's lessons about peace. But can those leaders protect their youth from the doubts that lurk⁴ within them?   Muslim leaders renewed efforts following the arrest of five American Muslims in Pakistan who allegedly tried to join terrorist groups using the Internet.

It's a battle of bodies and for minds on this basketball court just outside Washington. It's Tuesday night at the Adams Center, one of the largest mosques in the U.S.  The young people here are hard at play, and the Muslim elders are hard at work trying to keep them engaged in positive activities.

After basketball, the younger kids meet for Boy Scouts⁵.  And after Scouts, hundreds gather for evening prayers.

It's a tense time for the Muslim leaders, following the arrest in Pakistan of five young Americans from a neighboring community. The young men are being held on suspicion of links to terrorist groups.

Sajjad Ahmad is the sports league coordinator⁶ at the Adams Center. He describes his reaction to the arrests.

"Happy because I think the parents and the community took the right actions but sad because members of the Muslim community, kids that I might have crossed paths with at some time, got into that false ideology," he said.

Ahmad says one of the center's top missions is getting youth involved in mosque¹ activities.

"They need to invest in activities where the youth can come and relate in a non-religious manner so that involves religion, they know where they need to come back to.  "You know, I was playing basketball with so and so and so maybe I can go ask him or her,' and that resource gets embedded⁷ in their head," he added.

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik is a Muslim community leader in the Washington area.  He says young Muslims are often confused by disturbing Internet images of their brothers in faith being killed in conflicts, and that one of his community's greatest challenges is helping⁸ young people interpret current events. 

"And that is where the Internet comes in and says, 'Your imam, your community, your youth center, your family, none of them have an answer for this," Johari said. "But we have an answer and we feel your pain."

Abdul Malik says Muslims face a modern challenge beyond shielding their young from traditional dangers like drugs and crime.

"We have safeguarded them from the terrestrial threat of all the bad influences in their environment.  But we did not protect them from something that was inside of them that was connected through the Internet," Johari explained. "That is the next level of our fight against what I would call an enemy."

"Many of young people are vulnerable to being preyed⁹ on," said Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.  Awad helped broker¹⁰ talks between the FBI and the families of the young men arrested in Pakistan. He says Muslim leaders had already started looking at dangers on the Internet before the men went missing. 

"On the Internet, the other side is trying to exploit people's feelings, and they give them instructions on how to do wrong things and we have to give (them) tools and manuals also on how to stay cool and level-headed and stay reasoned and don't get yourself and others in trouble," Awad said.

At the Adams Center that discussion has started too.

"We are telling parents, 'Hey this is what was available on the Internet, this is what your kids are able to do and some basic tips on if you want to increase security this is how you can do it," Ahmad stated.

What's most important, says Ahmad, is keeping young people in the game of peaceful resolution, what he calls a true teaching of Islam.
 

1 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

2 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

3 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

4 lurk   

n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏

参考例句：

• Dangers lurk in the path of wilderness.在这条荒野的小路上隐伏着危险。
• He thought he saw someone lurking above the chamber during the address.他觉得自己看见有人在演讲时潜藏在会议厅顶上。

5 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 preyed   

v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• Remorse preyed upon his mind. 悔恨使他内心痛苦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He had been unwise and it preyed on his conscience. 他做得不太明智，这一直让他良心不安。 来自辞典例句

10 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。