Open for Questions

On Thursday we picked up three foreign students that will be staying with us for the next few weeks. Two of them are from Japan, and one of them is from Oman.

Majda, the woman from Oman, is a Sunni Muslim. Annie and I are very happy to have her with us. She is polite, very willing to help out, and since she is so proficient in English, also a lot of fun to talk with. She got married the Saturday before she left for her three-day trip to reach us. It was an arranged marriage (her choice) and she didn't meet her new husband until the day they got married!

One bit of instruction she was given before coming to the U.S. (this is her first time abroad) was that she is to work to improve the image of Muslims in the eyes of Americans by fielding questions and letting us know what Islam and the Middle East are all about. I have already asked her a number of questions (no, she doesn't know where bin Laden is or where the WMDs are, Chris), such as, What is with the whole martyrs receiving virgins thing? What is the main difference between Shi'ites and Sunnis? What's your opinion of Al Qaeda?

So, if any of you have any questions regarding Islam, Arabs, the Middle East, etc., feel free to leave a comment. I'll forward them to her - if you're lucky.