Following is selected media and perss coverage of Sheikh Reda Shata. Coverage by Arabic media and the Arab press can be found on the Arabic version of this page. An appearance on Charlie Rose
Acclaimed interviewer and broadcast journalist Charlie Rose interviewed Sheikh Reda Shata and Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliot on his daily show. The discussion was broadcast on 3 July 2007 on PBS. The dialogue focused on the life of Muslims in America, including the impression about Muslims that prevails in the U.S. and the impression that Muslims hold about the U.S. and its domestic and foreign policies, especially after 9/11. The discussion also covered the immigration of Muslims to the U.S. and the life of Sheikh Reda as a community leader.
To watch that interview, click here. You can also watch the whole episode in full screen mode.
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A series of news articles in the New York Times
The New York Times published an series of three expanded articles on Sheikh Reda Shata on the front page and centerfold of the issues dated March 5, 6 and 7, 2006.
The story was written by Andea Elliott, who had been following Sheikh Shata since late 2005. She presented the life and work of the Sheikh in the United States from her own perspective. According to Ms. Elliott, she chose Mr. Shata for a number of reasons including his being "on the frontlines of the struggle to balance the traditions of the Muslim world with the pressures of American Life".
Following are the three installments of the story, which is entitled: An Imam in America:
- Part 1: A Muslim Leader in Brooklyn, Reconciling 2 Worlds
- Part 2: To Leas the Faithful in a Faith Under Fire
- Part 3: Tending to Muslim Hearts and Islam's Future
The newspaper also prepared an interactive multimedia feature that accompanied the story.
Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, one of the leading pan-Arab newspapers published excerpts of the NY Times story on March 6 and March 8, 2006.
After Sheikh Shata moved to New Jersey, the same journalist wrote a second story which was published on the front page of the NY Times issue dated January 28, 2007.
- The second article
- The interactive multimedia feature which accompanied the print story.
On 16 April 2007, Andrea Elliott was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her coverage of Sheikh Shata, which the Pulitzer Prize jury described as an "intimate, richly textured portrait of an immigrant imam striving to find his way and serve his faithful in America". She has also won the Freedom Forum Writing on Diversity Prize. Watch her describe how she first got to know Sheikh Shata.
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AP story reveals Sheikh Shata was subject to NYPD spying
The Associated Press has revealed in an article published on 5 October 2011 that the New York Police Department's intelligence squad spied on NYC imams and mosques, including Sheikh Reda Shata when he was the imam of masjid Musab bin Omair in Brooklyn. In a reaction to those reports, Sheikh Shata issued a press statement, in which he expressed shock and dismay that he had been targeted in prejudiced way, reiterated his repeated condemnation of terrorism, incitement and intolerance, as well as condemned Islamophobia and called for an end to all forms of racial and religious profiling and intolerance against Muslims in the United States.
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Opinions and comments on the web
The New York Times story stirred widespread reaction. Following are some of the very diverse views about Sheikh Shata, as expressed on websites and blogs:
- A post entitled "Little Mosque in Suburbia" on Palestine Blogs
- A post entitled "NYT gets Islam in the suburbs" on GetReligion.org
- A post on Ann Althouse's blog
- An article entitled "Tarheel Jihad" on FrontPageMag
- A letter to the Editor (NY Times) by Rev. Daniel Meeter
- A letter to the Editor (NY Times) by Yehudit Barsky
- Nieman Reports (Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard)
In addition, many Arabic newspapers and websites have commented about Sheikh Shata.
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A chapter in a book entitled "The United States and the World, Face to Face"
The book "United States and the World Face to Face: America's Best and Worst: Women, Men, People, Ideas, Events, News, Gossip" by Maximillien J De Lafayette included a chapter on Sheikh Reda Shata in the chapter entitled "Ideal Americans". The author Maximillien de Lafayette is a liberal lawyer who has visited 46 countries, worked and lived in 10 and is fluent in 7 languages. He wrote numerous books on world culture, arts, entertainment, civilizations, democracy and 2 encyclopedias.
The book was published by iUniverse on 14 September 2006.
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A documentary on New York City
The New York City episode of the documentary program "MegaCitys", which is produced by the German network ZDF a coverage of some of the aspects of the Muslim community, in particluar the activities of Sheikh Shata.
To watch that part of the program (in German), click here.
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