Atlanta’s 11 Least Influential People: No. 11
Today begins Creative Loafing’s countdown of Atlanta’s 11 Least Influential People, a tribute to women and men everywhere struggling to meet the challenges of life in a modern American city.
No. 11 — Ahmed Salim
Would like to be able to park on the street in front of his mosque
(photo by Joeff Davis)
“I love Atlanta,” says Ahmed Salim.
Born and raised in Gwinnett County, the third-year engineering student at Georgia Tech hopes to work and live here for the rest of his life, he says, because it’s a growing, energetic place.
Kind and self-confident, Salim says growing up Muslim in a predominantly Christian community has never made him feel any less American. “I rode my bicycle in the street and played basketball,” he says. “I was a normal American kid.”
Someone once gave his sister a Bible for Valentine’s Day, an incident that makes Salim laugh when he tells it, but he’s never been made to feel unwelcome in a meaningful way, he says.
Until now.
He and some of his friends have noticed “No Parking Except Sunday” signs that line Peachtree Street and other busy streets. It’s a government policy benefiting Christian churches and church-goers.
Salim’s got no problem with that.
He would nevertheless appreciate it if the “No Parking” signs in front of the mosque he attends on 14th Street had an “Except Friday” caveat to accommodate the Muslim Sabbath. “Every Friday, but especially on the holiest days,” he says when asked how often he thinks his fellow mosque-goers would park on 14th Street.
On the holiest days of the Muslim calendar, Al-Farooq Masjid of Atlanta’s main and auxiliary off-street parking lots are often full, as are the side streets nearby.
“Ramadan is big. And the two Eids,” he says, referring to Eid ul-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, and Eid ul-Adha, which commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to God.
“It would be convenient,” he says, adding, “The Muslim community here would feel very welcomed by it.”
Visit Fresh Loaf Saturday morning for No. 10 on our countdown of Atlanta’s 11 Least Influential People.