The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

I grew up in a household where grace was said at the table and we always said our prayers before bedtime, but that was the extent of my religious upbringing [at least in terms of rituals]. And yet, I was filled with the love and notion of God from the very beginning. As a child, I was curious about religion. I would often sit for hours by myself reading my mother’s Bible, fascinated with the stories and moral teachings it contained. But it would not be until after my graduation from high school that I would experience what I would now term, an existential crisis. At the ripe age of 18 I became terrifyingly aware of my finite existence and concluded, “there must be something more to all of this [life]”. The following year, after studying any and all religious traditions I could find, I converted to Islam (in 1992) and began a process of studying the religion. I had the opportunity to sit and study with several Muslim teachers in the Detroit metro area. After a brief stint in music (both playing jazz and spinning it for WEMU) I taught Arabic and Islamic Studies in the Detroit area for two years.

The idea behind this blog was to present to the American public an alternative Muslim voice. A Muslim who is at once an American by culture and Muslim by practice (and reconciling the two). My hope and aim is to start a lasting and meaningful dialog between myself and my Western counterparts (meaning non-Muslim Westerners). It is also my hope to engage my co-religionists in dialogues that I believe can help foster better intra-religious and interfaith cooperation. In today’s world, we often see a lack of pluralism in any type of problem or dialog; I’d like to counter that effect. Granted, while some of these goals are quite grand, the Internet does allow one to speak to an almost limitless audience. I hope you will enjoy your time here and will visit again from time to time. And most importantly, you’ll leave some feedback.

Over the last several years I have been sought after as a public speaker and lecturer on a variety of topics from jazz to Islam and the American Muslim experience. I have had the pleasure of having spoken at universities, high schools and many different mosques from the Midwest, California and here in the Philadelphia area on the East coast. My talks have included women in Islam especially as it involves the unique situation of the Blackamerican Muslim movement and all its intricacies. I also give talks about black music and its role in American society. If you’d like to book me for a lecture, send me an email at theblog@manrilla.net.

In addition to speaking I also work as a Philadelphia-based photographer. I do wedding and event photography as well corporate and annual report reportage. As a sociology major I also use my camera as a lens through which I can examine subjects from a social scientific perspective, covering religion in public life and exploring various urban and religious communities. Samples of my work can be seen here as well as contacting me for more specific examples.

I also partake in various teaching duties. I teach a class in Web Publishing course at Moore College in Center City, Philadelphia. It is the final course in their digital media program. It is also offered as part of a certificate program the college offers to adult-ed students. The class designed to familiarize students with the process of creating and publishing web sites. For more info, view the course notes here.

There’s also a class I teach on Muslim development and spirituality. The class is in its fledgling stage and is taught to a small number of students in the Philadelphia area. The class covers such topics as spirituality, ‘aqiydah, as well as basic Arabic, biography of the Prophet but above all, how to create a psychological space for the respective students to see themselves as valid Muslims, who do not have look at everything in their culture as suspect and fostering a healthy American-Muslim mindset. I am, as of May 2008, a certified khatiyb, by Imam Anwar Muhaimin of Masjid Quba in Philadelphia.

In my spare time I have also revived the long lost art of Leisure. I am an avid reader on almost any subject from religion to art to pulp fiction. I wander the streets with my various cameras looking for what strikes my mind’s eye. In addition to photography, I am a Sociology major/Religious Studies minor, with a focus on the American Muslim community, at Temple University. I currently live in West Philadelphia, somewhere where that amorphous border of West Philly blends with University City. Feel free to contact me at theblog@manrilla.net.

Unless noted otherwise, all content and material (articles, photographs, ect.) on this site are copyright © 2008, Marc Manley.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy,

- M