Confusing The Confused

Here is a video that is going around.  I have received this twice in the past week so I thought I better say something before it becomes too viral and out of control.

This video here shows some prayers being performed, it looks and sounds like the Sunni / Shia prayer but with a catch - the 'imam' leading the prayer is a woman. Plus there are men and women praying side by side  behind the female imam (which is a no no in the Sunni and Shia religion) and the women are not wearing the ritual hijabi prayer costumes. 

The video has an Indonesian voice over which makes some mistaken comments. 

The Indonesians say that this is a brand new Christian church from Syria which is copying the Muslim style of prayer to confuse and trick the Muslims (into becoming christians?)  Do watch the video first :

Folks this is not a group of Syrian Orthodox Christians.  

The Indonesian people who voiced over this video are either confused or they are doing it deliberately to create hatred between Sunnis / Shias and the Christians.

I think the people in the video above are doing what Amina Wadud who is of the Sunni religion did in New York. Wadud decided to become a female prayer imam and led a congregational prayer for Sunnis in New York.  Here is a picture of Amina Wadud leading prayers (there are many such pictures on the Net).

Of course Wadud caused a major sensation and controversy because female imams leading both men and women in prayer are quite unheard of among Sunnis and Shias.  

But I think Wadud's actions have caught on.  Here is another picture of yet another woman (most likely Sunni) leading prayers with men and women side by side in the congregation behind her : 

So I dont think these are some new christian church folks trying to confuse the Sunnis and the Shias.  These are more of the Amina Wadud types.

Here is another picture of a woman saying the azan (the call to prayer that you hear from the mosques).  Unheard and unseen in the Sunni world. Again this is in the US or somewhere in the West.

This picture is lifted off Google Images. Someone else (not me) has circled her shoes. I think they look pretty cool. 
 

Ok now here are some videos of the Syriac Church (Orthodox Syrian Church) as well as the Coptic Church. Both these churches are older than the Vatican in Rome. And this is how they pray.

Orthodox Christian Church

Here is a video of the Orthodox Coptic Church in ritual prayer :

The following video shows Indonesian christians performing the ablution and their "sembahyang pagi" in their church :

Finally here is another Indonesian video which has spliced everything together ie Orthodox Christian prayer and Amina Wadud leading Sunnis in prayer etc.  all in one video clip.  I think this is a very naughty thing to do.

There are similarities in the prayer motions that you see here.  Intelligent minds should be able to discuss these things better.