Muslims pray five times a day: before sunrise, at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset, and at night. On Fridays, Muslims try to gather together to pray. For Utah County Muslims, that prayer is held in a room at BYU's Wilkinson Center so the students can attend easily, though Muslims gather at the mosque for prayer on other days, as well.

"It is recommended to gather every day, but on Fridays it's obligatory," Baioumy said. "In our small mosque in Orem, we try to do the last prayer and the early morning prayer, because this is a time we can gather. During the day, it's hard."

When Baioumy cannot get to the mosque, he prays in his office.

Baioumy, who moved to Lindon from Egypt 11 years ago to work for Novell, said he was worried when he first came to the United States.

"I was worried, because the culture is completely different, the way of thinking," he said. "When I came here to Utah I was surprised: this is not the U.S. I know. The impression I got about the U.S. was from the movies. But when you live with the people, it's different."

Baioumy said he likes the LDS culture in Utah County because it's closer to Islamic culture than other parts of the United States. Baioumy said he has strong relationships with his mostly LDS neighbors.

"I love all of my neighbors here, and I have a very good relationship with every one of them," he said. "We always have activities together, even the LDS Church activities, the ward activities, I am part of it, because we are neighbors. Even if we are different religions, it doesn't matter because we are neighbors together."

Baioumy said while Islam and the LDS Church are very different, they have many similarities, including discouraging the use of tobacco and alcohol and dressing modestly.

"There is a huge difference, but we like to focus on the similarity more," he said.

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E-mail: mdecker@desnews.com