Like People of other Faiths, every
week Muslims gather together on Fridays to pray in congregation. The Day is an
optimal chance for Muslims to meet and know one another. Directly before the
prayer they listen to a lecture designed to empower them with valuable
knowledge about God, and the religion of Islam.
So often the Imam (a Muslim who lectures, and leads the prayer) takes to
the pulpit and delivers sermons
Sometimes the content of the sermons is moral admonitions about indulging
into misdeeds, obscenity, depravity and all types of social aberrance. It could be a reflection on some of the teachings
from the Qura'n and Prophet Mohamed's divine lifestyle. To add interesting part to the sermon, the Imam tends to narrate didactic stories from the past for the sake of giving salutary
reminders and examples for the listeners.
From where I hail from, the Mosques have
always been not just places to worship God, but also, places to teach, and
guide people to be better citizens in their communities; places to find
solutions for social maladies their communities are beset with. Muslims go Mosques
in times of weal and woe. They celebrate weddings there and bid farewell for
the dead also there.
From the first day I got here, I was
curious to know how the spiritual lifestyle of the Muslim community looks like
here. To know that, I paid a visit to
the Islamic Center of Washington which is in the vicinity of where I am
living. I didn't document what I saw
there then, but now as it is a required assignment I will do it for the sake of
being a better student in my academic community J.
Last Friday, I went to attend the
Friday prayer the Islamic Center of Washington, located on 2551 Massachusetts
Ave NW. The Imam preached for about thirty five minutes about
the virtue of Humility. On the one hand, the Imam eloquently and
enthusiastically explained that religion of Islam enjoins on its followers to
be humble themselves. He mentioned the characteristics of being humble, and how
it reflects the sound nature of its adherent.
He quoted the Prophet Mohamed's actions as the best example of being
humble and modest. He recounted some of
the incidents when he was in the street, doing what the ordinary people used to
do. A man came from Persia asking people about him:
''O' Man! Could you please guide me
to Mohamed's palace. You know! I have cut a long distance for the sake of just
seeing him. Please guide me. I want to
see the man whose name is taken by the storm and resonates all over the
globe."
The man said, O Farer, Prophet Mohamed is
right in front of you. He is the man who is working out there."
The Persian man said: O' Bedouin, Are
you just kidding me?!! I am asking for Mohamed Ibn Abdullah, the King of the
Arabian Peninsula, not an ordinary man who walk freely with no caravan or
guards around him. Again I have indefatigably journeyed from the remote East to the
West in order to just see how this king lives, to see his lofty palace or
palaces, to see how many maids and slaves he has. I am coming on a mission to
return to my people laden with stories about this powerful king who defeated
almost all the Arabian tribes and installed himself a king over them."
The Arab man, with surprise, said:
''O' Foreigner brother, about whom on this earth you are talking. Our prophet
Mohamed Ibn Abdullah is just a person who was anointed by God as a Guide to us
to get us out from darkness to the fold of lights …the Arabian man went on to
explain more.
"As you can see he is only a
human being like ourselves, he eats what we eat, and drinks what we
drink."
The man was astonished and dazzled by
what he heard from the man. He said: what a noble message this man has came up
with. Then he converted to Islam and returned to his community as a preacher of
a new system that, in essence, sets people free from the yoke of slavery and
leads them to live together brothers and sisters with no discrimination,
segregation or superiority." On the
other hand, the Imam speak out against arrogance and showing-off. He explained
that such characteristics degrade its adherent.
The arrogant is disliked, and perhaps, outcast in the society. Then he relate the concepts enshrined in the
sermon to what some religious people and rulers are doing right now. Their
arrogance led them to think they are holier-than-thou. In case of ruling, the
rulers' arrogance turns them into tin-pot dictators hated by their own people.
They live in the ivory towers and forget about the responsibilities they have
to discharge towards their subjects.
In fact, the sermon was impressive and
expressive simultaneously. It was such an inspiring , faith-healing and humbling experience to me. I learned a lot and pondered on its
reality.
To close, I think that the
constituents who go to the house of worship find it a huge boon to just listen
and discuss things that matter. This is manifested by seeing the good turnout
of people who come to this place, some
to find inner peace and tranquility. Others to learn and think about what they
learnt. I also noticed the attendees are different in their social statuses
(i.e. the less fortunate, those who do menial jobs in the society. They come to one place, sit on one ground,
and receive the same teachings. Without a doubt, this increasingly fosters the
community fabric. So I think that
supporting the house of worship in the communities yield immense benefits for
all, especially the elevation of morals and ideals without which community misses an important
component to be healthy, prosperous and a breeding ground for better citizens.
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