Sisters and Brothers

"O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes for you to know one another." ~ Quran, 49:13

On Monday night, my EfM group was given the opportunity to tour the Islamic Center of Cleveland.  It was my first visit to a mosque, and it was the first time for most of the rest of the group as well.  The first thing that struck me was how beautiful the building is from the outside.  It's nestled back away from the street; I almost passed right by it when I drove in.  But when you approach, the bright white, blue and gleaming silver had us in awe.

Our tour guide, Nazima, is from British Guyana.  She told us that while she can read some Arabic in the Quran, she can't speak it; her native tongue is English (actually "the King's English").  Her husband is from Pakistan.  He is a doctor who opened the Ibn Sina Free Clinic at the mosque.  He told us about how his faith led him to do this for people who are struggling with little or no insurance. 

One thing our group was particularly impressed with were the prayer times.  One of the pillars of Islam is to pray 5 times daily, and at particular times of day.  This is similar to what I have seen in Christian monastic settings with the daily hours, but for Muslims this is not reserved for only some - all Muslims are required to do this, and they keep track of the time for prayer using apps and charts like the one pictured above.  The time in red is the call to prayer, which is about ten minutes before the actual time of prayer (in green).  People have time to finish what they are doing and prepare themselves to pray to Allah (which, we were reminded, is simply Arabic for "God".  Allah is the same God we worship).  Nazima told us that the prayer times are like keeping an appointment at the doctor; you don't put it off, you treat it like it is important.  And it is, after all!  Who is more important than God, when you think about it?

Nazima also showed us the area where Sisters and Brothers (women and men) perform ablutions.  They wash their hands, feet, faces, etc... as if they are preparing to see a lover and want to get "cleaned up nice".  I thought about my own life and how often I don't really put much effort into what I wear to church.  Imagine if we all thought about it that way... preparing to see someone we really love, the one we love most in the world.  Wouldn't we want to put some effort into that?

Although I thought I knew a fair amount about Islam before going to the mosque, just from reading books, there is something different about being in an actual place of worship with a faith you've only read about.  To speak with actual Muslims instead of just reading about them is invaluable.  Our EfM group recently read a book about Christian-Muslim relations that said basically the same thing - nothing replaces actual contact with people of other faiths and backgrounds.  Prejudices and false beliefs about groups of people disappear when you talk to living, breathing people who are members of those groups.  I knew this, but what ended up surprising me about my visit was that I felt I had a lot to learn from Islam about being more devout in my own faith.  

We observed one of the evening prayers while we were at the mosque.  We sat up in the balcony, where the Sisters pray.  The men in front all lined up next to each other, shoulder to shoulder.  Nazima told us that they do this in order to "keep the devil from getting in between them".  I thought about how in every church I've ever been, people have "their spots".  Imagine if we all sat together in the same row, to not allow the enemy to get between us?  We might laugh at the idea of "the devil" coming in between us, like it's a silly superstition, but think about the divisions that happen even in our families of faith.  Would it help to soften those divisions if we forced ourselves to give up our claim on a "spot" and come together as the Body of Christ like we're supposed to be?  

My overall experience at the ICC was incredibly hospitable and warm.  I felt that God was present there.  I would love to experience and learn more about Islam with real practitioners, and step out of the realm of only reading about it in books.  This, by the way, is how I felt about Judaism the first time I visited a synagogue, and how I feel about any religion.  That doesn't make me any less dedicated to Christianity, but I think it can only enhance my relationship with God and with my neighbors.  Muslims often refer to themselves, Christians and Jews as "People of the Book".  We are all descended from Abraham, and we follow the same God from the holy books of the Tanakh, the Bible, and the Quran.  We have differences in our beliefs of course, but that shouldn't hinder our ability to get along with each other and learn from each other.