DAY 1 - CARROLLTON
MOSQUE, FRIDAY,
JULY 20, 2012 URL: http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2012/07/ramadan-day-1-carrollton-mosque.html
Experiencing
Ramadan
This is
an effort to document and record the Iftaar experience with every Muslim
denomination, it is a journal of how each tradition within Islam, and a sub sect
within each practices Ramadan. The biggest idea that jumps out is seeing the
differences and understanding that they are cultural and not
religious.
Much
is written in this blog, but the focus will be today’s experience. Over
the years, I have been visiting different Mosques for Friday prayers, and today,
it was the Frisco Mosque (picture below), a temporary Mosque in down town
Frisco, as the construction for the new Mosque is about to
start.
First Iftaar of Ramadan at
Carrollton Mosque
Carrollton
Islamic Center, 1901 Kelly Blvd, Carrollton, TX
75006
Nearly
150 people attended the Iftaar, possibly because of the invitation to witness
the ground breaking ceremony to expand the Mosque. www.carrolltonmasjid.org
 |
| Click the picture to
enlarge |
There
is one thing that I have been missing in the mosques; fellowship.
However, it was a beautiful
experience tonight at the Carrollton Mosque. The weather was remarkably
pleasant and the fellowship was perfect. Usually people dash in and out, but
this evening all of us had an opportunity to sit down and socialize and wait for
the sunset.
The
Christian Church has a formal structure to encourage fellowship. Almost every Church I
speak at, has a follow up gathering in the fellowship hall for visiting with
each other. I had always longed for that environment in a Mosque, it is not
common, nor is it conducive for Muslims now, as they have to go back to work
after the Friday congregational prayers. However, the original Mosques were
community centers for people to come together. My references is strictly the United States, and
India, where I am from. I have no idea how they do in Muslim majority nations
where Friday is a holiday for them. I hope someone shares
that.
I really enjoyed the Iftaar, everyone
got to sit down and chat up with each other, and one Sheikh was asked to give a
short talk, he was good, and did give a short talk in the few minutes left to do
the Iftaar. Apparently he is from Morocco.
So when the
sun’s last ray disappeared, the Amir (by the way his name is Aamir, but
pronounced differently) announced that it was time to break the fast.
Traditionally it starts with a bite of the Dates * and in some traditions it
is the water. Can you imagine the consumption of nearly 5 billion dates
tonight across the world to break the fast?
Each
mosque has a little different tradition, for instance, in Madinah Masjid
(Carrollton) the Imam recites the Iftaar prayer, and the group repeats after
him before they break the fast, however, it is little different in Shia
tradition, and Ahmadiyya
tradition is identical with the Sunni tradition. Insha Allah, I will document
the differences to understand and respect them as cultural practices rather than
religious ones.
Iftaar
was followed by the Maghrib (dusk) prayers, there is very little difference in
traditions, but there is some. Thank God, arrogance has no place in my heart to
say which one is standard, it is what is in one's heart that
matters.
The
next thing was the ground breaking ceremony, each one in the leadership got a
shovel and a hard hat, and started filling the hole with the dugged out dirt. It
should have been the other way around. They even got a silver shovel for the
Amir - the leader: Dr. Amir Shakil. Glad to see the women taking their turn and
even the kids got to throw up some dirt with excitement.
Dinner was healthy and good, the
Arabic puffed up bread was fantastic, one of my favorites. I just wanted to say
to my wife that I ate only half the bread watching my cholesterol. The beans were excellent! Good
choice of food!
It was a pleasure to meet some of the friends after a
long time. I remembered 20+ names but there were several more I could not. I
just cannot get the names out, so I will not list any. I don’t want to hurt the
feelings of those few whose name is blocked in my mind. About ten years ago, I
could call on every name in most gatherings, I just cannot do it it now, the
mind blanks out. Dear
God, help me out the names!
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| Mosque in Frisco, one of the
fastest growing cities in America. |
Something
to think about
Two
years ago, I was intrigued by a tafseer/ exegesis that I read in this Mosque,
the book was printed in Madinah, about what idolatry meant. It was a beautiful
writing and I wanted to read that again and perhaps copy (iphone pic), but have
not found the book again. It had the broadest meaning and would have been
perfect to talk about in the interfaith gatherings. Indeed, I had a similar
conversation with Michael Wolfe prior to release of his film "The message". I
will have to go back and check again where this wonderful book
is.
I
was early, so I read Sura Baqra- the second chapter in Urdu, the translation was
done by Dr. Tahir-ul Qadiri. The flow was much better than some of the other
translations. I did not get to read the whole chapter, but a few verses made me
stop and think .
2:212,
(Qadiri translation) starts with, "life for the Kafirs was set up for the
worldly pleasures." The word Kafir was used as though there is a community of
people out there, who are called Kafirs. Kafir is a generic word for those who
hide the truth, deny the truth or pretend the truth to be different, and it is
an individual attribute rather than a group label. I will have to study and read
Asad’s translation. Although it has the simplest meaning, it has acquired a
derogatory status to ridicule other people.
2:222
(Qadiri Translation) - talks about avoiding intimacy with wife until she is pure
or clean again. I have severe difficulty with that translation. It gives the
impression that a woman is unclean or impure. Instead, if the translation had
said, “avoid intimacy with wife until she is through with the menstruation,” it
would have meant a natural process. Dr. Qadiris’s translation falls in the same
pit as the other ones before. I will have to check Dr. Laila Bakhtiar’s or
Edip Yuskel's translation on that.
Even
the translation of 2:223 does not meet the civility prophet Muhammad taught.
Please remember, Quraan is divine and God's word, and it is always about
justice, fairness and for goodness of the humanity. The issues we are having are
with translations, even the Arabic writers have mis-intepreted it. The burden of
finding the truth falls squarely on us, after all, no one but us is responsible
for our actions on the Day of Judgment.
An
individual asked me if will be back tomorrow, and I said probably two weeks
from now. As a reason, I explained to him that I visit a mosque a day of
different denominations during Ramadan. He jumped the gun and asked if I went to
the Shia Mosque, which is an yes. He was too eager to say they were wrong. He
told me that the Prophet in his last sermon was clear; he was leaving his Sunna
and the book to the people, but they add his family to it. I said, that is
correct, those are the two different versions, he said, but they are wrong - I
said, they are wrong to you, but not to them. He was silently staring at me to
understand that, which I appreciated.
I continued, "they think the
Sunnis are wrong." He held back, and I am glad he did. The best thing is to
accept the different interpretations, but not agree as a matter of principle. He
countered it is the same Hadith, how can they say otherwise. It took me a while
to keep his innocence intact, yet make the point. I said I have no problem with
what they believe; I don’t believe what they believe, and they don’t believe
what I believe… I am not superior to them, nor they are superior to me. I am
right in my way, as they are right in their ways....I asked him if he can guess
where my analogy comes from? He guessed it right and I hope you do
too.
Mike Ghouse is committed to doing his individual
share of building cohesive societies and invites you to the 8th Annual Unity
Day USA on Tuesday, September 11, 2012. Details at www.UnitydayUSA.com, its an
event that builds bridges and uplifts every American.
Masjid Al Quraan like Masjid Al Islam also
follows the Warith Deen Muhammad tradition of Islam which is identical to the
Sunni tradition. Unfortunately the Mosque was closed; they are open on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday Iftaar, but not every day. The Mosque gate was
locked.
