It really gets under my skin when the announcements guy asks for money after jum'a. It reminds me how money is like a god in America. The only one worshipped by some and an idol for others. It gets under my skin when money gets brought up in the masjid because it means at least one of two things: 1.) the community isn't large enough (due division), strong enough or rich enough to take care of themselves; or 2.) the community isn't willing to pay for what it says it wants. (un)Fortunately(?) the leadership of one of the three local masajid gets ahead of themselves some times. Like in Ramadan, when the masjid was full for taraweed prayers, the mini-khutbahs became about donating to the masjid for an expansion project. True, it wouldn't hurt to have some more space. In the summer months the jamat swells, sometimes even spilling out into the parking lot. It just bothered me that taraweed prayers (which filled the hall with little to no overflow) became the forum to stress the importance of donating to this masjid. I wondered if the other masjitain in town were in similar states. alhamdulillah, double digits for fajr! but single digits for dhuhr and asr; 20 for maghrib and the community iftar. Only isha and taraweed filled the masjid. I met so many muslims I'd never seen before Ramadan and many I haven't seen since. And these are the people who are being asked to pay the bills and support the expansion project; the every day muslims are tapped out or giving all they can. The leadership of the masjid (the committee, the directors) were sure it was necessary to get more space or get a new building.
There are three masajid in my town, barely enough muslims fill them on fridays, and three plans for expansion or a new building (sometimes both). Why not just one for the WHOLE community, big enough for everything from taraweed to eid?
Friday, February 12, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
la illaha il allah
sometimes when I read the Quran I think that God just wants us (mankind) to be awesome to each other and respectful to our provisions (and thankful); everything else (including but not limited to orthodoxy and orthopraxy) is just kind of getting hung up on details.
Monday, January 4, 2010
إقرآ
Been a busy week of reading, "Journey to the end of Islam" by Michael Mohammad Knight and "Desperately Seeking Paradise" by Ziauddin Sardar. My iman is great, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the anti-establishment-ism of the two books when taken back to back.
Food for thought.
Read, Proclaim! Understanding, compassion - insight.
Knight's book comes in two parts, the first is a journey through Pakistan, Canada and New York; the second is Hajj. His emotional and intellectual states are reflected in his writing. The trip through Pakistan involves plenty of bhang and stopping at every possible shrine - all while filming Pakistan's first experience with home grown punk rock. This experience is contrasted with the author's experience with legalistic, sharia compliant, madrassa Islam and then, in the second book to the stoic, puritannical Islam of Saudi Arabia.
If you can handle his irreverent style and stomach that he holds nothing sacred, "Journey to the End of Islam" is a thought provoking read (if nothing else). More than that, it is a convert's commentary on what it means to be Muslim and the baggage that comes along for the ride.
If "Journey" is a description of someone who came into Islam looking for answers and finding as many problems, Sardar's "Desperately Seeking Paradise" is the story of Muslim intellectuals (not scholars) looking for real answers to the problems endured by Muslims around the globe. It takes a rather scathing razor to the struggle to find paradise (in this life and the next) and pays particularly close attention to all the wrong answers we've fallen into along the way. Granted the book was written after the "War on Terror" began but if Sardar is to be believed, he saw a danger lurking beneath the surface of the ummah he was so desperately trying to save but he didn't know what was coming.
Both authors insights are unapologetic and cut close to the bone. Outside in turned inside out. Whoever God guides...
Food for thought.
Read, Proclaim! Understanding, compassion - insight.
Knight's book comes in two parts, the first is a journey through Pakistan, Canada and New York; the second is Hajj. His emotional and intellectual states are reflected in his writing. The trip through Pakistan involves plenty of bhang and stopping at every possible shrine - all while filming Pakistan's first experience with home grown punk rock. This experience is contrasted with the author's experience with legalistic, sharia compliant, madrassa Islam and then, in the second book to the stoic, puritannical Islam of Saudi Arabia.
If you can handle his irreverent style and stomach that he holds nothing sacred, "Journey to the End of Islam" is a thought provoking read (if nothing else). More than that, it is a convert's commentary on what it means to be Muslim and the baggage that comes along for the ride.
If "Journey" is a description of someone who came into Islam looking for answers and finding as many problems, Sardar's "Desperately Seeking Paradise" is the story of Muslim intellectuals (not scholars) looking for real answers to the problems endured by Muslims around the globe. It takes a rather scathing razor to the struggle to find paradise (in this life and the next) and pays particularly close attention to all the wrong answers we've fallen into along the way. Granted the book was written after the "War on Terror" began but if Sardar is to be believed, he saw a danger lurking beneath the surface of the ummah he was so desperately trying to save but he didn't know what was coming.
Both authors insights are unapologetic and cut close to the bone. Outside in turned inside out. Whoever God guides...
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