Jum3ah

Today is Friday, the "holy day" for Muslims. I am in a new city, helping a friend of mine, and while they were at work I decided to find a masjid (proper Arabic for "mosque") and go to Jum3ah (when writing an Arabic word in English - numbers are used to represent letters that do not exist in the English language: 3 = "ein") or Friday Prayer. Fortunately, there was one within WALKING distance of their house - which in America has NEVER happened to me. I was so happy! 

I took a walk and ended up there very early because it was closer than I thought. The masjid was still locked up! I saw a brother walking in, he was African-American and his name was Ali.

"Assalamu alaikum, sister," he said. "Come, come. You can enter through this door. Where are you from?"

I answered.

"I used to be on the police force there!" he said.

"What do you do now?" I asked.

"I am a US Marshall," he said with this bright grin on his face. "Ironic, isn't it? A Muslim, US Marshall."

I had to laugh. He led me through the masallah (where prayers are conducted) to the area where men and women can make wudu'.

Wudu' is a ritual that Muslims perform to wash up before prayer. Cleanliness is of the utmost importance in Islam. Especially given that Muslims believe that when they stand together to pray, they are literally, standing in the presence of God. I made my wudu' and came back to the masallah.

"Assalamu alaikum," said a gentlemen dressed like an imam. (An "imam" is the Muslim title for our religious leader - much like "priest" or "rabbi" or "father"). It turns out he was. He was an older gentlemen, probably right around his 50s. He looked like such a kind soul.

"This sister is visiting us," said brother Ali.

"Welcome, sister," said the imam.

I thanked them both for their assistance and making me feel welcome and went to take advantage of being there so early by reading the Qur'an.

Masjids have a male and female prayer section. I was in the woman's section and then I hear a polite knock on the door. I look up and its the imam. "Assalamu alaikum, sister. Then in Arabic, he says, "Do you speak Arabic?"

"Yes," I answered in Arabic.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

I told him and then I asked "and you?"

"Syria," he said. "Would you like some tea?"

"Please." I answered.

In my head, I was smiling and thinking, "Where are all those critics now? The ignorant ones that say Arab men treat women badly or say that Islam doesn't respect women or treats women as second class citizens ... where are they? Why can't they witness an ARAB IMAM make me tea!"

He left and timidly re-appeared a few moments later with a light knocking on the sister's entrance with the hot tea.

"Please, come and drink," he said.

I closed the Qur'an I was reading, got up and sat with him outside. We sat and talked about where we were from, about our lives, our families as Muslims started to file in for Friday prayer.

"Assalamu alaikum," they would stop in and say.

"Wa alaikum assalam," we would answer and then go back to our conversation.

He was a very kind, gentle spoken man. The congregation was not huge, but large enough given where I was in America. It was nice because no nationality was dominant. Indians, Malaysians, Indonesians, Pakistanis, all types of Arabs, white American converts, African American converts, Latino converts. It was amazing!

They were a tight knit community as well. Everyone calling out the other and giving salaams by name and they made me feel most welcome.

It was a great day! A day that broke through the stereotypes I attempt to break through every day I walk out of my front door and here, in this little community, you could see the "truth" with you own two eyes. It was refreshing.

I hope that, should I visit my friend again, I will have the opportunity to visit this masjid again. I truly felt the presence of God there - in the purest form. Several people looking past their own cultures to come together as one "ummah" (Arabic for community) to worship and praise the one God in unison. Not as black or white, Arab or non-Arab, man or woman ... but as one voice - the central theme of Islam.