Life in a Muslim Culture: Part 1

Today I went to visit a mosque with the rest of the gap year group to learn more about Islam. Attempting to be as informed as possible, especially as I live in a Muslim home and am surrounded by a world to which I’m painfully oblivious, I have actually been studying history and Islam for the past few days on my own. However, this one visit was far more informative and inspiring than any of my Googling has been. Honestly, the more I learn, the more I respect certain principles of the Muslim lifestyle. Before your head explodes thinking that I’ve “gone off the deep end” or “switched sides” (which I haven't although I think that's the wrong way of thinking; this isn’t a game of football), let me explain myself. For starters, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all have the same roots historically speaking. Allah is Yaweh is God. Because of this, I found that my host sister and I have many of the same views on religion despite our differences. We both connect to God as the caring Creator, Sustainer, and Father and believe that our religion should make us more loving, peaceful, and overall godly people. (We also have the same views on virtually everything else non-religious; it’s amazing). The main difference comes with the view of Jesus as a prophet or the true Son of God. I won’t get into the theology of that right now (despite it’s upmost importance- it is the basis of my religion), but I think it’s good to recognize that in many ways we are ancient relatives in faith. Muslims accept the Bible as a holy text and consider the Quran more of an extension as the "last holy text" from the prophet Muhammad  They also state that they love Jesus (much like I would say that I love Isaiah or John the Baptist). The Muslims that I talked to today even believe that Christians and Jews go to heaven (a stark contradiction from the “Christian-hating” Muslims that the Western media presents). In addition, the word “Islam" is derived from “peace” and “surrender.” Our teacher today even said that Muslims are those who feel at peace together (a bit of a broad translation if you ask me, but whatever). These two principles are essential for healthy relationships and society; think of the difference they could make in our own lives or even our government. Overall, I think for me “surrendering” is letting go of my pride, plans, and ill-conceived priorities. It’s allowing God to take control of my life and break all that I had previously known. In addition, the conception of salvation in Muslim ideology is based on works, not just faith. Although I don’t agree with this, it definitely explains part of the reason that the Middle Eastern people I’ve encountered so far are so loving and hospitable. Maybe Christians should pretend this is the case so that we could share the same kind of love and service to each other (as we should be doing anyway as a sign of our gratefulness to Christ). Each Muslim is also supposed to donate 2.5% of their income directly to the poor and needy in the community. As far as practical worship, the call to prayer is 5 times daily. During this time, a man will begin singing on the loud speaker from the mosque (there are multiple all over the city; each has their own singer), and all the faithful will go to the mosque to greet each other and “catch up” and then begin worship together (admittedly, few people that I've met actually attend all the calls). Explaining their commitment to the “community” aspect of life and worship, they say that when they are all shoulder-to-shoulder, their prayers and vibrancy increase by 27 times. Today, some of the girls and I went with Rasha, a woman who is one of the leaders of Kivu’s Jordanian connections, to actually participate in the worship. After the call to prayer, we washed our feet, hands, mouth, nose, ears, and face (basically everything that’s exposed since we wear long skirts, long sleeves, and a head scarf) then went to line up on the carpet. To avoid distraction, men and women are separated during worship. Although some may find this demeaning, I actually really appreciated it. I wouldn’t mind if American churches began implementing this; sometimes I feel like church can become more of a social event than an actual connection with God. Mimicking Rasha and the other women, the girls and I all bowed when the singer sang certain lines, put our face to the ground for certain lines, and sat on our ankles for certain lines. The women were so welcoming and encouraging. Although they knew we were Christian Americans, they accepted us into their worship and stood in front to show us what to do. The entire time, I was telling God how powerful and worthy He is and thanking Him for his mercy on me: a sinner. I truly loved it. Honestly, I’ve been having a hard time praying lately because I've been struggling to stay focused or feel a connection. However, tonight I felt a deep reverence and love for God as I focused solely on Him. Although Christians rarely practice it, I think body language is a valuable part of prayer. There is something humbling and relieving about bowing and even more so going face down. It’s a reminder that from the earth I came and to the earth I will return one day; I'm in holy reverence of the One who is greater. Like I said, Islam is about surrender, and putting my face to the ground is a physical reminder of such. Although I’m very much a Christian, I think I’m going to try to attend the mosque a few more times during my stay here in Jordan. It’s a great way to carve out time for focused worship (since I believe worship is in all aspects of life, I say “focused” worship in reference to church etc), and we’re actually worshipping the same God the Father. I love looking at the same Lord I’ve known for years in a new light: the God of Abraham and Jacob is here as well as in Nashville and virtually everywhere else in the universe. They can mumur their traditional chants as I whisper the Lord’s Prayer, and I don’t find anything wrong with that. If we want others to accept our views (aka Jesus as Lord), then we should first try to understand theirs. Intolerance will get us nowhere, and God is so much bigger than our traditions and cultural norms.***

***Apparently there has been some confusion about my ideas in this blog post, so I apologize for that and want to make what I'm saying perfectly clear. I am a Christian (as are all of the other gap year students). That's part of the reason we're on this journey together; we want to grow in our faith. I am not a Muslim (unless you define it as our teacher did where anyone who is at peace with each other is a Muslim; in that case nearly everyone I know falls into that category). However, I've been studying Islam much as a student would in the "Worldwide Religions" class in school (which I completely forgot from 7th grade and therefore am having to redo right now). In addition, I am not a post-modernist who believes that "all roads lead to heaven" or think that we are all actually correct. To me, that doesn't make logical sense as contradicting views can never be right. Jesus is either necessary for our salvation as the SON of God, or He isn't. I also don't believe in Muhammad as a prophet, works for salvation, polygamy, and a plethora of other things that separate Christianity and Islam. I do, however, respect Islam in its truest form for their reverence for God, surrender, peace, love of community, and faithfulness. Of course, there are varying degrees of Islam (just as there are Christianity and any other religions), and I'm talking about the truest form (not extremist etc). In addition, I don't see attending a mosque service as worshipping an idol because in there, they are only worshipping God the Creator, who I, too, worship. As a Christian, I would love to see every person I encounter find a true love of Christ as their Savior (for Muslims, I think it would take off quite a bit of pressure as they would no longer have to work for their salvation; it's free right from the cross). Still, I don't believe that I will sell anyone by refusing to hear their thoughts on religion. That doesn't mean I'll agree with them (I don't), but it also doesn't mean I'm going to dominate any conversation and shove Jesus down their throat. He's much easier taken as a friend than a pill. On the other hand, I make sure everyone is aware that I am a Christian, and I reference Jesus as Lord and explain myself when appropriate. Silence also won't get us anywhere just as aggression won't. It's actually a bit of pressure whenever people may be watching my behavior as a gauge for how "Christians act." My family is incredibly tolerant and goes about normal business when I read the Bible in my room etc. Overall, my views (and me just in general) have not changed. My knowledge of other cultures has definitely widened, and I've been able to replace general fear of Islam/Middle Eastern culture with understanding and respect (although not always agreement). I've actually been encouraged in my faith as I've been trying to become more diligent by praying and reading the Bible when I hear the call to prayer, and I've been making sure I know what I believe and why. I don't want to accept half-truths. I want to give Jesus my all and fall more in love with Him daily. Hope this helps explain what I was trying to say...