Jillian's Visit

Teaching is a wonderful way to learn. During the past semester I have been teaching a class on Islam at Saint Francis College. During the final week of Ramadan, students visited mosques around the city. Afterwards, they wrote brief reports to describe our community, and their sincere and open interest gives us a chance to see ourselves with fresh eyes, hamduillah! As we see with in the following words of Jillian Fezza:

On Friday November 21, 2003 I visited the Masjid Musab Bin Umayr – Islamic Society of Bay Ridge. The mosque that we went to was a large, modern structure. There was a bulky green gate surrounding the building. Also, the mosque had a few windows, but they were covered up with some kind of fabric. By the entrance of the mosque, there were boxes for contributions for the mosque and also for feeding the poor.
It being the Friday noon prayer, Jumu'ah, there are many people walking into the mosque with us. When walking into the ladies entrance, I have to walk through a hallway and down a flight of stairs. A woman enters already wearing her scarf, but she takes off her shoes, and carrying them in her hands. I do the same. I put my shoes on a windowsill, as I see others have done.
When walking in the musalla (prayer area), I am greeted by a sermon in Arabic. I don’t know where to sit or even stand. The room is crowded with approximately over 100 ladies and some children, young and old. Now, I am beginning to feel a little bit of nervousness because I can’t speak to any of the ladies due to me not knowing Arabic. I am worried that I have missed the beginning of the prayer, but there seems to be a good amount of ladies arriving after me. Not knowing where to sit, I follow a random lady as she goes in the direction toward the bathroom. I notice that the bathroom has a facility for wudu. This area is an average size room with white walls and five faucets with five seats to perform wudu.

Finally, getting a seat I begin to relax. Looking around, I notice that the room is not decorated with any kinds of extreme art or writings. The room is covered in wood paneling on the walls and a couple of framed Arabic writings also on the walls. As for the women, I notice there was a wide range of ages. The ages range from being elderly to being a toddler. All the women wear the traditional headscarf and a dress or pants. Only their faces and hands are exposed. As I adjust my scarf lower on my forehead….
As I begin to drift off into a spiritual state with God, I see that all the ladies have stood up. I guess this is for prayer. The women have started scattering all over the room trying to form straight lines. Finally straight lines are formed and the Imam starts speaking. I am standing in between an elderly woman and a young woman. In front of me stands a middle-aged woman with her young daughter about the age of two. When praying I glance over and see that the two year-old girl is also praying. I think to myself "Alhamdulilla."
Even though I don’t understand the sermon because it is in Arabic, while praying I don’t feel that way. I feel like I know exactly what the Imam is saying. I feel that I don’t need to understand the Arabic because I am already connected to God in my prayer.

The prayer all ended too quickly. The women began to gather their things and leave. Not me, I sat there for a minute and quietly took in the experience. I was thinking about all the things that I saw and how all these woman had such a relationship between each other. Everyone seemed so friendly and welcoming to one another. When walking outside, I saw the crowds of people that just came out of the mosque. All smiling happily, greeting each other with hugs and kisses. It was unbelievable to see so many people gathered at one place for a prayer. Again, there were boxes for voluntary contributions.

In conclusion, I feel that the Masjid Musab Bin Umayr was a very good experience. I got to see how all the Muslim ladies gathered in one room to share the experience of prayer.

(Jillian described the feelings we have as members of a community, almost a family relationship. As a recent revert to Islam she eloquently describes the beauty and tenderness of the Deen. I wish to acknowledge her experience and thank the students for what their questions have taught me. Insha’Allah we will all keep learning!)