Each one of us has faced some tribulation at some point in our life: poverty, starvation, illness, fear, or distress are all things we hate to experience and when we do, we pray that they vanish fast. One can even face death and believe this is the ultimate of trials. Not so for Abraham who saw a vision in his dream that he was sacrificing his own son, Ishmael (Jews and Christians believe it was Isaac.) He then understood that it was a divine command and he knew he must carry it out. The Quran tells us how the father approached his son: “Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: ‘O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!’ (The son) said: ‘O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!’" (37:102)
Both father and son exhibiliriated true submission in their quick obedience to the command of God and His will. It was only then, at this moment of extreme and unquestioned submission, that God spared the blessed family. “So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah., and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice.) We called out to him ‘O Abraham!’ ‘Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!’ - thus indeed do We reward those who do right. For this was obviously a trial.” (37:103-106)
Every year, millions of Muslims commemorate this divine test during the rituals of Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia.) A fourty feet masonic cubic structure, the Ka'ba stands in the center of worship, attracting pilgrims since the father of Abrahamic faiths built it with his son Ishmael in accordance with God's commandments. The Ka'ba is also the direction to which today's 1.4 billion Muslims pray five times a day after Mohammad became the seal of the prophets, 1430 years ago. United in worship, the community of Muslims that come from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds stands under One God, breathes one faith, and follows one light. This is the beauty of Islam.
Showing posts with label Prayers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prayers. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Book Review: Three Cups of Tea
Millions of students in Afghanistan are still waiting for their new textbooks, promised and paid by US and foreign donors, the Associated Press recently announced. The news reminded me of the pioneer who introduced this human aid to impoverished Muslim areas: Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time.
Three Cups of Tea inspires the kind face of human nature. It highlights the principle of paying it forward. Here, Greg Mortenson, an aspiring mountaineer trying to ascend K2, stumbled across the Islamic culture in one of the remotest areas on earth: Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya. The modest villagers who found him hanging to life while lost in the remote area nursed him till he regained strength and health. This kind act brought the villagers what they have dreamt of all of their lives: a school that Mortenson promised to build. Thus, Mortenson declared war on illiteracy with the most effective weapons: knowledge from books taught at schools. His good deed became a national project throughout Pakistan’s impoverished land. Across a Muslim community, he became a popular Christian who won people’s hearts and challenged the status quo with books and not with bombs.
For several years thereafter, he lived in Muslim lands and interacted with Muslims as one of them. Describing the first time he joined communal prayers with other Muslims, he wrote: “kneeling among one hundred strangers, watching them wash away not only impurities, but also, the aches and cares of their daily lives, he glimpsed the pleasure to be found in submission to a ritualized fellowship of prayer.” Mortenson’s memoir unveils many myths lumping Muslims. My favorite is his honest account of an incidence that brings out the many virtues in Islam, one like justice. In 2003, a Shariah court ruled in his favor against a Muslim Mullah. That Mullah, according to Mortenson’s book, was a corrupt individual who opposed Mortenson’s activities of building schools for Muslim girls. The Mullah demanded that Mortenson be banned from carrying out his projects, claiming that his activities were anti-Muslim. Yet, the Muslim court stood up for the American stranger after evaluating the case.
“Three Cups of Tea” is a folklore custom with a deep analogy according to Mortenson. Pakistani locals offer the first cup of tea to a stranger out of hospitality, and they offer the second one to a guest, but by the third cup of tea, the stranger becomes one of the family. A pretty neat custom, chivalry-like, that many more sophisticated and civilized people across the globe don’t have it.
If you read Three Cups of Tea, what did you like about it the most?
Three Cups of Tea inspires the kind face of human nature. It highlights the principle of paying it forward. Here, Greg Mortenson, an aspiring mountaineer trying to ascend K2, stumbled across the Islamic culture in one of the remotest areas on earth: Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya. The modest villagers who found him hanging to life while lost in the remote area nursed him till he regained strength and health. This kind act brought the villagers what they have dreamt of all of their lives: a school that Mortenson promised to build. Thus, Mortenson declared war on illiteracy with the most effective weapons: knowledge from books taught at schools. His good deed became a national project throughout Pakistan’s impoverished land. Across a Muslim community, he became a popular Christian who won people’s hearts and challenged the status quo with books and not with bombs.
For several years thereafter, he lived in Muslim lands and interacted with Muslims as one of them. Describing the first time he joined communal prayers with other Muslims, he wrote: “kneeling among one hundred strangers, watching them wash away not only impurities, but also, the aches and cares of their daily lives, he glimpsed the pleasure to be found in submission to a ritualized fellowship of prayer.” Mortenson’s memoir unveils many myths lumping Muslims. My favorite is his honest account of an incidence that brings out the many virtues in Islam, one like justice. In 2003, a Shariah court ruled in his favor against a Muslim Mullah. That Mullah, according to Mortenson’s book, was a corrupt individual who opposed Mortenson’s activities of building schools for Muslim girls. The Mullah demanded that Mortenson be banned from carrying out his projects, claiming that his activities were anti-Muslim. Yet, the Muslim court stood up for the American stranger after evaluating the case.
“Three Cups of Tea” is a folklore custom with a deep analogy according to Mortenson. Pakistani locals offer the first cup of tea to a stranger out of hospitality, and they offer the second one to a guest, but by the third cup of tea, the stranger becomes one of the family. A pretty neat custom, chivalry-like, that many more sophisticated and civilized people across the globe don’t have it.
If you read Three Cups of Tea, what did you like about it the most?
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