Assaam alaikum, There seems always to be a sense of purity in life. Whatever it is that Allah Almighty decrees will be, of that there can be no doubt a lesson which I am reminded of on such a regular basis it makes me question why it is that I feel so ungrateful for the many blessings bestowed upon me.
My first trip to Prague some 10 days ago ended in disappointment as I was unable to find the mosque in the center of town. Those who read my mails will note my cynical remarks about the mosque yet, just 4 days ago, my second trip to Prague everything changed. Having finished dinner with a colleague as I returned to the hotel I thought to detour to the area with the mosque. Step by step I managed to walk straight into the mosque on the first floor of the shopping mall the flip opposite to my previous efforts. Partly stunned, I made ablution and greeted the mosque with the cordial 2 rakaah prayer. The mosque itself was simple. Part of the shopping mall, the unit can be reached either by an upwardly spiraling staircase or by the central mall staircase and elevator. Through the front door is an entrance lobby with shoe racks to the left, two rooms for ablution ahead directly ahead, two larger rooms constituting the main prayer hall and what seemed to be another room for women separated by a closed door sigh yet another mosque slapping the face of the Prophet by separating men and women in the prayer halls, will we ever learn? Finishing the prayer of greeting the mosque I took to looking around the prayer hall. Simple, carpeted, without a podium; looking up, the ceiling was marked with some exquisite artwork and design encapsulating much of the heritage which makes Prague Prague. As I was caught in deep thought, a man stood up and made the call to prayer. In that spot at that moment his near husky voice very similar to that of James Blunt (recent song You're beautiful) called out the most welcoming call to prayer I have heard in months. Calm yet powerful, his voice gave meaning to the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad who said that on the day of judgment the people who make the call to prayer, will have elongated necks. To be honest, I have no idea what that means in its context though it is clearly a compliment, so I will accept it as it is. I sat listening with perhaps the widest smile on my face as thoughts rushed through my mind. `My life is brilliant, my love is pure, I saw an angel, of that I'm sure..' So begin the lyrics of James Blunt's song. I found myself with two streams of thought in parallel. The first track appreciated the purity and beauty of the call to prayer, the second, contemplating life, my experiences, a chorus of appreciation. It's like rubbing your belly and tapping your head at the same time you do both, you gain value for both even though both are two very separate actions. As we stood to pray we lined up side by side managing to complete the first row between us. Midway through the second rakaahs, after surah al-fatiha and the commencement of the follow-on surah, my phone rings `You've got mail baby, yeah' in of course the Austin Powers voice. Fidgeting with my phone to disable its sound, the rest of the prayer completes without further disturbance. Finishing the prayer I took to the back of the prayer hall to reply to the text message when a man walks up to me. Pointing to himself he glances at my little toy, part phone part PDA trying to figure out why I was tapping the screen with a pen. The Czech republic isn't so far behind in terms of technology, though as yet such phones aren't common place today. Sadly at this time of night I also didn't have any of our translators with me so we resorted to age old custom of sign language. Pointing to his chest he says `Czech Musliman'. Eager to reciprocate, I too don a wide faced smile point to my chest and say `British Pakistani Muslim' he is stumped and clearly has no understanding of what British or Pakistani mean. I too am stumped knowing that this conversation will go nowhere very fast, so we smile again at one another and go our separate ways. Perhaps there was a reason why I was unable to find Prague central mosque on the previous occasion, I don't know, suffice to say that when something is supposed to be hidden from us, no matter how hard we look we will never see it unless by the Mercy of Allah. Similarly, when Allah Almighty wants us to see something, we simply will not be able to avoid seeing it. There is a wisdom behind everything, whether we are able to perceive it or not, and may Allah Almighty have mercy and make us content with Allah's decree upon us all, amen. fi amanillah, assalam alaikum, f ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." 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