In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Believe it or not -- Muslims are amazing people. Every Friday you see all types of Muslims congregate in one place to pray the Friday prayer. Muslims accept anybody who wants to join. Who else can do such a thing without prejudice?
Whether they are pious or weak Muslims, bad or good Muslims, yellow, white or black Muslims, new or born Muslims, rich or poor Muslims, they all come together under one roof, and they all don't mind listening attentively to a speaker they have never met before and praying behind someone they don't even know his name. They don't hesitate to welcome new people to the congregation. People get to know each other during this congregation. This is where some of the great friendships started. This is the beauty of Islam. Alhamdulillah (All praise and thanks are due only to Allah).
Yesterday, we witnessed this once again. We are visiting Washington state and grateful to find an Islamic center in town listed on the website so we can attend the Friday prayer and participate in the Ramadhan worship. When we arrived at the site for the first time for Friday prayer, there were nobody there. We saw a masjid building under construction which made us wonder if the prayer would be at another location. I stepped out of the car to find out. There stood a man on the other side of the street looking towards the masjid and as soon as he saw me, he said, "1:12" I immediately understood it as the time of Friday prayer because I recalled the masjid website had shown 1:12pm as time of prayer. It was about 12:30pm and we were very early apparently. So I proceeded to ask him where the prayer would be. He pointed to an old house next to the building under construction and to where exactly the women's prayer area. So I proceeded to the women's prayer area, and my son went to the men's prayer area on the other side of the house.
The place was quite empty. There was one other person there and she was reciting the Qur'an beautifully. But around 1pm, more people came and in no time the place was almost full with ladies and girls of different ages and ethnicities. SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah). After the prayer, I introduced myself to a lady next to me who came with her daughter and granddaughter. She came from Arizona to visit her daughter and her family and it turned out that she is Malaysian like me. SubhanAllah. What are the chances that we would meet Malaysians in a small Washington city, as I said to my son who asked me about the possibility of meeting a Malaysian at the masjid earlier before we left for the masjid. More people came to welcome us. We exchanged contact information.
As I was walking with my son towards the parking lot, a brother came towards us to welcome us and invited us for a masjid BBQ this weekend. Alhamdulillah.
Indeed, we should be proud of Muslims and to be Muslims. Never be ashamed to be Muslims or try to hide our Muslim identity. It is very important that Muslims frequent the masjid and pray there especially for men. Men should at least pray Fajr and 'Isha at the masjid. Some of my great friendships started in masjids. So, even if you feel you are not welcome in any particular masjid, it should not matter because the masjid is the house of Allah -- make yourself welcome there and others too.
Allah Almighty says,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّـهِ أَتْقَىٰكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ ﴿١٣[Qur'an Al-Hujurat 49:13]
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. (13)
May Allah unite the Muslims and bring honor back to the Muslims. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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