A Rare Bout Of Ecumenism

Saturday before last I ventured to the National Islamic Center with a group from my world religions class to attend a service at the mosque and learn a little bit more about the faith in general. Now, any of you who know me are probably wondering why on earth I would do something so unbecoming of my dogmatic Catholic persona (especially early on a Saturday morning); but the fact of the matter is, I can be caught up in rare bouts of ecumenism and genuinely show a vested interest in faiths other than my own (particularly when my world religions grade is dependent upon it).

For all my apparent disinterest, I was actually looking forward to this trip and did in fact have a good time; so much so that I've decided to share the entire experience with you, my global internet community... hooray!

As a Church History nerd, Islam has obviously showed up on my academic radar with relative frequency. The religion, however, has always appeared in my studies during tumultuous periods in which the Church generally considered them the physical manifestation of evil and the biggest baddest boogyman ever to crawl out of the mystic east (second, perhaps, only to the Ottoman Turks who eventually converted to Islam, thereby making that point and this entire parenthetical woefully moot). The point I'm laboriously driving at here is that if you want an adequate portrait of the Islamic faith, please do not read 8th century primary sources from the Byzantine Empire and certainly do not watch the news; visit a mosque.

On the whole, I found the people and the environment of the National Islamic Center very friendly and inviting. Now, I didn't convert or anything; nor did I feel pressured to. The Imam who spoke with us before and after the service was quick to welcome questions (no matter how insultingly ignorant) and maintained a purely academic tone in his responses. By this I mean that he did not conclude his responses with "it is this way" but rather "we believe it to be this way." A form of explanation far more conducive for inter-religious dialog.

Alright, enough of my rambling, how about some pictures?

The group was forewarned of the rules (ominously cast in steel near the door) via e-mail. All men were to be dressed in long sleeves and dress pants and all women were to bring scarves to cover their hair. Attire was to be "inconspicuous;" although, once we were all seated in the middle of a mosque with women (who are usually kept separated behind a screen in the back) and a common look of bewilderment, attire seemed trivial.
Go ahead and guess which Qu'ran I read... go ahead. Did you pick the Spanish translation? Good job. What can I say, 4 years of Spanish + 0 years of Arabic = pocos minutos con el coran. A plethora of copies of the holy book were provided, though not in English.
As for the mosque itself, it was absolutely beautiful. As you may or may not know, Islam considers any direct representation of Allah to be idolatry. Therefore, one will never see a "picture" of God in a mosque (as one might see in Christian places of worship or, say, the header of this blog), but rather Allah represented in abstract forms such as calligraphy, ornate patterns, or tapestry. The result is nearly half a millennia spent perfecting these art forms to make the mystery of God feel present to the faithful. And may I say, it's damn effective.

All in all I find Islam a truly beautiful and tragic religion. There is a profound beauty to it in its devotion and reverence for God. Unfortunately, it is a tragic religion in that it has been hijacked by an extremist minority and misconstrued as a religion with a psychopathic and ideological agenda and a "convert or kill" mentality: neither of which I found to be characteristic of the people I met practicing Islam.

I give Islam four stars. Go learn about it; it's interesting.