Hello,
This is my third post today, but I felt it was appropriate to break things down into sections.
Last Friday, I went to Friday prayers. I went to Al Kaluti Mosque. My friend Allan's host dad is the Immam, or leader, of that mosque so I decided to go there with my friend Bridget. Since we knew we would not be able to sit with Allan because he is a man, we felt better going in a group. I also asked my host mom if this mosque would be okay to visit. She said yes and that there will not be trouble there. Sometimes protests break out after Friday Prayers. I wanted her to know where I was and ask for her advice. I also knew that Allan's dad is a nice man who I have seen before. I do not think he would put Allan, Bridget and I in danger.
In preparation for going to the mosque, I asked my host mom what I should wear. She was happy I asked and asked for my host sister to bring out the clothes that she would wear if she was going to mosque. There were two options.
1) A white outfit- This consisted of two pieces of fabric. One was a large rectangle and was used as a veil. The other was a tube like one that was used as a sort of skirt. This white outfit can be worn by a woman during the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. Below is a picture of me in my sisters white outfit. Maya's outfit had beautify done gold and white embroidery on it. It is hard to see in the picture.
2) An Abaya- this is kind of a robe like dress. This covers the whole body, but leaves the face visible. This is worn with a veil. My sister had a beautiful one again with blue embroidery and sequins. It was stunning. I wanted to wear this outfit, but it was about 6 inches too long. I did not want to ruin the bottom by having it drag on the floor. Also, it didn't look good on such a shortie.
Honestly when I put on the outfit and went to hail a taxi, I was afraid of being laughed at. When I had tried to hail a taxi wearing my Badia thobe, many people pointed and laughed at me. I decided to skip the losers and just go for it. If I didn't wear the clothes, I would miss out on an experience. To my surprise, no one laughed at me or made a face. They respected that I was dressed for mosque. No one stared at me weird, or more oddly than usual. This was reassuring, because I was really trying to do the right thing.
About five minutes after leaving the mosque, I got a call from Bridget. She told me she left her wallet in the mosque. The host brother and I drove back to go find it. When I got out of the car, I knew I would have to reenter the women's prayer room, assuming that he would not be able to. I asked if I had to put the white outfit back on. He hesitated, then said no. I was happy because it would have taken me a while and I appreciated how he thought about this. I went in and talked to one of the women in the room. We could not understand each other. After I looked around for the wallet and had no luck, I went to get the brother. This was going to be interesting, I thought. The brother stood outside the prayer room behind a door and talked to the woman through the door so he was not able to see her. I found this interesting because she was fully veiled for prayer. I held the door open. Unfortunately, Bridget's wallet is still missing. The brother was very upset by this. He said that when coming to this mosque in the future, do not bring a wallet. Alot of Syrian refugees hang out after service and probally went into the mosque and took the wallet. I think he was upset because of two reasons.
1) This was out first mosque experience. I know that he and his family wanted it to be perfect and for us to walk away with a great impression. He worried the wallet would leave a bad taste in our mouths and that we would think Muslims steal and are bad people. Everyone seems to worry that Americans hate muslims and it really makes me sad. I think all religious groups have fundamental groups. Look at the KKK. Technically, they are a Christian group.
2) He realized that Bridget had some important stuff in her wallet. A US Driver's license, credit cards and other important international student cards were in there. If you lose 40JD, that stinks but is not the end of the world. Losing these cards will be an issue.
I have faith that Ahmed will hunt down the wallet. He is superman. I believe that it will show up, or at least the important things.
This is my third post today, but I felt it was appropriate to break things down into sections.
Last Friday, I went to Friday prayers. I went to Al Kaluti Mosque. My friend Allan's host dad is the Immam, or leader, of that mosque so I decided to go there with my friend Bridget. Since we knew we would not be able to sit with Allan because he is a man, we felt better going in a group. I also asked my host mom if this mosque would be okay to visit. She said yes and that there will not be trouble there. Sometimes protests break out after Friday Prayers. I wanted her to know where I was and ask for her advice. I also knew that Allan's dad is a nice man who I have seen before. I do not think he would put Allan, Bridget and I in danger.
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| Masjid Al Kaluti has a very modern appearance. While it is pretty, I like the more traditional looking mosques. |
In preparation for going to the mosque, I asked my host mom what I should wear. She was happy I asked and asked for my host sister to bring out the clothes that she would wear if she was going to mosque. There were two options.
1) A white outfit- This consisted of two pieces of fabric. One was a large rectangle and was used as a veil. The other was a tube like one that was used as a sort of skirt. This white outfit can be worn by a woman during the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. Below is a picture of me in my sisters white outfit. Maya's outfit had beautify done gold and white embroidery on it. It is hard to see in the picture.
 |
| Host mom teaching me the "asking" prayer position |
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| Me in my sister's white outfit while rocking hot pink cheetah socks lol |
2) An Abaya- this is kind of a robe like dress. This covers the whole body, but leaves the face visible. This is worn with a veil. My sister had a beautiful one again with blue embroidery and sequins. It was stunning. I wanted to wear this outfit, but it was about 6 inches too long. I did not want to ruin the bottom by having it drag on the floor. Also, it didn't look good on such a shortie.
 |
| Some woman on the internet wearing an abaya |
I met Bridget, Allan and Allan's host brother outside the mosque. The host brother was really nice. He helped Bridget and I find a nice woman who would be willing to help us out in the women's section. In mosques, women either sit in the back of the main room or have their own room. In Al Kaluti Mosque, women have their own room and watch the sermon and prayers from a screen.
Maha was the lady who would help Bridget and I out. At first things were awkward. I knew that when entering the mosque , you step with the right foot and say a prayer. However, I do not know the details. Maha waited for me to say the prayer. I paused and said I didn't know. She seemed surprised. I was also surprised. How could she expect me to know this prayer? As things went on, she seemed really surprised that Bridget and I did not really know what to do. Finally I asked her why she was surprised. She said she thought we were America Muslims. I said no and that we were Christian. This seemed to clear up the earlier issues. However there was more clarifying to be done. Maha then thought that we wanted to convert and offered to take us to the Imman after service to say the Shahada. I picked up on this Arabic conversation and said that Bridget and I just wanted to watch and learn. Another lady who spoke English stepped in and finally everything was well. Next the women in the room went on to explain that not all muslims are terrorists. I feel so bad everytime someone has this conversation with me. It has happened now 4x in Jordan. I do not believe that all Muslims are terrorists and I hope people do not think I have that view.
I was surprised of all the things that happened before the service began. First, in between the call to prayer and the beginning of the service, you can pray to Allah to grant you something. All of the ladies went into prayer position as soon as possible to make their requests. There is also praying before this.
Finally the service began. The service mainly consists of a long sermon. Abu Musa, Allan's host dad, talked about the need for community, how Alcohol and drugs are bad, as well as other topics I understood at the time but forget 3 days later. These themes were introduced by stories, which was nice and made things nice to follow. I found Abu Musa's Fusha Arabic beautiful. He spoke with all the correct diacretical marks which is so difficult! He also spoke for 30 minutes and did not once look at a paper or pause. He was truely passionate about what he was talking about. I appreciated this. After the sermon both the men's room and the ladies room line up in hortizontal lines for the prayer. The prayer is a series of steps that involve bending and kneeling. Below is a link because it is hard to put into words. This video shows the morning prayer, so it is not exactly what I saw. However, I do what people to be able to see the bending.
After mosque, Abu Musa invited Bridget and I to lunch. I politely declined. Mama had made Magluba and we were going to her sister's house. I did not want to hold up my host family. However, I was told we could meet again. I appreciated this.
Allan's host brother drove me home, which was so kind. He also told me I could take off the veil and skirt, which were very warm in the warm weather. I had jeans on underneath...no one panic. When we were trying to leave, a group of Syrian refugees came towards the car and made it hard for us to leave. They kept trying to give the host brother papers. The papers were from UNHCR and said that they were officially refugees. I know this because the papers were in english and close enough to my face for a long enough period of time for me to read them. The host brother did not take the papers and we were off.
I asked the host brother what the people wanted him to do with the papers. He responded that the refugees need to go to established Syrian families in Amman for help. Also, he said that this group of refugees were not in the mosque's perameters. Does this mean that certain mosques have influence over certain people and areas? I am still unclear. I could tell that he was frustrated and wanted to change the subject. All I can say is that if the son of an Immam is frustrated with the Syrian refugee problem I can only image how other groups are feeling. It is putting a huge strain on religious and political groups in Amman.
About five minutes after leaving the mosque, I got a call from Bridget. She told me she left her wallet in the mosque. The host brother and I drove back to go find it. When I got out of the car, I knew I would have to reenter the women's prayer room, assuming that he would not be able to. I asked if I had to put the white outfit back on. He hesitated, then said no. I was happy because it would have taken me a while and I appreciated how he thought about this. I went in and talked to one of the women in the room. We could not understand each other. After I looked around for the wallet and had no luck, I went to get the brother. This was going to be interesting, I thought. The brother stood outside the prayer room behind a door and talked to the woman through the door so he was not able to see her. I found this interesting because she was fully veiled for prayer. I held the door open. Unfortunately, Bridget's wallet is still missing. The brother was very upset by this. He said that when coming to this mosque in the future, do not bring a wallet. Alot of Syrian refugees hang out after service and probally went into the mosque and took the wallet. I think he was upset because of two reasons.
1) This was out first mosque experience. I know that he and his family wanted it to be perfect and for us to walk away with a great impression. He worried the wallet would leave a bad taste in our mouths and that we would think Muslims steal and are bad people. Everyone seems to worry that Americans hate muslims and it really makes me sad. I think all religious groups have fundamental groups. Look at the KKK. Technically, they are a Christian group.
2) He realized that Bridget had some important stuff in her wallet. A US Driver's license, credit cards and other important international student cards were in there. If you lose 40JD, that stinks but is not the end of the world. Losing these cards will be an issue.
I have faith that Ahmed will hunt down the wallet. He is superman. I believe that it will show up, or at least the important things.
On another note, my host mom told me about our community mosque, Al Fayha. Al Fayha is built in a Syrian style and was built by a group of Syrians in the neighborhood. They wanted a Syrian style place for Syrians to pray. I found this touching. The mosque truely is built for the people and by the people. I love our neighborhood mosque and personally I have always found it the truly beautiful, but it became prettier after this story.
Til next time,
Natalie
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