7th Day of Ramadan at Madina Masjid

7th Day of Ramadan at Madina Masjid
Tuesday, August 17, 2010, Carrollton

Other pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157624749621880/show/

I had an open schedule for Iftaar tonight, lo and behold; I get the call from Fox TV to join them tonight at the Hannity show. Unlike the previous programs that were live, this one was taped due to tight schedules and getting three guests together with Sean Hannity; Dr. Wafa Sultan, Frank Cagney and myself. The topic was Sharia Laws and Ground Zero Mosque (a misnomer), the rest of the story is at: http://groundzeromosque.blogspot.com/2010/08/fox-news-hannity-sultan-cagney-ghouse.html

The taping was done by 7:00 PM to be aired at 8:30 PM and I decided to go to Madinah Masjid in Carrollton. It is like coming home in so many ways, most every one at the Mosque is from the Subcontinent and most of them are Urdu Speaking; my mother tongue.

Javed Hyder has been a strong supporter of this Mosque and is always out there serving the needs of Mosque, a fellow Bangalorean and we chat often. Naushad is another one. We briefly talked about the Quraan burning event coming up in Florida on 9/11, I told him if I get the funds or the tickets, I will go there and pray for the well being of the pastor, just as Prophet Muhammad set the example of praying for miscreants to have God�s blessings of good will. An article is coming up jointly written by Imam Zia Shaikh and me this week.

Things that are unique to this Mosque (I�m yet to visit 23 More Mosques this Ramadan);

Unlike other Mosques, (I have not been to all of them yet, but so far) Madinah Masjid serves Iftaar dinner every night. I mean full service, that is what the man at the counter told us to sit back and relax and they will bring the plated food and they did. The plate was filled with Chick Peas, Mutton Biryani (goat fried rice), Raita (yogurt puree) veggies and fruit salad.

At the end of the recitation of Sura Fateha, usually the worshippers say in chorus �Amen� fairly loudly and beautifully. It was not the same here and this is how it was done back home.

Most mosques do not render supplicative prayers, after the main prayers, but they do it here.

Before breaking the fast, the Imam actually recited the short prayer for breaking the fast, unusual as individuals recite within their hearts, but I had experienced the same last year in this Mosque.

I was a part of three different conversations and literally every one was aghast that the media has slapped the wrong meaning of Jihad on all of us, which is striving to be a better human to oneself and others. A few scholars, who were perhaps politically oriented, like the European kings, have misinterpreted the word to mean armed struggle. In Islam there is no such thing as offensive or aggressive war, it is always to defend oneself, however a few right wing Muslims scholars have gone against the spirit of Quraan, just like the right wing Christians, Jews and Hindus have done with their respective traditions.

Insha Allah, I will do my fitaar at each one of the mosques of Ahmadiyya, Bohra, Ismaili, Shia, Sufi, Sunni, Warith Deen Muhammad and other Mosques in Dallas; including the Mosque at Al-Aqsa this weekend. My theme is Mosque a day - Here is my schedule. http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-iftaar-schedule.html This blog will carry full stories for 29/30 days of Ramadan.

This is my 7th day of fasting, the 1st day was easy but sleepy, and the 2nd day produced light headaches, otherwise, it is smooth sail. Praise the Lord. Alhamdu Lillah.
http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-iftaar-schedule.html

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer and speaker on Islam, Pluralism and offers pluralistic solutions to the media and the public on issues of the day. His work is reflected in 22 blogs and 3 websites listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

5th Day of Ramadan at Ahmadiyya Mosque

5th Day of Ramadan
Sunday, August 15, 2010

My Iftaar stop was at Ahmadiyya Mosque in Allen, Texas. I have been to this Mosque about three or four times before. Just about every know me and I knew most of the congregation there. Tariq reminded me about their national leader on my Radio show some 14 years ago when I had launched the first Asian Radio in Dallas.

I was hoping to be acquainted with new rituals and to my surprise; it was no different than going to any one of the Sunni Mosques in Dallas area. The only new thing was the educator was reading and explaining the chapter 95 Al-Teen and did a great job followed by breaking of the fast with dates and the Indian-Pakistani tempuras (Pakoras).

Imam Malik Mohammad led the prayers and prayer ritual was exactly the same as the Sunni tradition. After the prayer they talked about the Floods in Pakistan and their charity that serves out there. I was taken back when Imam Malik introduced me to the congregation and it was good to be with them.

A few Muslim may question following the Imam other than my own tradition, it is not the Imam, it is your own intent, niyyah that counts. It is the same argument I am having with Sean Hannity on Fox TV - the character of Imam does not matter to me, like every one, he will come and go, butit is my niyya that matters to me the visitor.

I asked them to join me going to other Mosques about breaking the fast, and most of them were aware of my schedule published at World Muslim Congress.

The dinner was traditional Indian (my reference, they call it Pakistani) chicken Qurma, Rice and Kheer. Met with Professor Qudsiyah who wants to be involved in interfaith work and Robert Hunt of Perkins school of theology at SMU had mentioned to her about my work in Pluralism as well. She is a professor of Law and speaks on Islam.

On the Dinner table Dr. Jari Khan, Tahir and three other gentlemen and their outreach coordinator carried on the conversation about Prophet Muhammad. I talked about the example set by the prophet of respecting the otherness of other; when he signed the peace treaty with the Meccans in Hudaibiya, his name was signed as Muhammad the messenger of God to which they objected, �your followers may believe that, but to us, you are Muhammad son of Abdullah� � Prophets Associates objected the removal of the phrase messenger of God, but Prophet saw another point of view and respected the otherness of other and had his signature reaffixed as Muhammad son of Abdullah. That is one of the greatest examples of Pluralistic attitudes that the Prophet wanted people to follow.

They presented me with a copy of Qur�aan with translations by Maulawai Sher Ali. The first thing I do is go to the first chapter, verse 7 as that has been one of the mistranslated verses both by a Muslim for his political desires after the fall of the ottoman empire by the European Kings in the 11th Century who deliberately mistranslated Qur�aan to egg their subjects against Muslims.
More about this at: http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/01/unlike-jews-or-christians-17.html

My Iftaar Schedule - http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-iftaar-schedule.html

Mike Ghouse is a speaker thinker and a writer on Pluralism and Islam, a frequent guest at the media offering pluralistic solutions for the issues of the day. His work is encapsulated in 22 blogs and 3 websites listed at www.MikeGhouse.net