01/01/2016 Resolutions

It was a Friday, midday prayer time, the hour of prayer,

and as I was walking past this way I saw 12 to 15 men prepared for prayer,

with hands and feet exposed because they had prepared for prayers.

It was so bitterly cold, you can see their breath.

That's when I thought, this is not right,

and so I wanted to have the experience for myself.

So I went ahead and joined them in prayer.

Brothers who couldn't enter the mosque

because there is no a place enough for them

had to pray outside of the mosque.

Brother Isaac offered us to pray in the church.

We were very pleased with his offer.

In the same time we were little bit hesitating and worried

about the pictures and statues which are typically in the church.

The main issue for us, not to have human-being pictures

in front of you in the direction of Mecca.

Isaac ask us if we would want the stained glass to be covered

temporarily on Fridays, which was very generous of him.

Of course, certainly there is no need for that.

Stained is not such an issue for us.

He said, "This is what we have decided.

"If you leave the church doors open we will encourage people

"who do not have place in the mosque to use the church.

"But those who find it difficult to use it,

"they still have the option of praying outside.

"But thank you, this is quite important to us."

And also he gave an example... examples from the past,

when Prophet Muhammad had been welcomed into the church

around the sixth century and that it is quite possible that the two

communities could, er, come together for prayer.

We hope that this could build a bridge between Muslims

and Christians and make a nice friendship relation between us.

MUSLIM CALL TO PRAYER

Around one o'clock the call for prayer was ringing in the church

and the church doors were open.

Those who were making their way to the mosque

heard the call for prayer in the church.

It's almost a natural instinct to follow the voice.

It was an experience for me to see people coming into the church.

But no concern whatsoever.

There is a difference between Islam and Christianity.

Despite of both religion are monotheistic

and coming from the same source and having the same root,

but as a Muslim it is possible for us to stick

and to hold in principles while accommodating principle of others.

We still believe what we believed before

but we respect what other believe.

IMAM CHANTS

WORSHIPPERS CHANT

What has happened today is something beyond our understanding

and expectation.

That certainly had given me more confidence in the things that

I believed and I proclaimed that I believed.

That there is a God and there is one God

and that we can pray to that God as one people.

Erm...

It was good.

This special relation could be easily repeated.

Nationally and even globally the mosques and church

should open their doors for believers to come to pray.