Majalah Digital Kabari Vol: 7 September - Oktober 2007 | Page 8
kabari: kisah
I
FOUND MYSELF WITH MY
LEGS CROSSED LOOKING
OVER AN EXPANSE OF COLORFULLY HOODED WOMEN. Most
Reflections
sat on the floor, a few sat in chairs,
and mothers with small children sat
towards the back. Their heads were covered, but
I knew that they represented a diverse range of
cultures and ethnicities‚White, Black, Asian, Arab;
they had all arrived here to pray.
I arrived at the Muslim Community Association
(MCA) by way of chance. Peter had invited me to
join him on his latest quest to interview an Indonesian Muslim woman named Dian Alyan, who had
made remarkable contributions after a tsunami
destroyed her hometown of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. We were touring the center and joined one of
their prayer services.
The hallway right
outside the prayer
halls was lined with
dozens of shoe
racks, which was
where I took my
shoes off before I
entered the sacred
place. It was my first
time in a mosque.
This mosque did not
resemble a traditional building with elaborate domes or towering minarets. Rather, it had clean walls, striped
carpet, and a glass barrier separating the men
and the women. The room was plain and simple
but looked large enough to hold over two hundred
women. TV screens lined the women’s‚ prayer
hall which allows them to hear the message and
prayers occurring in the next room.
As I glanced from one woman to the next, the
room was radiated by a warm emotion as I
watched them pray. I must admit that I did not
enter this holy place to pray with these women;
I was there to simply observe their customs, but
despite my trivial intentions, the feeling that reverberated in the room... familiar.
As a spiritual woman, I can begin to understand
the connection and the commitment all these
women have to their Allah. Practicing Islam is no
easy feat; it takes a lot of time and dedication.
Islam, I’ve learned, is more than just a religion or a
set of beliefs and customs, it is a lifestyle.
When the man on the screen finished preaching,
8 | kabari:
the women began to respond in prayer. The room
filled with a pleasant murmur that resounded like
a gentle wave. Many of the women then rose from
their seats and gathered to the front of the room,
except it wasn’t exactly the front‚ they faced at
a diagonal, which faced Mecca, the holy Islamic
city. The women spaced themselves according to
the parallel lines on the floor and there was just
enough room around them to bow in prayer. It
was captivating to watch because they moved in
a steady cadence and you can almost feel a spiritual bond resonating in the room. When the prayer
ended, the service was over, and the women
rose to leave the room. I, too, had risen from my
crossed leg position, and there was a sense of
peace in what I had just experienced.
All in all, I believe that I had been given a rare
opportunity to meet a hospitable and an inspiring
community of people. Mainstream media has a
tendency to generalize the Muslim population and
to distort a person’s view, but all I can truly say
is that I was a stranger who had been received
warmly. I was encouraged to seek truth by keeping an open mind, and Dian’s life story challenged
me to think beyond cultural barriers.
This trip has meant a lot because it has given me
a different perspective on Islam and its beliefs
and values. Many Muslims, like Dian, work hard
to dispel common misperceptions of Islam and to
encourage others to see that we all have similar
values and we, as human beings, are all responsible for loving everyone around us. (jackie)
Dian Alyan works as MCA’s outreach director and
has devoted her time to educate people about
Islam’s culture and lifestyle. She has also started
an organization called the GiveLight Foundation,
which was created after a tsunami destroyed her
hometown, Banda Aceh, Indonesia on December
26, 2004. It serves to be “a world recognized crisis
relief organization that seeks to create durable orphanages in response to natural disasters.” GiveLight has built orphanages in Aceh, Pakistan, and
is currently looking for a third location in Africa.
Her foundation is an incredible display of love and
compassion for the world’s children. It’s a model
that many people of all faiths can understand and
respect.
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