However, as a Christian, one has to respect this cultural focus on prayer.
I know, there are some out there who think that when a Muslim prays, it is somehow completely different than when a Christian prays. We've all seen the pictures of people lining the streets kneeling on rugs and bending forward in apparent unison with others as the imam chants in Arabic. To those of us not raised in such a culture, this is a very strange-looking ritual. Luckily, the cool thing about living in this culture is the opportunity to just ask people questions. A student told me that during Ramadan (which begins May 27) that he and his father will pray for 4 hours a day. During a 4 hour prayer, it is my understanding that much of the prayer is lead by the Imam and repeated by the people. (Kind of similar to when Christians pray and the congregation repeats "Jesus, hear our prayers" over and over) I asked him "What could you possibly pray about for that long?" He told me that the first part of every prayer is to praise God, second is to thank God for his blessings, third to pray for the needs of the world and governments, fourth to pray for the needs of family and friends, and fifth to pray for one's personal needs. Funny, but that is almost identical to how I was taught to pray while growing up in a Protestant Church!
When you talk to people who are perceived as "different" than yourself, it is amazing what you learn that you have in common.
What else is the same about praying in both cultures? Christians are generally taught to pray before getting out of bed in the morning, before eating (most of us eat 3 meals per day), and before bed. Hmm, how many times a day does that mean Christians are supposed to pray? FIVE? Do you wonder about the significance of 5 to both Christians and Muslims?
When you talk to people who are perceived as "different" than yourself, it is amazing what you learn that you have in common.
What else is the same about praying in both cultures? Christians are generally taught to pray before getting out of bed in the morning, before eating (most of us eat 3 meals per day), and before bed. Hmm, how many times a day does that mean Christians are supposed to pray? FIVE? Do you wonder about the significance of 5 to both Christians and Muslims?
Other things that I have found interesting about the Call to Prayer:
1) It is not necessary to go to the neighborhood mosque in order to pray each day- you can pray where-ever you are.
2) You must wash before you pray. (Have you ever heard the phrase "Cleanliness is next to Godliness")
3) Life does not stop during the Call-to-Prayer, everything continues on as normal. Not everyone stops to pray right then - but most will try to remember to pray later in the day
4) Exception to #3. Friday morning. On Friday morning, life does seem to nearly stop. Most roads are blocked with people in the streets in front of their neighborhood mosques on their prayer rugs. Most businesses are closed. The usual 5 minute Call to Prayer now becomes an entire 1-2 hour sermon over the loud speakers - just as loud. Not everyone attends the service at the mosque, even on Fridays. Just like everywhere, people are of varying degrees of "religious" and believers in the rituals of religion.
5) Even though you wash before you pray, for some reason, it is not necessary to wash AFTER prayer, even though you just stuck your head in the dirt and sand over and over while praying. Because of this, you will see men walking around with a round dirt spot on their forehead. I have been told by Egyptians that sometimes men will even hit their forehead with a hammer in order to form a permanent bump on their forehead by those who are trying to "prove" how religious they are to their friends and relatives, and perhaps to their law enforcement officials who may be more lenient on someone who is perceived as God-fearing. (How different is this than Christians who are one way in public, but completely the opposite when they are in private)
6) The loudspeakers are not as loud in other areas of Egypt. For some reason, Alexandria's Imams seem to think that their voice needs to be loud enough to be heard all the way to the moon. I have been told that it is not very loud in other Middle Eastern countries as well.
7) If you fly Egypt Air, before they even do the safety briefing, they play a recorded prayer for the safety of travelers. I don't know what it says yet since it is in Arabic, but that is what I have been told.
8) Many Egypt Air flights also have a Qur'an (the Muslim Holy Book, much of it very similar to the Old Testament) bolted on their wall as you board their plane.
9) Prayer rooms are everywhere! The focus on prayer in this culture is astounding. At the mall buying a new pair of Nikes and have an urge to pray? Lucky for you, there is a prayer room just down the hall. In the airport waiting for your connecting flight and have time to kill? Great! Head on down to the prayer room.
As a Christian, I do feel really grateful that Jesus did not give us so many rituals to follow when we pray as it seems much easier to just bow your head and silently whisper your prayer which can be done anywhere at any time and does not require washing, removing one's shoes, facing a certain direction, praying by gender, covering one's head, or getting down on hands and knees. However, perhaps it is the visual of seeing prayer rooms everywhere and the loudspeaker reminder to pray that does help keep the focus of people on the Divine?
Here is a link so you can hear the sounds of the Call to Prayer as taken from our school's basketball courts.
https://www.facebook.com/laura.lamarche.5/videos/10209634260318353/?l=2578102955405495492
Next up - Ramadan. I keep hearing the stories about this month-long holiday, but it sounds like there will be a lot to tell after experiencing it. I hope to blog about it, but just before it begins Cassandra will return from Europe bringing along her best friend since kindergarten, Jessica and her husband-to-be, Derek and we will be tour-guides extraordinaire once again! (Which means little time to blog)
5) Even though you wash before you pray, for some reason, it is not necessary to wash AFTER prayer, even though you just stuck your head in the dirt and sand over and over while praying. Because of this, you will see men walking around with a round dirt spot on their forehead. I have been told by Egyptians that sometimes men will even hit their forehead with a hammer in order to form a permanent bump on their forehead by those who are trying to "prove" how religious they are to their friends and relatives, and perhaps to their law enforcement officials who may be more lenient on someone who is perceived as God-fearing. (How different is this than Christians who are one way in public, but completely the opposite when they are in private)
6) The loudspeakers are not as loud in other areas of Egypt. For some reason, Alexandria's Imams seem to think that their voice needs to be loud enough to be heard all the way to the moon. I have been told that it is not very loud in other Middle Eastern countries as well.
7) If you fly Egypt Air, before they even do the safety briefing, they play a recorded prayer for the safety of travelers. I don't know what it says yet since it is in Arabic, but that is what I have been told.
8) Many Egypt Air flights also have a Qur'an (the Muslim Holy Book, much of it very similar to the Old Testament) bolted on their wall as you board their plane.
9) Prayer rooms are everywhere! The focus on prayer in this culture is astounding. At the mall buying a new pair of Nikes and have an urge to pray? Lucky for you, there is a prayer room just down the hall. In the airport waiting for your connecting flight and have time to kill? Great! Head on down to the prayer room.
As a Christian, I do feel really grateful that Jesus did not give us so many rituals to follow when we pray as it seems much easier to just bow your head and silently whisper your prayer which can be done anywhere at any time and does not require washing, removing one's shoes, facing a certain direction, praying by gender, covering one's head, or getting down on hands and knees. However, perhaps it is the visual of seeing prayer rooms everywhere and the loudspeaker reminder to pray that does help keep the focus of people on the Divine?
Here is a link so you can hear the sounds of the Call to Prayer as taken from our school's basketball courts.
https://www.facebook.com/laura.lamarche.5/videos/10209634260318353/?l=2578102955405495492
Next up - Ramadan. I keep hearing the stories about this month-long holiday, but it sounds like there will be a lot to tell after experiencing it. I hope to blog about it, but just before it begins Cassandra will return from Europe bringing along her best friend since kindergarten, Jessica and her husband-to-be, Derek and we will be tour-guides extraordinaire once again! (Which means little time to blog)
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