circling jamaah - Islam is indeed beautiful

This afternoon I found myself sit with the leg crossed in Al-Fallah Mosque after shalat ashar.
Usually I’ll go as soon as I finished my prayer but after spend a few hours in Kinokuniya, I think I should give my legs a rest.

So I took this chance to observe the situation inside the mosque, and suddenly my eyes glued to this man. He’s just an ordinary man, but the way he smiled when he enter the mosque and at the same time tried to wipe off the water drop from his hair and face makes me wonder. He looked so free and happy, actually that’s not a correct word but I cannot found a word to describe what I saw.

And then he stopped at the third shof and began to pray, and shortly after he uttered takbiratul ihram another man came and without any hesitation approached the first man, he standing behind the first man and tapped his shoulder gently, and automatically they pray together. After they finished their 1st rakaah, another two mans came in and the same occurrence recurred.

Actually there’s nothing special about this incident, I saw and do it many times, but somehow today I feel forced to re-think about this jamaah (prayer in congregation) matter. The first man was pray alone before another man joined and automatically appointed him as a prayer leader or imam and he become a makmum or the follower. When the other two man also joined the pray, he stepped down a bit so they stand parallel. For sure they didn’t know each other but it doesn’t prevent them to become a jamaah.

I gasped and an image of Ka’bah in Mecca with millions of jamaah circling together suddenly appeared in my mind. It’s amazing to saw millions of people came from different races and ages from all over the world consistently following an imam and praying with the same language.

Since Moslem pray facing to one direction, to Ka’bah, we can consider that the people who pray in Al-Fallah Mosque also become a part of this circling stuff. I wonder if we can see this from above and since the circle has no end we can imagine that the word is tied by this circling jamaah who (I do hope) also has no end.

Slowly I feel that my eyes redden and I found myself whispered “Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar” - Allah is the Greatest.

Again, what I saw is beautiful and amazing. And Islam is indeed beautiful …

singapore, 03.01.09