"Maha"

 September 2013-

We had our first test today! It blows my mind how the material can be so difficult but when you are sitting listening to the teacher, you can understand so much, and noticing your progress is also very uplifting.

           

            After my test I was invited to a Mosque by my Egyptian friends. I have been becoming better friends with them over time but there has been some sort of barrier between us lately. I always give everyone a high five and I am kind of a touchy friend. My friend Maha does not ever give me high fives like the rest of the Egyptian girls. She is only ok with a fist bump. I finally asked her what the big deal was. She laughed and explained that in Islam Men who are not your family do not touch the women. And I felt terrible, I had been playfully touching all of them with nudges and such this whole time. They said their branch of Islam, Suni, is more relaxed and people have more of a say in how strict they are in living their faith.

         

            Maha is a relic though. All these girls are Great and devout by personal Choice. The vail is a choice and you dont have to where it if you dont want, touching or being touched by men is a personal choice, going to the Mosque is a personal Choice, and they does it all. She and her friends pray 5 times a day at 3AM, 12PM, 4PM, 6:30PM, and 8PM. I felt so small, and worthless really. I sometimes misplan and my scripture studies are short and not fruitful, or I will forget a morning or evening prayer, yet they schedual and play their daily lives around their worship.

             The Mosque itself is a very peaceful place inside. We were alowed in! At the back a man asked us for money after taking a photo. I thought he was charging us for the photo, but it turns out he just was collecting foriegn money. It was uncomfortable at the front of the Mosque as we entered and left. There was a crowd of beggars all with Islamic appearal on. I thought to myself why here in front of a holy place? It made perfect sense later when I learned that the Islamic religion preaches good will toward the poor, what better place to beg than a place that teaches helping the poor.

            

             On our way out I asked to get a hold of a Koran. We asked how to buy one and at the entrence they had some. Maha disappeared and came running back with a Chinese Koran in her hand and gave it to me as a gift. On the return I talked to Fayrouz about her love life and how she just broke up with her boyfriend. We talked about how her ex-boyfriend broke up with her because she had other Chinese friends that were boys. She would hang out with them to practice Chinese, but upon getting word of her having male friends, he broke up with her. I told her that she need not worry, like she told me in the Mosque, “If you live your life doing good, Allah will bless you with Good”.

           

           

Maha asked me as we returned to the school, “what feeling did you have in the Mosque?” (“在清真寺你有什么感觉？”) I told her I felt peaceful, but what an understatement. Being with such good people who love My God as much as I do, and participating in the devotion to him, I felt helpless as my vocabulary restricted my ability to tell her how I truly felt. I felt like I was in my own Temple, in a Zion away from home, I wonder if she would understand that.