TayoBlog

My second BLOG on Ramadan comes after visiting a mosque in a different part of the city. Being a lower middle class neighbourhood, there were not as many cars obstructing the road. Most people have walked to the mosque, and there was not much for carguards. But the streetlights were down, making it both quiet and peaceful, and somewhat ominous.  This mosque was a neighbourhood mosque, and contrasted sharply with mosques surrounded by cars rather than homes and people on the streets.

There was so much more activity in this mosque. Worshipers streamed in and out all the time. I got there a bit late, but I was not alone. Many groups completed the primary prayer, and then joined the  main congregation. And during the night prayer (tarawih), people kept going out after 2, 4, 6 and 8 cycles. When I walked out after 10, I found some young men standing outside. Not yet ready to go home, they were not also going inside.

The night prayer (tarawih) was led by trainee reciters. They made a few mistakes in remembering their portion of the Qur’an. Sometimes they found their way quickly back to the texts that they had memorized, but sometimes they needed more extensive prompting. Their reading was clear, pronouncing the words and elongating at the right places. But it was also clear that this was the beginning of a long career.

This was not unusual. Children memorized the Qur’an and were given an opportunity to show their skills. They waited eagerly to be invited to step forward to lead the prayer. During Ramadan, adults supported them with words of encouragement. There was no shortage of attention directed at them until the end of the month. In fact, huffaz (those who memorized the Qur’an) became mini celebrities during Ramadan. Everyone knew them. In Cape Town the Boerhaanol published their names in a special catalogue.

This tradition ensured a steady flow of students of the Qur’an, with aspiring parents waiting to hear 11-year or 12-year-olds reciting the Qur’an in front of the whole congregation. In the last few years, many girls have started memorizing the Qur’an. I am not aware of any opportunity for them to show and support their skills.

The recitation this night did not cover a "perceived" over-riding theme. It dealt with a whole range of topics: virtue, retribution, inheritance, Ramadan, superstition, pilgrimage, jihad, menstruation, marriage, and many more. Each topic was dealt with briefly, perhaps too briefly, before moving to the next. Many issues were left out, and many questions remained unasked and unanswered.

In some way, this rapid succession showed that all aspects of life were important. They together were part of a life lived in the shadow of the divine. Fasting and other rituals were part thereof, but so too was the importance of bequeathing something for one’s parents, and other relatives. Entering homes through the front door was also part of it, but so was responding in like measure to aggression. Do not go too far in responding to retaliation, but do not turn the other cheek!

On the other hand, the brevity of treatment of each topic conveyed something else. The details of these acts were not that important, the spirit counted above else. Fasting you must, but you can do it another day when travelling or ill. I am near, God said. Good relations between husband and wife must follow clear guidelines, but do not let an oath bind you from doing good, and acting justly.

You might find the treatment of each topic in the Qur’an inadequate. I will not argue with that. But you might miss the gems of ethical guidelines deeply embedded in these brief treatments. For example, the best of provisions is self-conscioussness.

 

It has been a long time since I wrote something on my Blog. With the beginning of Ramadan this year (2009), I hope that I can pick up some trends and share them on the Net. Actually, I plan to change my approach in this BLOG and speak about Ramadan in a few pieces.

The first of Ramadan started without a glitch this year. And as far as I know, many Muslims in South Africa headed for night prayer (isha) on Friday night. Twenty-second of August (2009) was the first day of fasting.

The mosques in District Six (Cape Town) were full on the first night, looking very much like a Friday afternoon. Cars were double-parked along the main roads, forcing drivers going to other mosques or elsewhere to weave through with care and probably also frustration. Car guards got an extra bonus, and the District was abuzz. Charity organizations took full advantage of this good will.

As usual in Ramadan, there were extra prayers to be said after the night prayer. These prayers are called tarawih, meaning periods of rest. The prayers are not named by what one does, but by the breaks that one takes in between!

If you think that this strange, you will surprised to know that the naming is not strange as far as the practice of tarawih is concerned. There are many, mostly young but also some old, who spend a lot time lounging about. They really take the idea of rest seriously. But others take an opposite approach. The tarawih prayers are for them a source of exercise. Performing a total of twenty bowings, forty prostrations, and standing and sitting in between can be strenuous for those who hold desk jobs, and avoid gym or the beautiful walks on offer in and around the city of Cape Town.

The periods of rests in most mosques are kept to a minimum. Most people would like to get the prayer done as soon as possible. Judging from the number of cars at different mosques, one can predict with a fair amount of accuracy which mosques deliver in the shortest time. There is a good chance you might get to these mosques as they people were leaving.

But we must not forget the faithful who show remarkable spirit. They spend between 1 and 2 hours in the mosques, every night, for 29 nights in a row! Nothing to scoff at.

The night prayer is, as I said, a place for reciting the Qur'an. The usual idea is to read a portion and complete the full recitation over the month. Many mosques in Cape Town read much less; while mosques in Gauteng compensate in excess. In the latter, small towns and suburbs will break a mosque congregation into 3,4, 5 groups, each completing the Quran in the month.

I am always fascinated by the first day's recitation. It was marked by a diversity and breadth of meaning, but the central message that I usually get from the reading was always the same. And there was no exception this month:

• There is no guaranteed path to paradise and salvation.
  
• No group can claim that they have exclusive rights to the special favour of God.
  

The verses were directed at the People of the Book, Jews and Christians, but the message was equally directed at the new community of faith (to be called Muslims).

And this critical voice takes many forms:

• the special favour of God can be taken away
• there is a possibility of distorting the truth even though one has it
• claims and counter-claims to exclusive salvations are merely claims, and
• the spirit of the law is more important than the letter.
  

In a BLOG, I cannot elaborate on these.

I hope, however, that my list conveys the idea of a critical stance to guaranteed salvation: Say, to God belongs the east and the west; they sacrificed but hardly did it; the baptism of God; who is better to baptise than God.

These verses underline a degree of self-criticism that is absolutely important for virtue. The feeling that one is absolutely correct, without a hint of self-reflection, cannot be sustained as the most ethical position. One may indeed quote scripture, claim special membership in a group. Such claims were laid waste by self-reflexive doubt.

Perchance, there is something here for thinking about.