This morning we visited the Al-Ayn Mosque, one of several mosques nearby that wakes us up each morning around 5:00 a.m. with the call to prayer! It is an historical one, as it is located along the ancient trade route through the central Palestinian highlands and is near the spring (al-ayn) which watered the caravans passing by. It is the spring by which, local legend tells, Mary and Joseph stopped with their caravan on the way back to Nazareth from a visit to Jerusalem. If the biblical account is true, its where Mary and Joseph, traveling in gender-divided parts of the caravan, came together at night and realized each thought the other had the kid! If the Muslim version is true, its where the kid went missing, running off in the encampment with the other boys. Either Jesus was back at the Temple schooling the scholars - or he was off playing soccer or perhaps throwing stones at the Roman soldiers! The Imam of the mosque, Sheikh Fadel, met with us before the Friday prayers and gave us a primer on basic Islam. He emphasized that Islam is a way of life, and that every aspect of life is covered by the teachings of the Quran and the understandings of Islam. He emphasized the awesomeness and all-knowing nature of Allah, that there is nothing comparable to Allah, nothing that the mind can comprehend. He mentioned often that Islam, at its root, means peace - salaam: peace within ourselves; peace with our neighbors; peace with G-d; peace with all humanity; even peace with all creatures. The understandings of Islam all are directed toward this peace. As he has consistently described in other years, Sheikh Fadel celebrated the common ground of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, mentioning the revered place as prophets that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus hold in Islam - and that Jesus is mentioned more in the Quran than is Mohammad. When asked what role religion plays in the current strife between Israel and the Palestinians, he said that it has no part. The conflict is about power, domination, and inequality; its about our land being stolen and our desire for justice. We have no complaint with the Jewish people - only with Israel as the occupying power. All of this might be surprising for those not familiar with Islam - or with Islam as it is typically expressed among Palestinians. The mere fact that American Christians were welcomed so warmly and sincerely into the mosque and invited to prayers might not conform to the stereotype so many have of Muslims - or of Islamic clerics. But try this on for size: Sheikh Fadel is not only a Muslim cleric; hes also an elected member of the Palestinian National Assembly - their parliament. And he is a member of Hamas! In fact, as soon as he was elected to the Assembly in the last Palestinian general elections, he and his fellow parliamentarians were arrested by Israel and tossed in jail! Simply for being chosen in a democratic election from the wrong party! Certainly there are disreputable folks in Islam and in Hamas - just as there are in any religion or any political party. Sheikh Fadel, though, should give us pause about tarring with a wide brush all Muslims or Hamas members. Another interesting aspect to Sheikh Fadels presentation was an example he gave to illustrate Jesuss being a prophet in Islam. To be a prophet, one has to perform miracles. Among the miracles he said are ascribed to Jesus in the Quran is his shaping birds out of clay, blowing into them, and seeing them take life and fly off! It sounds very much like miracles ascribed to Jesus in some of the gnostic gospels - and it caused me to wonder if early Islam had access to those, along with the manuscripts of the Torah and the canonical Bible - both of which are held in esteem by Muslims. Again, competing narratives! Not just in the politics of the region - but in the sacred texts that inform the three People of the Book(s)!
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 00:59:30 +0000
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