Nothing got done in my first class. NOTHING. We were suppose to be covering Surah 91 (The Sun) but I think we only got to line 8 and we started with line 7. The boys spent way too much time asking stupid questions and Br. N was half an hour late. He talks WAAAAY too much too. Nice guy, but he is like that boy in high school that most of the girls want but that I found annoying due to his arrogance. Sr F and I almost up and left except it was so funny we stayed for the whole thing.
Then we went to prayer. Sr. F decided she would quiz me on my arabic. Turns out, I recite the two surahs for the first and second rakat almost perfectly! She was very surprised and thought perhaps she too needs transliteration. She also taught me how to use prayer beads which work almost exactly like a rosary. I now want some. And a prayer rug because praying on a blanket, although comfortable, is hard because it slips. I'm so going to crash on my head one of these days.
I also learned something so cute! Sr. F said "I always like to pray on the ends because at each end of the row there is an angel praying so if I pray at the end of the row I get to pray next to an angel!" HOW CUTE I also think its just such a lovely concept.
The second class was also all over the place. Br S was out so Br N took over. He talked about Nufs. But he didn't get very far because the boys kept asking stupid questions. So Br. Bil took over.
Yes in fact it turns out the Sheik is NOT a Sheik. He just dresses like one LOL. He is just a very knowledgible brother. He will be brother Bil.
Br. Bil talked more about the history of Karabala and what happened once Imam Ali was Caliph and how screwed up things got due to Umar. I mean these guys really let Muawiya push them around, and they seemed to have such good intentions. Like Abu Bakr had great intentions but he only stayed in power for 3 years. And after that it just got way worse. What a mess! This is why you don't mix religion and government. One person, unless he is a prophet, simply cannot handle both. I really wonder what would have happened if Abu Bakr had taken control of the government and Ali the religion and then they worked together. Maybe it would have been a better place. I wanted to ask him about Abu Bakr, Umar,Uthman deciding to compile the Qur'an (Imam Ali helped) but I figured that would start world war III so I didn't. Most Shias believe Imam Ali did it on his own.
Sister F said something so nice today. She said "You are so lucky. You get to find Islam" She has said this before. She feels that I am lucky because I have a clean slate with the religion and get to be lead to God by finding my religion instead of accepting what I was born into. I agree with her. I am grateful to God every day for this journey. It may be hard, but I am blessed without having any preconcived or taught ideas about Islam. I came in with a clean slate and thus have a better chance of seeing the religion for what it is. I can almost guarentee that someone who was not born Catholic can see a great deal more about Catholicism than I can because I was born into a family who taught me their own interpretations and ideas. That is hard to escape and makes studying Christianity difficult for me.
I also got a book from brother A called Philosophy of Islam and it is by two of the Ayatollahs. Its really good so far.
The second class was also all over the place. Br S was out so Br N took over. He talked about Nufs. But he didn't get very far because the boys kept asking stupid questions. So Br. Bil took over.
Yes in fact it turns out the Sheik is NOT a Sheik. He just dresses like one LOL. He is just a very knowledgible brother. He will be brother Bil.
Br. Bil talked more about the history of Karabala and what happened once Imam Ali was Caliph and how screwed up things got due to Umar. I mean these guys really let Muawiya push them around, and they seemed to have such good intentions. Like Abu Bakr had great intentions but he only stayed in power for 3 years. And after that it just got way worse. What a mess! This is why you don't mix religion and government. One person, unless he is a prophet, simply cannot handle both. I really wonder what would have happened if Abu Bakr had taken control of the government and Ali the religion and then they worked together. Maybe it would have been a better place. I wanted to ask him about Abu Bakr, Umar,Uthman deciding to compile the Qur'an (Imam Ali helped) but I figured that would start world war III so I didn't. Most Shias believe Imam Ali did it on his own.
Sister F said something so nice today. She said "You are so lucky. You get to find Islam" She has said this before. She feels that I am lucky because I have a clean slate with the religion and get to be lead to God by finding my religion instead of accepting what I was born into. I agree with her. I am grateful to God every day for this journey. It may be hard, but I am blessed without having any preconcived or taught ideas about Islam. I came in with a clean slate and thus have a better chance of seeing the religion for what it is. I can almost guarentee that someone who was not born Catholic can see a great deal more about Catholicism than I can because I was born into a family who taught me their own interpretations and ideas. That is hard to escape and makes studying Christianity difficult for me.
I also got a book from brother A called Philosophy of Islam and it is by two of the Ayatollahs. Its really good so far.
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Totally agree with us being lucky to learn Islam and accept it on our own instead of accepting it because we were born into it. Converts rock! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you want to, you can always make your own rosary (I've made a couple for myself). It's just like making a beaded necklace, except you make sure that there are a certain number of beads on it (I usually do 11 beads, so nine rounds of dhikr using the rosary will add up to 99, the standard number for reciting Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, ALLAHu Akbar, etc.).
"Yes in fact it turns out the Sheik is NOT a Sheik. He just dresses like one LOL."
ReplyDeleteHaha! That is the cutest and funniest thing I have heard in a long time :D
Anne: Making my own is a great idea! I might just do that. it will be extra special then. 11 beads makes it nice and small too for traveling :) Especially since I prefer large beads so I can keep count lol
ReplyDeleteAchelois: Teehee it was an honest mistake I swear!
I am interested to hear more about your studies since I don't know the Shia branch of Islam that well. I'm so glad you have made nice friends at the class that you can share the experience with!
ReplyDeleteStacy: I will let you all know more about my studies when I do! LOL My two classes have not been very good lately :(
ReplyDeleteI can pretty much prove your whole example re: Catholicism and born vs. converts right here. :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I find the hypothetical of a secular & religious authority in early Islamic society interesting. Sadly, we'll never know, because political & religious authority seem to be inextricably intertwined in Islam at this point.
Heh. Once your classes stop being so insane, I want to hear about what you learn. :)
When I learn something new I will tell you lol. I can type up my notes from the history portion. And on Qasr. I will do that when I return home
ReplyDelete