I Am Happy! (Another post against grim-faced Islam)

Can you remember back when you thought of Islam as a religion of joy and happiness?



The perception of Islam, that I call "grim-faced Islam", is something unluckily widely spread in the world. Islam is a Religion of terrorists, fanatics, suppressors and surpressed, of dumb, maniacs, and men. Yes, a religion of men. When you enter the keyword Islam into google image search, all those existing preopinions make sense. Put the keyword Buddhism into google image search and the picture is completely different. There is hardly any negative imagery. You will find dozens of pictures of Buddha and lotus flowers. Buddha is smiling. Well, we don't depicture Allah. But if we did - would He be smiling? Why am I saying this?       





Only after extensive scrolling you will find a Time-cover with a buddhist monk and the headline "The face of Buddhist terror". (No "Buddhism will dominate the World" or "Buddhists can't be friends with Non-Buddhists", "Buddhism is a death-cult" or "Ban Buddhism") This is not because there are no negative stories to tell about Buddhism. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you can imagine what happens when you put the keyword Islam in the search-box.
Well, that is certainly not because the shown results are the truth about Islam, I think we all can agree on that, right? So why is it then? I think many Muslims would agree on the claim that that is because of the negative preopinions that others have on our peaceful faith. I can see truth in this claim and I definitely support the idea of clarification around this topic in the media. And I certainly don't say our faith isn't peaceful.
What I am saying is this: We should ask ourselves what the image is that we Muslims have of Islam? What are the values that we point out when we are in dialogue with others? How are we living our faith? Not to forget these: Do we smile? Are we kind to others? Do we respect one another? So let's just again focus on our own behaviour, on our own perception and values, our own thoughts. Are they in harmony with what we Muslims believe is the Peaceful Religion of Islam? 

My pledge is: Let us be happy and let's not give grim-faces ("Is this video halal or haram?" You must be kidding me) a chance to spoil our joy! 

Btw. The British Muslims are Happy - video shows many familiar faces, amongst them Kübra Gümüşay from ein-fremdwoerterbuch.com and Myriam Francois-Cerrah from myriamfrancoiscerrah.wordpress.com        



I want you!

 

Every person has the right to love.
Every person has the right to love whoever he or she wants, whoever he or she decides to.
Every person has the right to want whoever he or she loves.
Islam gives instructions on how to live and love in order not to hurt, not to create destruction.
Muslims are prohibited from certain patterns that lead to destruction.
Muslims are encouraged to follow the patterns that lead to love and that preserve love.
Muslims are guided towards experiencing love, love that gives shelter in times of trouble.
Muslims are instructed to remain faithful to their partners.
God has put Love and Mercy between partners.

“And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may 

dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put Love and mercy between your (hearts), verily in that 

are signs for those who reflect.” (Qur'an 30:21)

7 Weeks to Ramadan - Being less of a jerk

It is only in about 7 weeks that we will face Ramadan Inshallah so it is once again time to think about how we want to welcome the blessed month, what we want to achieve, what to experience and what to take with us when the month is over and we pick up with our daily lives again!

Everyone of us has different issues to tackle in life. They might be related to our health and well-being, worship or religious education, our relationships to family, spouses or friends, our place in the society and the nature of our work, the chances we took or that we didn't take in life. We might suffer of our past, the present or fear the future. Or we might be perfectly happy and balanced and still long for something extraordinary!

I'm sure that most of us want to change something. 

Normally we can't change our surrounding or the society we were born into, our occupation or our demographical and geographical location. But when there is a chance, we have to know why we want to change something: Is it because we see something going wrong in society, f.e. a lack of humanitarianism or respect amongst people; the occuring of some grave social issues? Or is it in fact because we're not feeling comfortable ourselves, not happy or accepted by the surrounding, not optimistic about our chance for a good life?
The line between a personal issue and a social one is thin and may be subjective, but when the personal issue is significant enough or a larger amount of individuals are affected by it, it is automatically a social one. And the other way around. That means that in which ever way we are being harmed, most likely society is being harmed. It means, in which ever way we're been treated well, most likely it has a positive impact for the rest of society. I guess everybody agrees with me when I assume that even the smallest action can cause big consequences. 

We should start by changing something about ourselves.

We should pay attention to our own behaviour, even to the smallest details. To the way we interact with people, the way we work and study, the way we treat other living creatures, the environment and objects of daily life. But most importantly: the way we treat those who are close to us.

For me it implies asking myself the following questions:

• How many times have I approached my family by my own account, unsolicited? Called them, written to them, seen them?
• Have I thought of them when I have felt happy, satisfied, blessed? When I have achieved/purchased/received something?
• Am I treating others fair? Have I forgiven them their mistakes? Or have I unconsciously condemned somebody for his/hers previous actions?
• Do I treat my partner/spouse with respect and love? 
• Am compassionate towards my partner/spouse?
• Am I paying enough attention to what a person is saying to me?
• Am I being gentle towards people? Or am I being harsh and unfriendly?
• Do I help others when I'm being asked/not asked for a favor? 
• Am I providing help selflessly/open-handedly, or am I expecting something in return?
• Do I believe to better than another person?
• Am I honest and loyal towards my friends/partner?
• ...

If perfection was my goal, I would be as far from it as from being a millionaire (that's extremely far!). I can openly say that most of the faults listed above apply to me in a way. Some more frequently, some less. Yes, I know, it's sad!! That's why I really want to concentrate on tackling a couple of them, inshallah. 

 This is my Master Plan:

• I want to be more compassionate and gentle towards others 
• I want to forgive people their mistakes fully and completely and treat others fair
• I want to remember my family and friends with handwritten letters! 

So please make du'a for me that I manage to stick to my new principles starting from NOW, so that I become less of a jerk! I will make du'as for all the "pig won'ts" out there, I promise :)

Thank You Copenhagen Airport!

I just recently came home from a family visit in Germany. It was hard to leave there but in a way I'm happy to be home again for a while! The day of my return I woke up, having undoubtedly not slept enough, and made it somehow to the Airport on time in order to take my plane back to Finland. Almost immediately after seating I slept only to wake up when I was served tea and to fall asleep again. I didn't quite realize what was wrong when I left the plane, but I must have forgotten my transit in Copenhagen because I remember wondering why I didn't see finnish signs anywhere! Well, my transit-time in Copenhagen lasted for 4 painful hours that I mostly spend hunting for a cup of tea that cost less than 5 Euros - I didn't find one - and seeing which bench could suit me for a little nap (of 2 hours, as it turned out to last).
But my real discovery was a small Silent Room (for meditation, relaxation, prayer -  as it said on the sign) with a comfy tuffed carpet and a prayer mat! In the middle of the room was a strangely shaped, sofa (color: silver), in front of it a vase with flowers and in the left corner, covered by a glass/plastic partition, a prayer rug and a tasbih. Tired as I was I was really happy of being alone in this peaceful room, so I went to the toilet that was nearby, made my wudhu and came back to pray Dhur.

I think that apart from the fact that Muslims are recommended to pray whilst travels (it is not obligatory after a certain distance of destination/lenght of journey) it is a nice and helpful thing for anyone to do. Just to take a break and go to pray or meditate into one of the airports prayer rooms will help to handle the stress of travelling and offer an alternative to the booming commercialism and urge for consumerism in regular transit areas.
 

A list of European Airports that have Prayer-rooms:

• Frankfurt International Airport: Separate prayer rooms for Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim and other faiths.
• London Heathrow: Anglican Chapel, Free Church, Catholic Church, multi-faith prayer rooms and Faith Chaplains (Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Roman Catholic, Free Church and Anglican).
• Munich Franz Josef Strauss Aiport: Muslim Prayer room, multi-faith prayer room.
• Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport: Multi-faith Prayerarea, Chaplains of various faiths such as Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim.
• Amsterdam Schiphol Airport: Multi-faith prayer room known as "Meditation Centre".
• Istanbul Ataturk International Airport: 6 (muslim) prayer rooms.
• Madrid-Bajaras International Airport: Multi-faith prayer room.
• Dusseldorf International Airport: One non-demonational prayer room.
• Stockholm Arlanda Airport: (Multifaith) Chapel for worship.
• Brussels Airport: Prayer facilities for Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, Protestant and Humanist meditation room (!)
• London Gatwick Airport: Multi-faith prayer room such as Christian services regularly (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Free Church) and Buddhist services every Monday and on significant dates.

L'Institut du Monde Arabe - Hajj

Dear Brothers and Sisters and Dear You: It's about time for you to travel to Paris!
Whoever hasn't yet been there, should do it in the first place; and those who've been there - you already know why to return.
Not that I think the twinkling Eiffel-tower looks so magical by night (although it actually does) that you should immediately book the next flight to Paris to experience it. There is something even more remarkable to experience in this City of Love this time. Btw. I'm not promising you will find love there, but surely it will not harm if you try :)

The reason why I especially recommend travelling to Paris is a large exhibition about the Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah) in the Institut du Monde Arabe (The Arab World Institute). Immediately at my departure in Paris I noticed that the exhibition was widely advertised on the Paris Metro billboards. Approximately every third metrostation was decorated with gigantic posters. 

The Institute du Monde Arabe is located in the South-East of Paris but can be easily approached by Paris Metro. The line 10 and 7 bring you to the closest metrostation "Jussieu". When you see an original Orient Express-train standing on a huge square, you know that you have arrived at the Place Mohammed V which is surrounded by the Institute.

The Institute has a permanent exhibition, a library, a bookstore and museumshop such as an observation deck, located on the roof of the Institute (provides you with the best free view over Paris!). Additionally it has steadily changing temporary exhibitions. The entrance for the Hajj-exhibition is in the corner of the building located at the Rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard.

When I entered the exhibition space I was already moved by the beautiful adhan that accompanied three large screens on which photographs of the Masjid al-Haram were projected. From the entrance I had a clear view on an original piece of the kiswa, the protecting cloth of the Ka'aba, with its detailed embroidery with excerpts of the Qur'an out of gold and silver strings. Moving further into the space I could find all kinds of different examples of filigrantly decorated Qur'an, from Yemen, Arabia, Sudan, Turkey, Spain, Marocco, India and Persia. 

The walls were exhibiting colorful wallcloths from the Philippines and highly interesting contemporary artpieces like photography from Newsha Tavakolian (Tehran, Iran), Kazuyoshi Nomachi (Japan) or Arwa Abouon (Libya/Montreal). 
The second floor was showing installations and sculptures such as life videostreaming from the Haram (the exact same channel actually as in my post Tawaf of Mind, check it out!),  a miniature model of the Masjid al-Haram, large and epic photographies of oceans of pilgrims during Hajj, a documentary as an introduction into Islam (in french of course) and audio-stations where a bunch of returning pilgrims are telling their stories about Hajj and how it changed their life.

I am actually astonished byt the fact that I haven't been in an exhibition like this before. And it is not so much my lack of interest, but the lack of this kind of exhibitions. There are hundrets and hundrets of exhibitions around Europe which depicture the most exotic tribal traditions from all around the globe, starting from the paintings of the indogenius North-Americans to the tribal music of the South-West Pacific. I think it is typical for us so called Westeners that we are very well informed about Tibetian Buddhism and the Hieroglyphs of the ancient Egyptians but we are almost indifferent, or worse, reluctant to be informed about our own history and values and sadly of those other peoples that we share our countries, towns, buildings, working surroundings and daily lifes with. As it is for Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, Rome and other european major Capitals, it is also true for smaller ones like Helsinki: we are living with other people and we will be living with other people (thank God for that). So why not find out who those other people are, instead of judging them on their outer appearance or the existing preopinions that we unfortunately have formed?

I think in that sense this exhibition is very helpful. You don't have to actually step into a beduin-tent or the neighbouring mosque if it makes you feel awkward. And you can still be informed about what your fellow citizen is in fact believing, what is moving him, and why your working colleague chooses to spend her 2 weeks of vacation in the boiling heat of Saudi Arabia, when she could only wear her bikini and relax on the beaches of Tenerife. 

So, mashallah, well done! For more information about the Institut du Monde Arabe go to imarabe.org (in french bien sûr)!

8 Weeks to Ramadan - Checklist!

I'm back on the block and here's shortly what I've done since the last post:

• I went to Germany to visit my family and came back to Finland, there it's summer - here it's... well, let's talk about less frustrating topics!
• I went to Paris with my fellow first-year-students and since it was an Artstudents Arthistorytrip (with big A's), we visited a lot of Museums. Actually we did not visit them in the traditional sense, but actually spend all opening hours there scrutinizing everything starting with ancient Egyptian vases in the Louvre and finishing with "The Lost Human Genetic Archive" by Hiroshi Sugimoto in the Museum for Contemporary Art, the Palais de Tokyo.
• I got sick (the constant rain may've had some impact on that) and after I returned home I was unable to do anything else than staying in bed. This didn't prevent me from watching a highly interesting documentary about Jerusalem, called 24h Jerusalem - because its' actual duration is 24 hours for God's sake! Now don't get me wrong: I didn't watch it continuously for 24 hours, no, even I thought that it wouldn't be so wise; but I watched it. Split into 12 clips, each 2 hours long. I don't think I can recommend it, but whoever is interested, please, go for it!

But now to the more interesting topic :)

 My 8 Weeks to Ramadan- Checklist

• Performing Salat (prayer)  Yes, I am praying, subhanallah and inshallah will.
• Making Du'a (personal act of worship, prayer, call upon God) Doing so while and after every prayer. But I could improve and be doing so more often and more spontaneously.
• Making Dhikr Yes, I bought a new tasbih in Paris and using it very frequently!
• Trying to be kind and nice to people (try smiling once in a while!) Kinda failed. I'm definitely not smiling enough and definitely not being friendly enough to people. Big improvement needed!
• Making 1 charitable act a day (trying to figure out more creative ways to help than to donate money - especially if you do not have any!) Trying, but as an very self-centered person I should definitely target this more seriously.
• Reading Qur'an Not so much. At least during the last 2 weeks. But will start tonight with my new favourite Surah "Ar-Room"!
• Studying/working Studying but not working, I should really make some more effort!
• Making personal Jihad Yes, working hard on a couple of bad habits (such as cursing!) and personal issues!
• Attending Mosque Not in Helsinki, I should start going to the Mosque again, inshallah. But went to the Grand Mosquee de Paris!

Ok, as you can see my list is still very dominated by red and orange. I'm very happy now that I initiated the 10 Weeks to Ramadan Challenge, otherwise I would notice this, as usual, a week before Ramadan. Now I've still got 8 weeks to improve until I can concentrate fully on the holy month of Ramadan, in which it will be easier for us, inshallah.

 I hope you guys are doing better than this!! All the best and many Salams :)

10 Weeks to Ramadan - Salat/Prayer

I want to feel good and happy.
When I am feeling good and happy I can make other people feel the same way, and that is the basis of all teaching on the good deeds in the Holy Qur'an.
In order to feel happy and balanced we have to be in balance in our faith and be connected to Allah. Allah (swt) is the main source of love and mercy: "Say: O My slaves (humankind) who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah Who forgives all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful" (Az-Zumar 39:53)
 

salat/prayer

I am sure 99% of Muslims have faced the same problem at least once in their life time. Most of those 99% have probably faced it twice or more times in their life. The majority of those, who are facing it more often in their life are keeping it for themselves: the problemacy of NOT performing Salat accordingly/on time/at all. 

I don't think that the fact that I don't allways keep up with my prayers and sometimes loose them completely in my life makes me a bad Muslim. I don't think that anyone but Allah can or should judge me. 

The majority of what is found on the internet and most of the islamic literature on the topic of not performing salat is a neverending catalog of threat and intimidation. Illogically it is assumed to have a good and enlightening effect on the person, opening up the dibelievers eyes. Looking at the citations utilized to emphasize the terrible consequences and punishments following the disobedience of not praying, it is clear that almost all of them are hadiths and reports from islamic scolars, whereas no authentic excerpts of the Qur'an are listed.

Although I respect and honour the hadiths, I know that sometimes there is no use of threatening a troubled Muslim in this highly intimate matter. It will cause more damage and irritation than salvation.

What a non-praying Muslim needs is nothing but the reassurance that the Salat will bring happiness and joy in their life. That waking up in the early morning will bring ease and success. And Allah reminds us of that every morning in the Adhan: "Hayya 'ala-s-Salah! (Hurry to the prayer!) Hayya 'ala-l-Falah! (Hurry to salvation!) Allahu Akbar! (God is great!) La Ilaha Illallah! (There is no god except the One God!) As-salatu Khayrun Minan-nawm (Prayer is better than sleep).

I found a lot of help through great websites and you may enter them through the topics listed below!

How to Pray five times a day: read here!

Fight the madness of life with the calmness of Salat (Animation): watch here!

6 Steps to achieve a quality Salat: read here!

How to stop making excuses for missing Salat: read here!

How do we get closer to Allah/ Relashionship with the Divine: read more!

Salams and keep up with your prayers and please make du'a that I will keep up with mine too!
Jazakallah khair :)