Muslims pray five times a day. We can pray anywhere. It doesn't have to be in the mosque. We can pray wherever as long as it's clean. We usually pray on a prayer rug. But we don't HAVE to. The one place where we can't is the bathroom. Because that's just weird.
And when we pray it's like a one-on-one connection with God. No interruptions whatsoever. You cannot answer the phone, or talk to someone next to you, or read that novel you're dying to finish. Otherwise you have to start over again. Sucks? Not really, considering the prayer takes about 5 minutes or less. It's like your time with God. I mean God is always there for you, why can't we take a few uninterrupted minutes for Him and thank Him for everything that's been going on, or to complain to Him about our coworkers or to ask for stuff we want?
Story time!! When we were younger we used to pray really fast. Like 30 second prayers. My mom would catch us and know we'd be going fast just so we could get back to the TV or play. She she'd be like, "I'm going to have to issue you a speeding ticket.." I should have gotten her a badge that said "prayer police" or something.
So when we pray in public and people get scared that we're having some sort of medical problem and they're trying to talk to us and we don't answer. It's just that I don't want to have to start over again. Plus, we're in the middle of a very important meeting. Our prayers are physical as well as spiritual and mental. I'll show you another day or you can look it up if you're interested.
Praying five times a day can seem like a lot to some, but it really isn't tedious. It takes a total of about a half hour give or take a few minutes. As I've said before we pray five times a day. And we have a time range in which we can pray. Like the afternoon prayer here in India is around 12:30 to 3:30 PM. So I can pray anytime between that time. But if I'm out where can we stop and pray? I mean, it's weird praying in public. But a Muslim's gotta do what a Muslim's gotta do.
So we pray. In public.
In the corner at the mall.
In the parking lot.
At amusement parks.
On the highway, I don't know why we did this one since we could have just stopped at a rest stop.
In the library.
At college.
At pizza hut.
Dressing rooms.
OK so I don't have a very exciting lists of crazy places I've prayed. But I know some of the other authors do. So anyone who'se prayed in a weird place, Muslim or not, please share. :)
7 comments:
A few years ago on holiday our Mum had an accident so Dad took her straight to the hospital. My sister and I had to hitch a lift from the mountain village where we were staying down to the hospital. I remember hopping up and down beside my sister on the hot, dusty roadside with our thumbs stuck out praying that our Dad would find the hospital, that Mum would get seen to quickly, that her hand could be saved, that they'd get there in time, that we'd get there before my Dad panicked...My sister was standing with her thumb out trying to remember enough portugese to make herself understood to the spanish driver!
I actually pray a lot in the bathroom. I just feel less distracted there.
Heckety: I hope your mom and dad got there in time!! That sounds really scary esp sicne you were on holiday and in an unfamiliar place!
Kim: The bathroom is a great place to think. I think a lot of people figure stuff out and have epiphanies of sorts in there. hehe. But I guess since part of our prayer is putting our head to the ground is why it's weird for me to actually physically pray. Mental prayers in the bathroom are ok with me though.
My mom and I prayed in a Tim Hortons once. My mom was feeling funny doing it, which I was surprised by, because usually its the other way around.
I pray in conference rooms at work and its always a game of dodging people having meetings. Its kind of scary since we have a carpeted building and i wouldn't hear footsteps until they were already in the room.
At my old job I prayed in an empty cubicle behind a filing cabinet, on an engineering drawing hehe (turned upside down of course so i won't get distracted)
It seems that this practice acts as a centering mechanism--we all can learn something from that, I think.
Ohh in parks loads of time ... in class rooms ... in university corridor .. heheh :)
ps: I don't think mental prayers that involve quranic ayah are allowed in bathrooms :)
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