Our trip to the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga Mosque was quite an experience. We got to talk to three Muslim men the whole day and experience a Muslim service and prayer. We had many questions to ask but the men there wanted to be sure to say what was on their mind before we could expand our questions to deeper subjects. Before we got to the Mosque in Chattanooga, I had expectations that were very stereotype. I thought I would see men with many wives, women being discriminated, men talking about war, and men praying the whole time. I was so wrong. When we pulled in to the parking lot the building looked very normal to me. It was not gaudy or overly decorated like I had seen other mosques to me. I have only ever been to the outside of the Dome of the Rock in Israel, which is very decorated, but this one was only white outside. When we walked in we were greeted by a nice woman and man. We got a tour of the Mosque and Muslim school.
Once we settled in and got used to our surroundings we were able to start asking questions and be lectured by two men, the owner of the Mosque and the principle of the school. The first man started to talk about the beginning of the revelation of Muhammad. He explained how at the time of Muhammad the Arab peninsula was miserable. Men would abuse and torture women and burry their daughters alive. They say this is one of the reasons God sent Muhammad to come and change the people in this area at this time. They spoke about how Gabriel the Angle was the messenger of God.
All of this we had learned about in my class, Jesus and the Quran and I had agreed with it. Until, they tried to explain the first word that Muhammad heard from God. The men at the mosque said that Muhammad heard God say, “Read.” The Quran also speaks of this in the 96th sura or chapter of the Qur'an called, The Clinging Form. This was a huge contradiction and didn’t make since. We had been taught that Muhammad had never been taught to read or write. In my class that I had been attending we were taught that God first spoke to Muhammad and said for him to, “recite.” For God to tell Muhammad to recite instead of to read makes a lot more since to me.
There are two reasons that the men at the mosque have these different view on this. First, the Quran’s original and only true version of its self is in Arabic. This means that any other type of translation is not a true Quran. During a translation in the Quran, it is very possible that it was not translated correctly in what they had read or that they were interpreting the Quran wrong. The second reason that the men at the mosque had this different view is that with new technology coming out and more history being studied some people are starting to believe that Muhammad was possibly able to read or write or both. This had made people change the translation from “recite” to “read”. The two men speaking to us at the Mosque had the idea of each of these things. One man believed the new founding beliefs of Muhammad that he could read and write, making him believe God said “read”. The other man had just been shown a different translation. He believed Muhammad could not read or write, but that with Gods power he could read as God commanded him. We had this discussion with these men for a while, and we couldn’t quite get over the subject.
Eventually we continued our talk about the beginning of Muhammad’s revelation. The men went on to say that the rest of Gods message was sent to Muhammad over a long period of time. They talked about how Muhammad eventually moved to Madinah and this is where the first Islamic state begin with Muhammad as the leader. All this was true and lined up with what we had learned in class. Although, they left a lot of information out. In the handout for the “Muhammad, The Prophet of Islam video”, it talks about how there was a plan for the people in Makkah to kill Muhammad in his sleep. It says, “ When Quraysh plotted to kill Muhammad, he and a close companion, Abu Bakr, secretly left Makkah to join the Muslims in Yathrib.” It continues and says, “ The people of Yathrib invited Muhammad to take over leadership of the city…” His escape is the reason Muhammad left and found Madinah eventually. All throughout our talks with the two Muslim men at the mosque, it feels like they left out a part of the true history to try to make it look like people were not against Islam to make their religion look pleasurable.
The men went on to say that the way to become a Muslim is to do the five pillars. The first is Shahada, which is to believe in Allah and that he the one true God, and to declare that Muhammad is the messenger to Allah. Doing this allows you to know that there is only one god and that he has sent messengers to help us. It also helps put limits on materialism things. Understanding this allows you to have an individual, direct relationship with God. It also allows for one simple message and acceptance of earlier religions. And lastly it allows there to be no central authority in Islam. It limits the power of worldly authority over Muslims.
The second pillar is Salat, which is to perform Salah, or prayer, five times a day. Once at dawn around 6:30 am, after lunch around 1:30 pm, in the evening around 4:30pm, at sunset, and at dark. This forces you to demand obedience and purification. It gives you a mental relaxation, and self-disciplines and renews your spirt. Doing the prayers also binds the Islam society together and makes everyone on the same or close to same pattern. This pillar also helped with the establishment of Mosques and the need to come to the Mosque and make time for God.
The third pillar is Zakat, which is to give to charity helps with spiritual purification and limits yourself from being greedy. It helps create a dependable stream of charity to the Muslim society, and helps the poor. It also established an early foundation of charitable institutions and foundations. The fourth pillar is Siyam, which is to fast during Ramadan. This creates a renewal of your spirit and creates self-discipline. It makes you more God-conscious and helps your health. It is a great time for the community to connect for a celebration.
The last pillar is Hajj, which is to make the pilgrimage to Makkah at least once in your life. This allows you to have obedience to listen to what God says. It encourages travel and communication to the people who believe in what you believe. It gives you a sense of your individual being and the desire to think beyond what you have been taught your whole life. It brings people together for trade and ports (just like it had even before the time of Muhammad.) It also has contributed to the mobility of Muslim society over fourteen countries. They also said that if you can not do hajj due to financial needs, or health problems then you are free to not participate in this pillar. If you can not go just because of health problems, then you can send someone to go in your place if you pay for them to go. If you do these five pillars, then you can call yourself a Muslim. I agreed with all of this information and we talked about it in class. It all lined up correctly.
After talking about the theology of Islam they decided to talk about Jihad and Muslims views on what to believe. While this was not the reason we came to the Mosque, I heard a lot of interesting things that were said that I had never heard before because it was from a different perspective. The men talked about how in 1980 the Soviet Union was attacking Afghanistan. America, with Ronald Ragan as president, got involved. Ragan gave money to volunteer Muslims from all over the world to come to Hijaz (or what we call Saadia Arabia) and learn guerilla warfare. The American soldiers brainwashed the young people fighting for them. They were told that if they fought for their country and died while killing others then they would be pleasing their God.
Once the war was over in 1989 the countries these Muslim people came from didn’t want them back because they were so brainwashed. They were afraid they were going to be dangerous people. They had nowhere to go so they made where they were home. Eventually they started fighting against each other over territory. The men told us to see terrorist and other groups like ISIS as gangs, not religious people. After hearing this new information, they went on to explain how Sherie Law has no contradiction to the United States Constitution. If America was to ban the Sherie Law, then that would go against our own constitution. Hearing all of this information completely has changed my view on terrorist and Muslims. We did not talk in class, nor did I read in any of our handouts anything going against what that was spoken during this part of our conversation. I know this was not the reason we came to mosque, but I am very glad they talked about this information because I feel like it is something that needs to be told more.
After these two lectures and some lunch we had some time to prepare for the prayer and service. I actually did not know that Muslim’s have an actual service where they hear a speaker who talks about how to live. Before the service began, men started to come into the main room of the mosque and face towards the west; also, where a podium was. Once they choose their spot on the floor, they did their rituals. We were told the actions they do, bowing, taking their shoes off, and placing their hands by their neck is like a welcoming to God when you enter his house, just like people have welcoming’s when you enter a friend’s house. People do a prayer and meditate while waiting on the speaker to begin. The women do the same thing but in a different room for more privacy with their kids. (Women are allowed in the main room, but choose to be separated for privacy.)
The service started out by a song (possibly a prayer). Then the speaker stood in the podium and started talking about how being Muslim helps you be connected to something. His speech was all about how being Muslim gives you a place to belong. He also talked about how to make tomorrow a better place and how we have to work towards that today. He went on to say that you should have a Quran in one hand, and a bible in the other hand. After his speech everyone lined up shoulder to shoulder. They did their rituals along to the prayer in Arabic then the people would repeat apart of it. The prayer in English says, “ God is great, God is great, God is great, God is great. I bear witness that there is no God but God. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God. I bear witness that there is no God but God. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God. Make haste towards prayer and success. Make haste towards prayer and success. God is great, God is great. There is no God but God.”
After the service was finished we got to talk to the speaker who was a Muslim scholar. We asked him a few questions. The main question I remember us asking was if God still speaks to people. He said no, but then took back his words very quickly and said only things of great significance. He wanted to be sure to not offend anyone who did believe that God still spoke. I think he also wanted to allow for people to believe that God does speak through the Quran. We as Christians would of course not agree with this and say that God speaks to people every day, almost every second. In class, we also said that most Muslims would say that they do not believe that God still speaks to people because they believe the Quran is the last revelation of God. It would contradict what the Quran says.
The last thing we asked the speaker about was what the hardest part of his religion was. He was shocked by our question. He stopped, and thought then replied by saying that there was nothing about his religion that was hard. He said it was an honor to be able to be a Muslim. This reply took me back. As I was waiting for his reply I was coming up with many ways that being a Christian was hard. When he said nothing, it made me feel guilty for the way I viewed my own religion and beliefs. I should also look at my religion as an hour to be able to worship Jesus. With my class later after we left the Mosque, we talked about his response and the reason why he said what he did. We talked about how he did not want to make it sound like being a Muslim was hard because he didn’t want to talk bad about his beliefs, when in reality he probably has many struggles and hardships with his religion. It still to me in incredible how he wanted to make sure to not talk down on his religion and humble himself. He was one of the most humble people I had ever met.
The main contradictions I had here at the mosque were the two men explaining about Muhammad’s revelation from God saying either “recite” or “read”, and how the Muslims kept talking about their religion like it is perfect and there are no bad spots to talk about, when in reality there are just a parts of their history that are not the most attractive things. There are parts of every religion, I think, that are not as pretty or attractive as other stories, but it is not wise to just not tell people in hopes that people will eventually forget them.
Our time at the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga Mosque was such an intellectual and life changing experience for me. I gained so much knowledge from learning about other people’s perspectives and beliefs. I also learned so much about myself and my own beliefs. I honestly think this experience will help me as a missionary in the future and reaching out to the Muslim community to share my own beliefs in comparison to theirs.
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