Since coming to Lebanon, I've made it a practice to follow the work of the Holy Spirit. That means that I wait for God to put things in front of me, rather than seeking them out or trying to do it myself. I just walk throughout he open doors, and have given up trying to beat them down myself. Well, I've mostly given it up. This last week God placed in my path one of the most unusual experiences of my life, and I'd like to share that with you.
I was speaking with a Muslim friend about what happens in the Mosque, and his religious practices. Ignorance breeds fear, and fear robs us of the boldness to love the unloveable. I'd like to be able to love without fear those who try to find God through Islam. So, the more I can learn about them, the better.
In the course of our discussion, he said "Why don't you come to the Mosque with me on Friday when I go to pray?" I've been praying outside Mosques for a couple of months now. Whenever I hear the Islamic call to prayer blaring from the loudspeakers, I think of all the lost souls who follow that call. I pray that the Holy Spirit will move and draw them to Jesus. A chance to go inside and pray that prayer in the very stronghold itself? I couldn't pass up that open door.
So, Friday I joined my friend for breakfast and then we headed for the Mosque. Traffic was heavy and he misjudged the start time of the service, so we were late in arriving. The time of the service is based on day length (position of the sun) and it changes slowly every day according to the seasons. Normally the service starts off with a speech (like a sermon), and that had already begun when we arrived.
First we went downstairs to go through the ritual washing. The condition of being ritually clean is called "Wuduuh," which begins with bathing well (or showering as I did) before leaving home. We took off our shoes and went downstairs to a very large washroom. There were small stone seats lining the walls, each one with a water spigot. We rolled up our sleeves and did a series of washing motions, each was done three times -hands, face, ears, hair, and finally feet. After drying we went back upstairs to the main chamber.
At the risk of detracting from the serious tone of this article, I have to take a moment to bring out the humor of the situation. After the showering and washing, I was not prepared for the smell. There was an overpowering odor of foot funk. Imagine that perhaps 1500 men had taken off their shoes and left them airing out in the back of the room. I'm quite sure that not everyone went through the whole washing routine, because I saw some of them just walk straight in from the street. It was quit rank.
We sat cross-legged on the floor and listened to the Imam as he finished his speech. He would read in singsong from the Quran (this is the normal way of reading it) and then discuss the passage briefly. He was reading from Chapter Two (The Cow) and talking about the importance of being steadfast. With perhaps 1500 in the room, every eye was on him and there was not a sound to disturb his talking.
After his speech, the leader did what my friend called "wishing." Everyone stood and bowed his head, and the leader spoke aloud what might otherwise appear to be a prayer. There is a vital difference, though. When we Christians pray, we talk to God about what we hope he will do, and ask him about those things most important to us. When Muslims do an individual "prayer" they just talk about what they wish God would do. He wasn't asking God to do anything, but rather just publicly talking about what he wished God would do.
This is a profound difference, because there is great power in our prayers to God. "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much." So I want to leave you with this sobering thought on the matter -you must pray all the more for Muslims because they cannot pray for you.
When he finished "wishing," it was time for the ritual prayers. Now, let me make it clear that I did not pray the ritual Islamic prayers. While I might have been able to pick and choose a few things I could say in good conscience, I thought it better not to say anything at all just to avoid the possibility of saying something which stands against the Gospel.
The first thing that made an impression on me was that they all moved forward and stood shoulder to shoulder in straight lines. The men were very careful not to leave any space open in front of them. Imagine a Church where the congregation filled all the front pews completely full before sitting in one further back. So, I ended up boxed in tightly on all sides.
When the prayer began, everything was in unison. Completely in unison -there were 1500 or so men there and I didn't notice anyone moving on his own. So the next impression is that this was very much a group or corporate experience, not an individual one. I think it serves to reinforce their faith in their beliefs.
You may wonder what I was praying. It was something like this: Lord, I'm surrounded in this room by 1500 men who are like sheep without a shepherd. They're coming here to find some hope in this ritual but there's no hope other then you. Come to them now, Lord Jesus. Send the Holy Spirit here to draw men to you. They need a deliverer, please Lord, come and save them. I pray this in Jesus' name.
They recited the first book from the Quran (it is always the one used) and did the series of motions called "Riq'a" as the spoke. First they bent down at the waist, then stood, then prostrated on hands and knees with forehead touching the floor. Then they sat upright before making another prostration on the floor. After that everyone stood upright again. Then the whole process was repeated once more. After that, everyone greeted his neighbor with Tiqabblik Allah "God has drawn you close," and then they left.
I've had a chance to reflect on the spiritual implications of what I was able to witness. First, it was very corporate in nature, nothing was done individually -which I think serves to re-enforce the idea of Islam as a culture and government.
The whole thing seemed empty of any joyful worship -no singing by the people, no laughing or talking at all, and no time of personal connection to God. Also, there wasn't an opportunity to bring things before God.
Imagine for a moment a life where you could only wish that God might help you. When Muslims come together, even then they just wish as a group. Comforter, Redeemer, Savior, Friend -none of those are part of the concept of God being put forward.
Please pray for these men and this Mosque. They need Jesus! Please also pray for my friend. I'm praying that this opens the door for me to bring him to Church with me. Even more, I'm praying that God will move in a mighty way to bless this land and bring it to him. In Jesus' name we pray! Amen.
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