Islam-Movie from class

Last class we watched a video about the hajj. The video started by showing us four different people who had decided to take part in the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world. Hajj is also the fifth pillar of Islam. A Muslim is supposed to carry out this religious duty at least once in their lifetime. The Hajj is a demonstration of the Muslim peoples devotion to God.
In the video a lady who had been raised Catholic converted when she got older and became Muslim. She talked about how she found her real devotion in this religion and that she was ready to take go on the pilgrimage. It was interesting to listen to what she had to say about her devotion and the struggles that she faced throughout her journey. You could tell that it was an emotional time for her, as it is for most, but to me she didn't seem as connected to her religion as she said she was. I know it is a little thing to notice, but I noticed she was wearing makeup throughout the video. This surprised me because many people who spoke made it clear that this was a time to not care about your looks. It was no time for wearing makeup, jewelry or nice clothes. The hajj is meant to be a time where everyone is equal and everyone has the same purpose for taking this journey.
The lady also spoke about how it was difficult for her because she was from America but was still Muslim. She said that people gave her a hard time about that and I think that it took a lot of courage on her end to not let it discourage her.
In general the Hajj seems like a wonderful things for Muslims who want to go through this journey. From the video it sounds like an incredibly hard things to do. It sounds strenuous and very emotional. When I was watching I kept thinking to myself, I could never do this. I have my way of showing devotion and Muslims if they choose have this way of showing there devotion. I just can't imagine being among a crowd of thousands and thousand of people from all over the world, walking days and days stopping at different points along the way. I think what got to me the most was watching as everyone made it to the mountain, and when they climbed up sat down and prayed. Watching everyone's faces, seeing people cry and laugh and smile was wonderful. Even though I wasn't in Mecca with all of these people it gave me a little bit of an idea of how this much this pilgrimage means to Muslims.

Field Trip

After visiting the mosque on Friday I had learned some things I hadn't know before hand. It was also really nice getting so sit in on a service and see how Muslims worship instead of just watching movies and hearing the prayers in class. As I was sitting in the service I tried to follow the sermon but had a hard time hearing everything. I also enjoyed listening to the sermon and prayers said in Arabic. After the sermon prayers were said. Besides getting to talk to the man after the service (can't remember his name) I loved watching the prayers being said. After the service someone in the class asked why do you down on the ground when praying? The answer was simple, they go onto the floor while praying so that you are only thinking about God. When praying Muslims don't want to think about there work, the people around them, or any problems they may be having. The purpose of prayer is to pray to God and only think about God at that moment. I think this is a wonderful idea and before going to the Mosque didn't know this about prayer. When the man that we spoke to after the service asked us what we thought about how the men sit and front and women behind them I thought to myself that I did not like this. Just like in orthodox Judaism where women and men sit separately, I have never liked the idea of this. I think that it is only proper for families to sit with each other while praying, after all being surrounded by the people you love most I think is a good way to pray. This is how I felt until the man told us how the reason that men and women are mostly divided is also for a reason of being totally focused on prayer. The idea of sitting separately doesn't seem to bother me as much anymore. While I was watching the service I noticed that during prayer it seem that the men were participating more. It could have just been my imagination, but I could see that both men and women were going onto the ground while praying but I could only hear the voices of the men.

Islam

In class we read and discussed judgment day, the ethical behaviors of it. It is believed to be God's final assessment of humanity. On judgment day a persons life long path of life, mistakes and the good things you have done in life are judged. It is like God has a book of all of the events. The exact time when these events will occur is unknown, however there are said to be major and minor signs which are to occur is unknown, but there sins that occur near the time of the end time (Qiyamah). Judgment day sounds scary to me. I don't know if I would want to spend my whole life having to think about this list that God keeps of the good and bad I have done in my life, but at the same time I think it might make the world a better place. If you think about doing something bad and then realize that God is judging you, if it keeps you from doing this immoral thing than it might be beneficial to have something like judgment day.

We also read about heaven and hell. I think about heaven and hell from what I have learned from synagogue and the church that I used to attend at my Episcopalian school. In synagogue and the religion classes I have taken they teach us that we as Jews don't go to hell only to heaven. We don't believe in hell. In church they would talk about going to heaven or hell according to if you were a good or bad person in life. If you committed many sins you go to hell. When talking about heaven (mostly) and hell in class for the Islamic religion we learned that heaven is very indulgent. Heaven is also know as Paradise. There are different levels of this paradise. I believe that the different levels come from what kind of person you were on earth. Judgment day determines this.

Muslims believe in heaven as part of their faith. We read about heaven in class. We read about how once a Muslim reaches heaven or paradise this is where they will stay. We read about the abundance of wealth and beauty. When reading about this I had to ask myself would I want my heaven to be like this? Or do I even believe in this kind of heaven?

This past week my brother had a friend die suddenly. Out of frustration and confusion I was asking my mom why would this ever happen to such a young boy? At the same time I was asking her what was going to happen to him now that he was gone. Of course my mom knowing nothing more about heaven than I do simply said, "he will go to heaven, I don't know what that means but he is in heaven now. I like to think that my brothers friend is in a wonderful heaven where he has everything that he desires.

I don't know if I want heaven to be like the descriptions we read about in class. I think that once you die, money, sex and material objects just aren't that important anymore. I think heaven should be a simple, comfortable place to go after living a long wonderful life.