"I could be a Muslim".
I felt so strongly that all this would be enough to come to God, to experience God, to be helped to live a devout life, without fuss, without superstition, without distractions. Purely and simply the devotion to God, the worship of God, a life of purity and simplicity.
The Imam also read some sentences in Dutch:
"Do not let a person who is convinced of the
existence of Allah and the afterlife, bother his neighbours!
Let a person who is convinced of the existence of
Allah and the afterlife, treat his guests well.
Let a person, who is convinced of Allah and the afterlife, speak something
useful or silence. “
Of course, one can only agree with that.
At some point all the men stood, women were sitting separately somewhere in the gallery of the building, in a row and then the impact was so strong, along with the singing, that I felt that everyone was one, only God counted, and all were children of the same God indiscriminately. And it reminded me strongly, actually my feelings did, of communion in a Catholic church and the application of a Bindi on the forehead in a Hindu temple.
Moving, heart-warming, powerful, devotional, radiating
unity.
We stayed behind for a while, because we wanted to speak with the Imam, but it was very pleasant, so afterwards enjoying everything. We also lost a bit a sense of time, did it took half an hour, an hour, two hours, we didn't know.
For days everything kept vividly and I like that the Imam said that we were always very welcome. He gave us a few booklets that we really weren't allowed to pay for. He actually said "no, no, we're not talking about money here".
Will You comment on this, please?
You could be a Muslim, it occurred to you.
My son, you are a Muslim, because you are "a man who
surrenders". Haven't you been doing that all your life?
But you mean in religion to be a Muslim, so leave the Catholic Church
and join the Islam.
Thank you for your openness, for your receptivity and your honesty.
That's quite a lot, as a "writer of these ecumenical blogs". But
hadn't you asked my son in advance for the spirit of humility and the spirit of
Islamic devotion?
And they touched you, obviously. And that's how it should be, because
you wanted to listen, experience, understand. And with such openness, I, your
God, your YHWH, your Allah, can hear to the maximum.
You described how special you thought it was when everyone stood in a line, all in the same way their hands receptively directed at Allah, the imam sang a Surah and you literally felt as if this was what the Catholics experience during the distribution of communion, and the Hindus when they get the bindi from the Pandit.
It is not the same, even not from a spiritual perspective.
But I deliberately let rest here what the similarities or differences
are. Because they are not important in this context.
Importantly, you have experienced a culmination in the mosque, of the
prayer of the faithful in their unity. And the Imam was pleasantly surprised
that you told him that you were very touched by this and that this seemed to be
the highlight of the meeting here.
Of course it is the best that you did not make the comparison with the
Catholics and the Hindus because this Orthodox imam could not have confirmed
that. However, you could safely express that it was a highlight of the devotion
and reverence for Allah and that on that moment all were equal without
distinction of person and thus all children of Allah. The imam could only
confirm this.
Much more has happened and seen and experienced by you what you now let rest here because of the length of the blog. That's good, but one thing I want to emphasize.
The gate with Oriental tiles that symbolically refers to Mecca, like all
mosques in the world and the imam's explanation of this when you spoke to him
afterwards.
This gate contributes enormously to the power and energetic effect of
the mosque on the faithful. It has a big impact, because of the imagination and
the symbolism, but also literally because the gate says: you are not alone here
in this mosque. There are many of you. You are connected to all other Muslims
around the world. And in that sense it resembles to the Catholics who are
united in one world church under the Pope. One religion all over the world. And
the impact of that is big.
In addition, the imam emphasized that one is focused on Mecca and the Black stone not as superstition but that both refer to Allah alone. And that's how it should be.
Your niece and you are blessed.
My blessings to you all
No 536
