Everyone considered tall, skinny Omar the best soccer player on my team. He also belonged to the Muslim religion. Omar’s Dad, the Imam of Omar’s mosque, invited me to their house to learn about the Muslim religion.
Giant trees surrounded Omar’s large white home. A rope swing hung from a thick branch. Orange and yellow flowers sprouted from the beds of the lush green lawn. Omar left his bicycle in the driveway.
Mr. Aadil stood on the porch. He laughed as Stormy, Omar’s black poodle, knocked them over with excitement. Mr. Aadil hugged Omar and greeted me with a handshake.
Omar’s home was warm and inviting inside. In the kitchen, Mr. Aadil went about fixing us a snack. He asked us about school. We told Mr. Aadil about the history lesson on the civil rights movement. I told Mr. Aadil that both Omar and I got a perfect grade on the math quiz. (My mom said it was ok to brag if you didn’t do it too often.)
Mr. Aadil set down two tall glasses of orange juice and some carrot sticks, sliced apples and walnuts. “Omar tells me you want to know about Islam?”
I nodded. “I read a little bit about the history, but that was all.”
“What did you learn?”
After I cleared my throat, I said, “Islam is the second most popular religion in the world. There are over a billion and a half Muslims. Mohammed had started the religion of Islam. Mohammed was born around 570 C.E. in Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. Muslims believe that God sent the Archangel Gabriel to Mohammed. The angel gave Mohammed the Koran, the Muslim holy book.”
“We call God ‘Allah,”’ Omar said. “Allah is the ruler of the Universe.”
I wanted to ask how Omar knew Allah was the ruler of the Universe, but now I could guess Omar’s answer. Omar would say because the Koran said so. He believed God spoke through the Koran.
The Hindus believe God spoke through the Vedas.
The Jewish people believe God spoke through the Torah.
The Christians believe God inspired the Bible.
These beliefs were a matter of faith. There was no evidence that they were true.
“Is an imam like a priest or rabbi for Muslims?” I asked.
“Imams are a little different. An Imam is someone who has memorized the Koran, and who leads the community in prayer.”
“Are the lady Imams called Iwomans?” I asked.
Omar fell over laughing. Mr. Aadil laughed, too. ‘We do not have women Imams. The Koran forbids it.”
“Oh!” I said, adding, “That doesn’t seem fair.” Ladies couldn’t be Catholic priests, either. Both my mom and dad said it was not fair. Men and women were equal and must be treated the same. All opportunities should be open to both woman and men.
“It is not our place to question the wisdom of Allah,” Mr. Aadil said.
That didn’t work for me, but my mom taught me to be polite, so I took a sip of orange juice and did not reply. I felt it was important to question things, especially important ideas. What if someone misunderstood what Allah meant? No one would know, if they didn’t question things! That seemed wrong. In the olden days, people treated men better than women, but now everyone knows men and women were equal. It was only fair.
In the olden days people believed in slavery, but now we know that is very wrong. Still, slavery was okay in both bible and the Koran. It is because they were both written for a different time.
“Did you read about the five pillars of Islam?” Mr. Aadil asked.
I shook my head. “Are they like the rules?”
“Exactly,” Mr. Aadil smiled.
“The Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians have rules, too,” I said. “Rabbi Daniel said the one thing Jews have a lot of is rules.” He thought the Hindus’ ahisma, the Buddhists’ Eightfold Path, and most of the Ten Commandments stood as good rules to live by, even if you didn’t belong to those religions.
Mr. Aadil explained that Muslims share the Ten Commandments with the Jews and the Christians. Muslims believe Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were prophets sent by God before Mohammed. They believe Mohammed to be the last and most important of God’s prophets.
“What are the five pillars of Islam?”
“The first pillar of Islam is that Muslims must declare their faith; Muslims must say to the world, “I bear witness that there is no God, but Allah; I bear witness that Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.”
“That seems easy,” I said.
“The second one is that we must pray five times a day,” Omar said. “We kneel on prayer mats and face the direction of Mecca.”
“Why do you do that, face Mecca?” I asked.
“Mohammed commanded it,” Mr. Aadil said. ‘We face Mecca as a demonstration of our devotion and respect. The third pillar is that we must give a fixed portion of our income to charity.”
“It’s a rule to give to poor people?”
“Yes, a very important rule.”
I remembered, “Jesus wanted people to help the poor people, too. The Buddhists, too.”
“Most religions encourage charity,” Mr. Aadil nodded.
“What’s the fourth pillar?”
“Ah. All Muslims must fast during the month of Ramadan.”
Amazed, I set down my orange juice. “You don’t eat anything for a month?”
Omar rolled his eyes and laughed. “I would die of starvation.”
Mr. Aadil laughed, too. ‘We eat a small meal before sunrise and then at exactly sunset we celebrate with iftar.”
“I love iftar!” Omar said.
“And, on the first day after Ramadan we have a huge celebration. Eid al-Fitr.”
“My favorite day of the year,” Omar announced. “Eid al-Fitr is like a three-day party with friends and family. Parties, presents, cake, candies…”
Omar’s excitement made me laugh. “Do you have to fast?” I wondered.
Mr. Aadil nodded. “Fasting reminds us of the importance of Allah and our religion. By fasting, we celebrate Mohammed receiving the Koran. It also helps us strive to be better people.”
“Fasting reminds us of all of Allah’s blessings,” Omar said.
“Fasting would be a big reminder!” I said.
“And the last pillar of Islam is that you must go on the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This is only if it you can afford it. There in Mecca with millions of other Muslims, you pray at the Masjid al-Haram Mosque and perform certain rituals—”
“What are rituals?”
“Rituals are things you do for your religion. There are many rituals we do during the Hajj before praying at the Kaaba.”
“What’s the Kaaba?”
“It is a cube-shaped building built long, long ago by Abraham and his son Ishmael. It is inside the grand Masjid al-Haram mosque.”
“I will go to Mecca for the Hajj when I turn eighteen,” Omar announced proudly.
“Cool,” I replied. “Wow. The five pillars of Islam are different from other religions’ rules.” I thought about them. “They are mostly about Allah.”
“You are a very smart boy, Franklin,” Mr. Aadil nodded. “Muslims believe the purpose in life is to worship Allah.”
Worshiping played a big part in many religions. The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religion all said God demanded worship. Why would God want people to worship him? Why did this matter so much to God?
I had another question about Islam. “Do Muslims believe, like a lot of Christians, in the devil?”
“In Islam the devil is called Iblis. He is a jinn, like a lesser angel.” Mr. Aadil noticed my look of confusion. “You have trouble with the devil?”
“I don’t believe in the devil,” I admitted. God might be a mystery, but I knew there was no devil. “I don’t believe there really is a mean spirit who has horns and a tail and scales. That doesn’t seem real at all. That sounds like pretend. To scare people.”
“I’m not sure Muslims have that same idea of the devil, Franklin,” Mr. Aadil said. “But Muslims believe our puny human minds cannot comprehend Allah. It is impossible. You must have faith to believe.”
I thought about kind Imam Aadil’s words all the way home. Rabbi Daniel said the same thing. People needed faith to believe in God. Faith meant believing in something without science or evidence.
I would continue exploring these interesting questions about religion and God. I would keep an open mind to new ideas, but I might always be an agnostic like my dad.
Oso spotted my mom’s car and ran out of the house. Oso jumped on me and I laughed as I hugged him.
Oso was someone I could really get my arms around!
