I grew up in a household that valued Islam and science (something which might seem paradoxical to a number of atheists). It wasn’t overly religious, and it wasn’t secular either. MTV and Bay Watch weren’t forbidden, yet they weren’t embraced. The focus was mainly on the spiritual aspects of Islam, for I was taught that without a solid spiritual foundation, the rest would be wobbly and misguided.
My parents pray five times a day, everyday, and while they encouraged me to do the same as a child, they never forced me to do so against my own will. I was free to make my own choices. Eventually I chose to follow my dad once in a while to the neighborhood mosque, a mosque that was blessed with a young charismatic Imam possessing a very beautiful voice. He had the ability to “sing” the Koran so beautifully, your mind got swept to a peaceful realm so far away, you never had to worry about a single thing. It was then that I slowly began to develop the habit of praying.
Now at 20, with ever-increasing stress-causing factors, prayer just keeps getting better. Why do I do it? Simple. It’s a form of meditation (when performed right).
It’s not just a set of “up and down” movements. It’s certainly not out of greed for heaven, and it’s surely not out of fear of hell’s eternal inferno. Those are both common views, which in my opinion, are unfortunately over-emphasized and hammered into our heads from a very young age sometimes. They should be minimal reasons for praying.
I pray because it’s calming, because it’s soothing and because it’s relaxing. It feels best when I’m not in a hurry. It feels absolutely best when performed as if it’s the last prayer I’ll ever have the chance to perform.
Some pop Xanax to relax themselves. Some listen to Bob Marley and smoke marijuana while ignoring all the associated health risks. Others practice a little Yoga. If Islam was a burden, I would have given it up a long time ago, and hence I prefer to pray five times a day.
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
“I grew up in a household that valued Islam and science (something which might seem like a paradox to many atheists”
My father has many Turkish students in his college, most of them female. He tells me that female Turks study very hard because their families threaten to marry them to somebody in Turkey they have never met. But being (non-Wahabi) Muslims, they value science and research and would not marry off their daughter as long as she is studying successfully.
Many atheists forget that monotheism is very similar to atheism. Both reject the possibility of lots of non-observable and fantastic factors influencing the world, and that is the important thing. Islam (and Christianity and Judaism) did not convince an atheistic world that there is a mystical being watching over us, Islam (and…) told a world that believed in magic and fairies and other fantasies, that there is only and exactly ONE creator, and not a bunch of fighting gods that we can blame for everything.
Islam was a great source of scientists because all pure monotheistic religions are. That’s what it was about.
And it seems to me that many atheists today are atheists because they figure that by being atheists they are already so far advanced over anybody religious that they don’t have to do a lot to be more “rational” or “intelligent” than other people. (OTOH a Muslim believing in G-d is not as irrational as an atheist believing in aliens and UFOs.)
Belief in G-d is entirely rational, as rational as not believing in G-d. Belief in something we can see does not exist is irrational, but we cannot see G-d.
You cannot value Islam without valuing science.
not praying in the monotheist way doesn’t mean we are “atheist”, we can have a kind of praying if we are sensitive to any spirituality that exist on our planet ; poets and artists are often the firsts to discern it ; in Chamanism it is mostly question of spirituality, Buddhism and Taoism
too.
Anyway each one can find his/her way to find serenity, could be philisophy too, at least if our brain is working, that’s OK
True,it is very soothing and relaxing when its slow,focused and from the heart,i just hope we could continue praying like that all the time…
neeewwaayz liked the piece
tc
“The focus was mainly on the spiritual aspects of Islam, for I was taught that without a solid spiritual foundation, the rest would be wobbly and misguided.”
How I wish that were taught more often everywhere. Wobbly and misguided indeed.
There are many controversial notorious verses in the Koran that call upon Muslims to wage jihad. It is in my view that they must be understood within their right context. Moreover the reasons behind the revelation of each verse must also be understood. Millions of Muslims share this view with me.
If you’ve picked up a Koran before, you’d know that the majority of verses have nothing to do with jihad/war e.g. “there is no compulsion in religion”. There’s so much beauty in the Koran.
If I allow my heart to be poisoned with hatred towards Americans, Jews, Kuffar etc. chances are I’ll easily swallow what crazy Mullahs say when they mix Islam with their twisted political agendas.
Hatred consumes the hater, not the hated. Why would God want us to consume ourselves with hatred? If anything religion should be a source of comfort and a force for good.
It all begins at the spiritual level. To me, that is true Islam.
This is a great post, Drima, and I agree with you completely. Without the spiritual core, religion becomes a shell. A shell that eventually collapses on the believers.
Drima, I reccomend that you look up a book called Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. Brilliant book, fantasy and satire, and one I’m sure you’ll enjoy.
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett huh? I’ll look it up.
Thanks.
wonderful post drima. A lot of muslims do not truly understand the purpose behind prayer or salat. The word salat itself is derived from the arabic word sila which means connection. The true purpose is to establish a spiritual connection with God that refreshes our souls and renews our faith. As for science and religion I don’t know when the idea that these two can’t be embraced by the same person, but there have been many great examples of religious scientists.
Nice post, Drima. I know another Muslim who feels the same way.
Praying felt strange to me at first when I embraced Islam back in 2004, it felt like I was just making “up and down movements” as u said and perfoming prayer in a foreign tongue didn’t feel right. It wasn’t until Ramadan that year that I felt I was finally making a connection to Allah.
Nice post, thanks for sharing
Stephen, I’ve experimented previously with Yoga. I didn’t feel its benefits at first, but after a while I started to. So I guess I can somehow relate to your experience.
The conflict between science and religion can be attributed to two factors, those being the Catholic Church during the late middle-ages, which interpreted reality by way of religious dogma and shunned any contradiction to the ever growing dogmata, and the atheist scientists of the 19th century, many of whom believed that religion is a form of ignorance and a blight on the world.
Both views are utter rubbish.
Hey mr drima!! i haven’t been here in a while, i say touche to this post, EXACT SAME STORY! the alternatives are always convenient but nothing beats the real thing i guess.
anyhoos give me your gmail, i never see you online anymore but whateeyvers, i wanna invite you to my blog, you’ve to be invited to read it so yes get back to me
“Both views are utter rubbish.”
Yup, yup, yup!
Mush! Man, I hate logging on to any of the instant messengers. Waaaaaay too many people will start swarming me and we’ll end up chatting for at least 5 hours. Check your email in 5 minutes and reply with the link and invitation.
Okay buzz off, time to take the conversation to your private side.
Waaaaaay too many people will start swarming me
fanclub?
Drima, would you be offended if I call you more than just a Muslim ?
You should marry sister Hipster and have 1+ billion sane Muslim kids. (maybe you should have 4 wives
Then the world would be a better (albeit more crowded) place.
“Prayer doesn’t change God…. it changes you”
-C.S.Lewis
This post, though short is one of your best. I relate to it more than any of your previous ones. Your life history is so strikingly similar to mine; my Parents too, were very serious about prayers when I was growing up - but none of them forced me. They allowed me to have my own way.
And I chose prayers - five times a day and in time. Like you, nothing soothes me like prayers; and nothing directs my daily beaviour and ,mood like it. I am always calm and very much at peace with the world around me: thanks to prayers.
Drima: are you really 20? I believe you are between 40 and 60 - your writings are so. Physically, you might be young, but mentally - you are a wise old man.
“Drima, would you be offended if I call you more than just a Muslim ?”
Halalhippie, I still have many flaws I need to work on. And bro, Hipster is 5 years older than me. She’ll probably bully me if we get married.
Barsawad, thanks for your kind words.
“I believe you are between 40 and 60″
Nooooo, I’ll become senile too soon.
Totally support the “meditation” part. My best friend in Qatar used to spend whole days with me in my house very often as she didn’t have a friendly atmosphere at home to go to, and she would pray in my house and make me pray with her. I would repeat her moves and listen to her without understanding anything, and yet it was so calming and my mind would be cleared of all things for few minutes. It wasn’t even religious for me as I am an atheist, but there was certain tranquility in it, certain peace, that it became something I used to look forward to
that’s one of the sweetest descriptions of the prayer
Leave a Comment