Zona

Islamic day part 2. I had a really good conversation with a Muslim man who had escaped persecution in Somalia for the safety of the United States. He had a pamphlet in Arabic. He used to be a preacher or Imam but now he travels to see friends and family and teaches. He explained the pamphlet to me.

There are three types of people. The first are ignorant or unknowing. The second are those who know what they should not do but are weak and transgress. The third are those who know and purposely transgress.

An ignorant man went into a mosque and started to urinate in a corner. The people in the mosque wanted to grab him and throw him out of course but the prophet stopped them. "Let him finish" he told the group. The prophet then got water and cleaned up the mess and took the man aside. He told the man, "this is a mosque. It is where prayers are said and the Koran is read. It is not for urinating". "Oh God have mercy on me!" the man exclaimed.

The Imam explained to me that if the prophet would have allowed the men to grab the ignorant man things would have been worse as you can imagine. If you stop in the middle of urinating it can cause health problems. If you grab a man when he is urinating the urine goes all over. OR the man could have ended up naked after the struggle which is the worse of all.

The Imam told me that the man asked forgiveness from the prophet but looked at the crowd and said "but don't forgive them".

At that point I said "ah but the man must forgive those who were going to transgress against him" to which the Imam said, "yes, you are right".

We talked for about an hour about Islam which I know is a religion of peace. We parted as happy friends.

Years ago the then head of my religion was asked what we should think of people practicing other religions. His answer was that people who are steadfast in seeking righteousness are on a path towards righteousness and we should be joyful and respectful of them.