When in Rome....

The longer I live here, the more Bahraini I become.  I've decided that the eating schedule my Bahraini friends follow is fantastic: 

• Breakfast:  10am-11am
• Lunch: 3pm-4pm 
• Dinner:  8pm-9pm

On Tuesday, we experienced this eating schedule.  We had breakfast with friends at Fudruckers at 10, and by the time we got home it was time to put the kids down for the afternoon nap.  We then went to someone else's house for lunch (we weren't actually expecting lunch, but a great spread was brought out after we arrived!)  So we munched on lunch while chatting.  I was content for the day, and had a light snack in the evening. 

Not only that, but it is traditional to give kids money during Eid.  so as we left, our friends (at both breakfast and lunch!) stuck a couple of dinars in Eva and Gabe's pockets!  They are still too little to understand what money is (thank goodness), but we've got a few ideas for things that they would both enjoy.   

Eid Al Adha Part 4: Stoning and Sacrifice

You can read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.

This is the second day of the Hajj.  To recap, the day before Hajj is the ritual cleansing.  The first day of Hajj itself is the praying for forgiveness.  Today is the second day of Hajj – the stoning and sacrifice.

1.  What People are Doing on Hajj:  The night before, those on Hajj spent the night at a place called Muzdalifa where some slept and some stayed awake all night.  When they wake up, they will head to Mina where there are three pillars.  Before I talk about the rituals, it would be good to describe the Quranic version of events. 

Christians will recall that Abraham had been promised a son.  Impatient that God had not provided a son through Sarah, Abraham takes a concubine to bear him a son – Ishmael.  Later on, God asks Abraham to show his devotion to God by sacrificing his son.  Muslims believe that the son to be sacrificed was Ishmael. 

While on his way to perform the sacrifice, Satan appears three times tempting Abraham to ignore God’s instructions concerning the sacrifice of Ishmael.  Muslims believe that Abraham threw stones at Satan.  As Abraham was about to sacrifice Ishmael, God provided a ram to be sacrificed instead, satisfied that Abraham was totally committed to Him.

Now back to those on Hajj.  They have arrived at Mina where there are three large pillars.  They will throw stones (collected as they walk from one location to the next) at the three pillars, which represent Satan, and the three times he tempted Abraham.  While stoning the pillars, people renounce evil and declare their willingness to sacrifice all they have to God. Once they have finished the stoning, they will kill a sheep or a goat in memorial of God’s provision for a substitute for Ishmael. 

2.   What people are doing in Bahrain:  again, I’m not sure.  I’ve not done enough research for this.  Many, though, are probably killing a sheep, goal or a camel (or some other animal) as a way to remember God providing a sheep in place of Abraham’s son.

3.  Beliefs: 

• Satan tries to thwart one’s obedience to God.
• Evil must be resisted and one must be willing to sacrifice all they have to God
• Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past

4.  Similarities and Differences

• Difference: The Story of Abraham’s Sacrifice – there is a lot to be said about the differences between the stories in the Quran and the Bible.  I’ll highlight two things.  First, the Bible does not mention Satan tempting Abraham (though I imagine there were a lot of serious misgivings as Abraham approached the sacrifice).  Second, the Bible identifies Isaac as the son to be sacrificed, as opposed to Ishmael.
• Similarity:  Like Muslims, followers of Jesus acknowledge that there is a spiritual battle.  Satan tries to tempt followers of Jesus and thwart God’s plans – the plan which is ultimately to poor out His love on His people. Romans 8:35-39 might be an appropriate verse to put here:
  ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

                                “For your sake we face death all day long;
                                 we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Similarity:  We must resist evil.  Followers of Jesus understand that God has prepared us as vessels of righteousness.  We also understand that everything that we have is a gift from God.  And as such, we are to use all things we have for the Glory of God.
• Similarity:  Like Muslims, we also remember God’s faithfulness in the past, albeit in different ways.  We have Christmas – the remembering of the birth of Jesus.  We also have Easter (which in some ways is the equivalent of Eid Al Adha), which remembers Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins. 

Eid Al Adha Part 3: Wuqoof – Standing at Arafat

You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Yesterday was a busy day for us, and I didn’t get a chance to write.  My apologies to all three of my readers.  Today I will be more on top of it.

1.  What People are Doing on Hajj | Wuqoof

This is the first day of the Hajj itself, and may be the most important day of Hajj (my Muslim friends can correct me if I’m wrong).   Today is the day when Muslims gather on the Plain of Arafat and face Mecca.  Many will fast, as fasting atones for the guilt of the previous year and the following year.  From Noon till sundown, they pray on the following topics:

• They should remember God
• They should ask for forgiveness
• They should pray other Islamic prayers

An especially sacred moment is during the setting of the sun.  During this time, people are alone with God.  It is during this time that they are requesting that sins and lifelong shortcomings be forgiven.  At sunset, a cannon signals the end of the ritual and pilgrims head to Muzdalifa.  At this location many will sleep and some will stay up all night. 

2.  What people are doing in Bahrain:  I’ve not been able to find out a whole lot.  The people I was going to ask have not been around.  However, the roads were fairly quiet yesterday.  I didn’t see a whole lot of Bahraini’s out.  When we were out, it was mostly expatriates on the roads and in the grocery store.  I imagine that some people are fasting (even though they are not on Hajj) and many people are visiting family.

3.  Beliefs behind the rituals: 

• People are seeking to be forgiven for their sins.  It is important to note that the emphasis is on the shame of sins.  Our sins are shameful before God’s eyes.  Our sins separate us from God and we must be forgiven for those sins.
• People are seeking intimacy and closeness with God.  This goes hand in hand with the first.  In order to have intimacy and closeness with God, the shame of our sins must be removed from us, for God is a Holy God.
• God is a Holy God, and he cannot tolerate our sinfulness and the shame we bring on ourselves through our sin separates us from God.

4.  Similarities and Differences to Christianity

• Similarity:  As a follower of Jesus, I must seek forgiveness for my sins.  In fact, I am invited to do it in 1 John 1:8-9: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Difference:  My sin is only forgiven because Jesus – the Son of God – has taken the punishment.  My sin has brought shame on me that separates me from God, and since God is a Holy and Righteous God, He must deal with my shame.  In His mercy, God placed the punishment on Jesus instead of me, giving me freedom from the shame I have brought upon myself.
• Similarity:  followers of Jesus seek intimacy with God.  In fact, people of many religions seek intimacy with God.  But, since God is Holy and cannot tolerate the shame of man’s sin, we cannot experience intimacy with Him outside of the forgiveness of sin.  Why seek intimacy with God?  Because God is all satisfying.  
• Similarity:  God is a Holy God.  God is Righteousness.  God is Mercy.  God is Forgiving.  God is Love.   

Eid Al Adha: Ihram - The Ritual Cleansing (Part 2)

Read Part 1 - Introduction. 

Eid is three days long, and it technically starts tomorrow.  So businesses were open yesterday and today.  Tomorrow the Eid starts and will last until Thursday.  Even though Eid starts tomorrow, it is still an important day for those who are on Hajj, or making the pilgrimage to the Grand Mosque (Masjid al Haram) in Mecca. 

1.  What People are Doing on Hajj | Ihram – Ritual Cleaning

Before one can even enter the area of Mecca where the pilgrimage rituals take place, he must cleanse himself.  Once the ritual cleaning is done, he must wear two white cloths (one around the waste, one around the shoulders) without stitching.  Everyone must do this, and so everyone – regardless of social status – performs the hajj as an equal of everyone else.  There is no discernable difference between a peasant and a president. Now that he has been cleansed, he can enter Mecca through the Miqat, the entry place into the area of the Hajj.

After entering Mecca, he will head to the Grand Mosque (where the Kabaa is kept) praying the Talbiyah:

Here I am at Thy service O Lord, here I am, here I am at Thy service and Thou hast no partners.  Thine alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and Thine alone is The Sovereignty.  Thou hast no partners.

After visiting the Grand Mosque, pilgrims will walk to a tent city called Mina, continuing to quote the Talbiyah prayer.  From here, he will spend the night in meditation and prayer.

3.  What People are doing here in Bahrain: I found out today that the Eid Al Adha is, among other things, for the purpose of honoring those who are on the Hajj.  So as Muslims in Mecca start the Hajj tomorrow, so starts the Eid.   Today there isn’t a whole lot going on.  Tomorrow there won’t

2.  The Beliefs: what are the beliefs that drive the rituals?

• To come before God, one must be clean
• God must be sought above all else, and we are His servants. 
• We are slaves of God

4.  Similarities and Differences to Christianity:  This summer, I mentioned to a group of people that we (Christians/Americans and Muslims) share a lot of values.   One person asked skeptically what I meant.  And so we have here some examples of the convergence of beliefs:

• To come before God, one must be clean.  This is central to those who follow Jesus.  God is a Holy God, and He will not – cannot, even – tolerate unholiness in His presence.  And so to go before Him, we must be cleansed of our sins.  We must be absolved of the shame that we have brought upon ourselves.  Where I differ from my Muslim friends is that my shame has been borne by Jesus Christ.  As the perfect Son of God, He took the punishment for my own sin and has cleansed me.  Having taken the free gift of Jesus’ cleansing, I am able to enter into God’s presence. 
• All Praise and Honor Belong to God.  God is Sovereign.   How can any follower of Christ deny such a statement about God? 
• We are servants of God.  Romans 6:18 “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness”.  Through Jesus, we are no longer slaves to sin, but have been set apart (made holy) for the purpose of Righteousness. The name Abdulla (a common name in Bahrain) means “Slave of God”.  We are set apart for God.  
• One of the differences is that Jesus redefined how His followers do worship.  Jews also had one particular place in which to worship God - the temple in Jerusalem.  However, when talking to the Woman at the Well, Jesus says that we will worship in spirit and in truth, and that physical location does not matter.  
• To clarify the point above:  Muslims do not need to go on Hajj to worship God.  However, it is an act required by all those who have the means - physically and financially. 

Eid Al Adha - Hajj (Part 1)

We have a week off from school this next week.  The holiday is for Eid Al Adha, or the Festival of Sacrifice.  I've learned about a lot of the Muslim holidays over the last four years, but this one is the one that is least familiar to me (partially because its always happened over Christmas break, which overshadows much else for me).  But to learn a little bit more about it, and in an effort to give you an idea of what it is, I'm going to blog about it on each of the important days.

Many people will be cursorily familiar with this Eid as its the time that Muslims go on Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca.  The Hajj is a four day long ceremony - one day of cleansing and three days of various rituals.  A good parallel might be Christmas pageants or Passion Plays that many Christians participate in (at least in the US).  Many of us have performed in plays as children or adults, for the purpose of remembering what happened at Easter and Christmas.  These holidays are remembrances and celebrations of God coming to earth (in the form of Jesus) and Jesus sacrificing himself for our sin and shame. 

My goal is to do four things for each day: 

1.  Talk about the rituals on Hajj

2.  Identify the beliefs driving those rituals

3.  Describe the traditions of people here in Bahrain

4.  See where these beliefs converge and diverge from Christianity

It might be good to point out that these will be fairly general.  People have written whole books on Islam and Christianity, and whole books on small segments of each.  So this isn't an effort to be exhaustive.  Links will probably be provided to give clarity to certain parts that I'm not going to cover here.  

Hope you learn something!