Islam
By the Islamic calendar known as Hijri, today is Friday 27 Rajab 1426 A.H., a holiday known as "Isra and Miraj" which celebrates Muhammad's miraculous one-night journey from Mecca to the al-Aqsa mosque at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Muslim tradition states that Muhammad ascended to heaven from the mount in 621, making the mosque the third most holy shrine in Islam.
Our apartment is across the street from one of the newer of several mosques in Male'. It's normally full on Friday, the sabbath, but today it was overflowing. I was just returning from a walk around the island in the cool and breezy morning. As I stopped to chat with Biju, a doctor from India who works at the same hospital with Lena and who was passing on his bicycle, the street in front of the mosque and the nearby intersection filled up with worshipers who spread their rugs on the street and began their prayers.
Maldives is a Sunni Islamic country by law. Every citizen of Maldives is Islamic. Islamic law, called Shari'ah, is the law of the land. The overt practice of other religions is forbidden. In particular, Islamic doctrine is utterly opposed to idolatory, and the exclusion of all religious statues, pictures, icons or symbols is strictly enforced. During our vacation to Italy in July we visited Venice and brought back one of the obligatory carnival masks which hangs on the wall in our living room. When the delivery men came recently to bring a new bottle of gas for our cooking stove, it made them nervous and they wouldn't look at it. It's not religious, of course, but you just don't see things like that in Male'. If there's any wall decoration, it's more likely to be a prayer in arabic or a picture of President Gayoom.
The first thing you notice when you come to Male' for the first time is the call to prayer which is sung over powerful loudspeakers. It takes some getting used to, particularly the one at four in the morning, because it's very loud and very unfamiliar, but it's surprising how quickly you get used to it and don't even hear it, like church bells in European cities. And strange it is, something like an air raid siren with the power cutting in and out. If you're Maldivian, of course, it's all perfectly normal and not the least bit strange.
The second thing you notice is that the days of the week are all mixed up. Friday is the sabbath when the most important religious observances take place and everyone enjoys a day off work, like Sunday in Christian countries. Saturday is like Saturday, except that for most people, it's a work day because most people have a 6 day work week, including me, though the banks are closed. Sunday is the first day of the work week and Thursday is like Friday. So here, The Mamas and The Papas would sing "Sunday, Sunday, can't trust that day" and you would likely be sighing TGIT rather than TGIF.
Religious faith in Male' seems to range over the full spectrum from very devout conservatives to outright nonbelievers, and everything in between. A small number of women wear a black silk "full burqa" which completely hides the woman from view, including hands and face, though the eyes are visible. Almost all older women wear a head covering, but less than half of younger women wear any head covering at all.
Except for a very small number of women who attend, it's the men only who go to mosque to pray. It must be a very powerful bonding experience. The social interaction that takes place in the street going to and coming from prayer seems to confirm this.
Dogs are considered unclean in traditional interpretations of Islam, and so there are no dogs in Maldives, except for police dogs used for searches. So you don't need to look down and watch the sidewalk as you walk down the street, at least not for that reason. There's still the problem of loose paving bricks. And there are goats. I was walking home from work one day and passed two men unloading large sacks from the back of a truck. One of the sacks started to wiggle around. I looked in the truck and saw that there were several more sacks, each one with a live goat head sticking out of it. I don't know what they do with the goats.
Alcohol and drugs are strictly forbidden, and so you rarely see public intoxication. Foreign workers are allowed to get a permit to buy alcohol, though. Biju invited me to lunch at his apartment and we had a nip. I was very self-conscious of the fact that, walking home, I was slightly unsteady. I wouldn't have felt self-conscious of that in the U.S.
Male' has its warts certainly, as there is some prostitution, drug abuse and theft. But for the most part, people are happy and sober and get along with each other very well. I suspect that the Islamic faith plays an important part in that. It's probably the most important reason why Male' is a good place to live.
Our apartment is across the street from one of the newer of several mosques in Male'. It's normally full on Friday, the sabbath, but today it was overflowing. I was just returning from a walk around the island in the cool and breezy morning. As I stopped to chat with Biju, a doctor from India who works at the same hospital with Lena and who was passing on his bicycle, the street in front of the mosque and the nearby intersection filled up with worshipers who spread their rugs on the street and began their prayers.
Maldives is a Sunni Islamic country by law. Every citizen of Maldives is Islamic. Islamic law, called Shari'ah, is the law of the land. The overt practice of other religions is forbidden. In particular, Islamic doctrine is utterly opposed to idolatory, and the exclusion of all religious statues, pictures, icons or symbols is strictly enforced. During our vacation to Italy in July we visited Venice and brought back one of the obligatory carnival masks which hangs on the wall in our living room. When the delivery men came recently to bring a new bottle of gas for our cooking stove, it made them nervous and they wouldn't look at it. It's not religious, of course, but you just don't see things like that in Male'. If there's any wall decoration, it's more likely to be a prayer in arabic or a picture of President Gayoom.
The first thing you notice when you come to Male' for the first time is the call to prayer which is sung over powerful loudspeakers. It takes some getting used to, particularly the one at four in the morning, because it's very loud and very unfamiliar, but it's surprising how quickly you get used to it and don't even hear it, like church bells in European cities. And strange it is, something like an air raid siren with the power cutting in and out. If you're Maldivian, of course, it's all perfectly normal and not the least bit strange.
The second thing you notice is that the days of the week are all mixed up. Friday is the sabbath when the most important religious observances take place and everyone enjoys a day off work, like Sunday in Christian countries. Saturday is like Saturday, except that for most people, it's a work day because most people have a 6 day work week, including me, though the banks are closed. Sunday is the first day of the work week and Thursday is like Friday. So here, The Mamas and The Papas would sing "Sunday, Sunday, can't trust that day" and you would likely be sighing TGIT rather than TGIF.
Religious faith in Male' seems to range over the full spectrum from very devout conservatives to outright nonbelievers, and everything in between. A small number of women wear a black silk "full burqa" which completely hides the woman from view, including hands and face, though the eyes are visible. Almost all older women wear a head covering, but less than half of younger women wear any head covering at all.
Except for a very small number of women who attend, it's the men only who go to mosque to pray. It must be a very powerful bonding experience. The social interaction that takes place in the street going to and coming from prayer seems to confirm this.
Dogs are considered unclean in traditional interpretations of Islam, and so there are no dogs in Maldives, except for police dogs used for searches. So you don't need to look down and watch the sidewalk as you walk down the street, at least not for that reason. There's still the problem of loose paving bricks. And there are goats. I was walking home from work one day and passed two men unloading large sacks from the back of a truck. One of the sacks started to wiggle around. I looked in the truck and saw that there were several more sacks, each one with a live goat head sticking out of it. I don't know what they do with the goats.
Alcohol and drugs are strictly forbidden, and so you rarely see public intoxication. Foreign workers are allowed to get a permit to buy alcohol, though. Biju invited me to lunch at his apartment and we had a nip. I was very self-conscious of the fact that, walking home, I was slightly unsteady. I wouldn't have felt self-conscious of that in the U.S.
Male' has its warts certainly, as there is some prostitution, drug abuse and theft. But for the most part, people are happy and sober and get along with each other very well. I suspect that the Islamic faith plays an important part in that. It's probably the most important reason why Male' is a good place to live.
posted by Steven Jon Halasz at 8:01 AM
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