Sunday, July 26, 2009

(Mis)Adventures at the Masjid Part 1

Asalamu Alaikum!

I decided to split this post about my Saturday evening into two posts because it's too long for you to read, plus one part will be about how we got there and what we did, while the other post will be about the Qiyam itself. Have fun reading :D
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Last night, I went to the Youth Qiyam at my masjid with a friend but it started at 10:30 pm and we got there by 8.

The masjid was like a ghost town

-tumbleweed blows down the hallway-

Friend: What do we do now?
Me: Let's see if the bookstore's open! :D


"Bookstore closes at 7pm"

Us: Darn.

Let's go see if Yaseen's Corner is open! (Name of old restuarant, we don't care what the new name is)

"Resturant closes during prayer times"

Us: Dang it!

Me: It must be time to pray Maghraib!

-We hear Imam reciting-

*run to prayer hall*

They're lined up and are in sujood.

So we didn't know they'd completed the first rak'a already and just finished with them.

-5 minutes later Old lady walks up to us-

Saying all this in somali, "Asalamu Alaikum girls, you guys didn't pray the first rak'a over -smile-"

And I just stare at her like an idiot because I can't respond back -very limited- So I wait for my friend to respond.

Short story: We agree that we're mutually embarassed and redo the prayer all the while having the arab old ladies look at us from across the room. (Note: Not a lot of people in the masjid on saturday night)

**********************************************************************************
Me: Let's go back to Yaseen's corner, maybe it's open now!"

And we're not disappointed this time!

Me to senile(but nice) cashier: Uhh, can I have curly fries?
Cashier:-slowly writes it down on paper- $2.50 please
Me: -hands money- how many minutes?
Cashier: 5 minutes sister


We sit in one of the many tables and look around at the crowd: some guy on his laptop, a kid texting, and two old guys talking over tea.
Wild times.

When we get our fries our other friend calls to tell us she can't make it and then we wonder if any other 'young people' will actually come to this event.

Friend: What if it's cancelled and we're stuck here until 3?! (When my dad planned on picking us up)

Being stuck in masjid can actually be a pretty freaky thing when there's not so many people and most of the reading material is in a language you don't understand.
(Point of interest: Did you know playing chess is makruh? I didn't until I read Sahih Muslim!)

Before Isha we went into the prayer hall and made sure we were there first! But this is where mistake number two comes in.

-hears adhan-
Friend: Do we pray now?
Me: -looks around- no ones getting up
Friend: Maybe they can't pray
Me: Okaay..

So we go to the front and after much delibration (nervous talking) we pray Isha.

Friend: Whew! I thought we were going to hear the call to prayer and look like idiots again, yay! :D

"ALLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAHHHHHHUUUUAAAAAKKKBBAAARRR!"

Us: DAMN IT!

-to be continued in post two-

11 comments:

Stacy K. said...

Wow that sounded like a super awkward time. It was always awkward going to the Somali masjids for me too because the old ladies would want to ask 100s of questions when they learned that I spoke Somali. Are you Muslim? Are you married? Is your husband Somali? Where did you speak Somali? Don't even get me started about when they pull on your skirt because it doesn't cover your feet completely when you pray...Annoying! Oh well, I love them anyway. Reminds me of a number of experiences that I have actually had. Just be glad that you didn't go by yourself.
Nabadey!

Anonymous said...

lol stacys post had me rolling! somali skirt pulling! anyways modestjustice you know who this be! your misadventures buddy!!!!

Hijabis On Ranting Tour. said...

looooooooooooool
haha
that was silly of u guys
obviously in a masjid the imaam would do the call to prayer regardless of whos praying or not lol aww
you mustve been bored
u reminded me of what happenedto me the irs time i attempted tahajud prayers
tho dre was loads of people i was sared and some woman asked me to get her food at 1 am and there was some black guys with their rap music outside and i was scared
lool
salaamz
naz

Anonymous said...

hahaha... DUH! no shit, that was embarassing and awkward. like naz said, why didn't you wait for the adhaan?

Anonymous said...

and erm, your other post tells me you'r sqweemish?

bugs are nice. say salams next time to them, and they'll leave u alone.

and sorry i was away for so long. missed you :(

Sarah Alaoui said...

wait, yaseen's corner? Is the MCA in Santa Clara?

jw, lol

VeiledSunset is too lazy to sign in said...

Why is playing chess haram? How does that hadith go? Just curious.

ModestJustice said...

Stacy aka Fahiima: Yes they would!! Usually I have my mother for back, so I just kiss their cheeks and blend in with the background. And yeah, sometimes they are so nosy with their questions! Alhamdulillah I didn't go by myself :D Ahfimaad!

Anon: First time commenting eh? Finish that post already!

Naz: Yeah we totally figured that out afterwards >.> And aww poor naz! lol afraid they'd jump you for the food. But who wants food at 1 am?!

Sukkar:Because we didn't want to look like idiots! Although we ended up looking like some anyway. And yes, bugs are icky, I saw a spider two days ago and now I don't know where it is ._.; Miss you too walal! You need to post more!

Sarah Alaoui: Yup :D Wait did I say MCA in my post? lol, anyway, yup the one and the same. Except it's Crescent Cuisine now. Do you happen to live around there?

Aiman said...

I never heard chess was haram either. it is a game of strategy, not luck. cards are haram because its just by luck

Sarah Alaoui said...

hey! I'm from a place about 30 minutes away...(not going to publicize it on here), lol
: )

I've been there many times, do you go there a lot? It's cool that you have a blog too! I always think it's awesome when I find bloggers from the same area, lol.

ModestJustice said...

VeiledSunset & Aiman: Please do not take me for a scholar :P and I was just quoting what I read; although I don't have that particular book with me so I tried looking it up online.

Al-Dhahabi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “With regard to chess, most of the scholars say that it is haraam to play it, whether that is for money or not. If it is played for money then it is indisputably gambling. Even if it is not played for money it is still gambling and haraam, according to most of the scholars… al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about playing chess, is it forbidden or permissible? He (may Allaah have mercy on him) replied that if it makes a person miss praying on time or he plays for money, then it is haraam, otherwise it is makrooh according to al-Shaafa’i and haraam according to others…” (al-Kabaa’ir, 89-90).

I'll take away prohibited since most say it's makruh. Although the hadith book I read it in equated it to have one's hands soaked in blood. I'll just leave this up to those who want to do further research. :]

Sarah Alaoui: LOL same here! I go there sometimes (emphasis on sometimes) usually on Jummah prayers during the summer and some halaqahs throughout the year. That is so cool! Not so many bloggers around the area, I wonder why, I mean the Bay Area is cool! -at least I think so-

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