Make the most of your free time before you become busy. -Islamic saying

About a month ago, the clouds in my schedule parted and I had a chance to go to mosque with some of my students (Aminah, Jeany, Thokozani, Chifundo) at 12:30. The goal: Check out muslim culture in Malawi (but also because I've never been in the states!).

We left school early and the girls dressed me in headscarf using an old chitenje fabric scrap (a black/white/yellow sunflower fabric, btw!) and some bobby pins, and set off. Down at the mosque, which is at the road by the trading center and bus depot, they showed me how to wash - 3x everywhere, face, hair, hands, feet - so that when we entered barefoot, we were respectful to the house. I followed the girls' custom in the prayers: sitting, standing, kneeling with heads bowed on prayer rug fabric (not an actual rug), listening to the ulaliki sing the sermon and songs, listening to the white-clad women's leader. It was short, sweet, beautiful to listen to, and yet very passive on the women's side. I had a conversation afterwards w/my head teacher to the effect that gender equality has yet to permeate the muslim population of Malawi.


The girls asked me that day to be their matron for an islamic youth club at our secondary school - there are two or three other church-based groups that are very popular, and who very frequently get up to sing before assemblies (malawians are great at singing in choir!) - but these few students have not had a chance to receive sponsoring for their own organization. To be denied representation is unfair and unhelpful to the confusion and bias against muslims - so I told them I would do it. If that makes me a bad Catholic, well - it's all the same God! (And I'm agnostic anyway)

The club started slow: Aminah, who's from near Mangochi, which is more of a strong Yao area (the arab-incluenced tribe), was the only one who knew some songs about Islam, so she taught them to the other girls (and me!). We also discussed some club technicalities, like having an election for positions, purposes of the club (like discussing hadifs of Mohammed and community education), and I gave the kids some sweeties (hard candy) for showing up. Two practices and two songs were learned - well enough to appear in front of assembly, beautiful and proud!

I was so proud of them for getting up in front of everyone to show their culture! The first song was my favorite (ok, it was the only one in English so I understood it) because it talks about Islam, Mohammed the prophet, working, and the singularity of God - and is very educational. The other one is about paradise - njana - the kind that Christians talk about when they dream of heaven.

We got blessings in the form of a little speech afterwards by the HT - who whipped out some arabic and taught me the meaning of njana, assuring the students that Allah isn't some friend of Mohammed in a desert, but God - the same one they know.

It was a great week for religious tolerance!