Bismillahi rahmani rahim! Today is 19 Rabi' al-Thani 1439 and I want to share a no ordinary experience with you. Me and Xu Hui who had not already named Volodya, but Slava (because Hui means "glorius") decided to keep mutual studying in Russian State Library. But as we came there revealed that my negligent friend didn't take with him passport and library card, just student ID. So we had to go to McDonald's on Tverskaya street. The studying kept going for two hours, that time I had been in time to repeat past lessons, achieved spetifity about especifical quiestions. The same time I asked my friend how he is, found out he needed to write about Islam and its phylosophy. I promised to help.
After the lunch we decided to walk Strastnoy boulevard some time. We passed Petrovkiy and Tsvetnoy, so Moscow mosque wasn't so far. I decided to show him one something he's never seen. There was wet snow and many pools on the streets. At last we came to Durova street. A huge mosque with a large dome and two minarets appeared before us. My friend was impressed and admitted there are not the same mosques in Xijiang. I offered to come into. We had to clean ourselves in comformity with Muslim tradition before coming.
Taken off shoes and outerwear we took with us bags and went up the stair to the second floor. We saw white-and-green colors. One part of the prayers were praying, majority having a rest. Some time we both were sitting on the carpet and reading Quran, but then put it back. Then Magrib, an evening pray, began. The prayers stood in two rows, but we stood aside. Although one of the prayers agitated to join us to the common pray and ordered to stand in the second row. We didn't resist because here was a home of God, we were just guests. We kneeled down until the pray and were stretching like everybody, then stood up and lowered the heads. I was thinking about my life and work especialy till praying and stretching. I wished all would OK and luck would not turn away.
In the end of the pray we all greeted. That was great! I don't know what my friend felt, but I felt updated myself, it seems Allah layed his hand on my head. Xu Hui consiered himself an atheist, probably it all was to him in the wild, so he unlikely thought the same thing. Although I learnt Islam with books I had never been on service in mosque. So I have been on Magrib, showed an another culture to my friend. Sure, he'll remember and write something about that.
In the end:
"And if you tried to enumerate the favors of God you will not be able to count them. God is Forgiving and Merciful".
Quran, sura 16, ayat 18.
6th of January 2018.
Origin of the picture: