{"id":355,"date":"2011-08-07T18:55:18","date_gmt":"2011-08-07T22:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myislamiclife.wordpress.com\/?p=355"},"modified":"2011-08-07T18:55:18","modified_gmt":"2011-08-07T22:55:18","slug":"ramadan-reflections-imam-khalid-latif","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/myislamiclife\/2011\/08\/07\/ramadan-reflections-imam-khalid-latif\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramadan Reflections Imam Khalid Latif"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Today, I crashed. \u00a0I was exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically. \u00a0You are familiar with the crash\u2026it happens right around the week before Christmas? \u00a0Yeah, that\u2019s what happened today. \u00a0I woke this morning, grabbed the girls and went to Halaka and the topic today was really something so very pertinent, something I needed to know but didn\u2019t really know that I needed to know. \u00a0In the midst of these women who I don\u2019t talk to on a regular basis, some of whom I had just met today, the weight of Ramadan came crashing down on me. \u00a0I tried to join in on the conversation, but when I tried to talk about something meaningful, I broke down in tears.<\/p>\n

So I came home and I took to my room, put in my earplugs and unplugged from the world. \u00a0Just for a few hours, I read in total silence and napped. \u00a0Now that I am awake, I still feel wiped out, but more able to cope. \u00a0Tomorrow I will be more gentle with myself and not push so hard. \u00a0God willing it will get better.<\/p>\n

If you have not been reading the series being published in The Huffington Post by Imam Khalid Latif<\/a>, I highly recommend them. \u00a0If you read nothing but today\u2019s post<\/a>, please make the time to do so. \u00a0He talks about feeling welcome at the mosque. \u00a0Feeling welcome to be imperfect.<\/p>\n

Out of the many things that makes it so difficult to be Muslim in The United States, not being welcomed into your own religious place of worship is one of the most challenging. \u00a0This is one of the things that I would like Mosques to learn from Churches. \u00a0At every Church I have ever attended in my life, there have been greeters at the door. \u00a0They wear name tags, they smile, they welcome Every Single Person into the Church. \u00a0Why would that be so hard to do at Mosques? \u00a0I have been attending prayers at the three main Mosques in my city for more than 12 years now, and many places throughout the country and not once has someone looked at me when I walked into the building and said, \u201cHello, My name is ****. \u00a0Welcome to Jummah Prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most I ever get is the elder woman, the \u2018Naena\u2019 who comes up to me after curiosity has gotten the better of her and asks if I am here with someone. \u00a0I always greet the \u2018Naena\u2019 the same way. \u00a0I salaam her, offer her my hand, and then greet her with three air kisses, starting on the right. \u00a0It\u2019s the secret handshake. \u00a0Once I do that, she knows I\u2019m not a casual observer and I\u2019m not someone sneaking in to write an article. \u00a0Then I tell her I am with my family (or my daughters \u2013 if we are in the women\u2019s only zone) and I point them out to her. \u00a0The other women watch the \u2018Naena\u2019 and once they see that she has approved me, then they smile and greet me.<\/p>\n

What would it be like if the Masjids were more welcoming places to be?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, I crashed. \u00a0I was exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically. \u00a0You are familiar with the crash\u2026it happens right around the week before Christmas? \u00a0Yeah, that\u2019s what happened today. \u00a0I woke this morning, grabbed the girls and went to Halaka and the topic today was really something so very pertinent, something I needed to know but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2860,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-house"],"yoast_head":"\nRamadan Reflections Imam Khalid Latif<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today, I crashed. \u00a0I was exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically. \u00a0You are familiar with the crash...it happens right around the week before\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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