The Call to Prayer and God.

Every couple of hours, the streets of Tehran are filled with the sounds of the Call to Prayer. To some this chanting can be haunting and annoying. I personally find it soothing. I don’t think it should be forced upon anyone like it is in Iran, but if a community agrees to have it, i see no problem with it. (For example, a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan has this)

The basic chants of the prayer are calling fellow Muslims to join in prayer. Allah Akbar means Praise God, a pretty universal message. Being a believer in God, i enjoy the times when i see others acknowledging that force that is greater that us, that force that we will never fully understand but has great power in our lives. When the chants start to talk of Mohammad and Ali, which Shiite Muslims chants usually do, I don’t enjoy it as much. I’m not fully convinced yet that revering Mohammad and Ali, or Hassan or Reza for that matter, is such a great idea when it comes to satisfying the goal of being closer to God. I’m sure these Imams and the Prophet teach great things, but there are many many other great teachers, some that are still alive today even. I find it a bit hypocritical when some Muslims put up the Imams and the Prophet on such a high pedestal. One of the basic tenants of Islam is supposed to be that idolatry is wrong, people worshipping is wrong. We are all humans and have things we can teach each other and also make mistakes and do things wrong. The Imams and Prophets are not immune to this reality, as far as I’m concered. If there is any one that I would want to worship, and draw pictures of and post bumper stickets praising it would be my parents. The lessons they have taught me have been greater than all the books i’ve read combined. They deserved to be put up on a pedastal as much as Mohammad is, as far as I’m concered.

I think many of the negative religious things I saw in Iran are direct affect of the theocracy that the people live under. Trying to unify everyone under one vision is a noble goal, but an ignorant one. Theocracy’s problems are the same has communism’s problems: creativity is seen as a bad thing becasue it can lead to creation of new visions of reality, which can break people apart and not allow for unification and therefore peace. Thats why I love the philosophies behind diversity so much. Growing up in California and seeing people from every region of the world, one finds that we are all the same, all human beings with a conscience, with goals, and with issues. Embracing our differences and making use of them is the solution to unification of people. Unifying people under Islam can only work if the entire world accepts Islam, and if thats what the Islamist’s goals are, they have their work cut out for them. There already too many other realities that are well-accepted throughout the world, and I dont see them being given up anytime soon. In the end, Islamists will fail just as American hegemony will fail. We can only see the world in the same way if we accept and embrace the fact that we all see the world differently.