TGIF

Alhamdulillah, the first week back to work is under my belt. It took a while to get back in the swing of things, especially fasting while working, but alhamdulillah, I no longer feel too sleepy in the afternoons. I'm going to start trying to come in earlier next week though.

I decided to go pray Fajr at the mosque for the first time since leaving the US. After eating a peach for suhoor, I walked over to the one near my apartment and sat down to read Qur'an for a bit. After the adhan, I was the only one to pray sunnah. Everyone else remained seated, and some guy, not the imam, went to the front and started reading Qur'an aloud. Alhamdulillah, he had a good voice. He kept reading. And reading. And reading. I couldn't figure out what was going on at first. He kept it up for about an hour after the adhan. I was reading on my own, trying to catch up, but I eventually pieced together that he was reading the 19th juz on the 19th day. He finished the whole thing before anyone else prayed sunnah and before we prayed Fajr. I guess to make up for the brief taraweeh, they make it up by reading the corresponding juz after Fajr, at least at this masjid. At the other masjid, near work, they were reading after Asr or Zuhr, so I wonder if they split up the same thing over there. I will find out, in sha Allah.

Another thing I noticed is the way the prostration of recitation (sijda at tilawah) was done. The one who was reading made an announcement after he got to a stopping point, and then everyone stood up and then went into prostration together and then stood back up. The leader then said a short dua and went back to reading. The way this was done was unfamiliar to me, but also the when. In the typical Qur'an/mus'haf we see in the West and in the Haramayn, there is a clear indication of when the prostration should take place. I was noticing quite a few differences in the styles from that regular mus'haf to the Turkish one I was reading from. In the Turkish one, there is no indication of when to make prostration. Also, the friendly/helpful indications of the rules of tajweed are not present in the Turkish one. I'm not talking about the color coding – rather the little meem when there is Iqlab, or the different/open tanween if there is Ikhfa or Idgham, etc. I found I had to work a bit harder to read properly without these little helpers.

Anyways, after Fajr I went to go home, but unfortunately, there was a dog in the way in attack position. I quietly backtracked and went around the long way. Alas, the same dog had walked over to oversee that pass, although he was more relaxed this time. I had just read a report in the Turkish news of a rabid dog going berserk and biting several people, mostly children, in Istanbul, so I am even warier than I normally am with respect to dogs. I am thinking of getting a big umbrella to defend myself. We'll see.

As for Jumuah, I had another hour long wait. The adhan was at around 12:20 or so, so I walked down after a few minutes. The building receptionist had said the adhan was at 1:18, but I went with the first one. There was a lesson going on in Turkish for about forty five minutes after I got there. I don't know when it started. Then the second adhan and Turkish khutbah and Friday prayer took half an hour after that. I can't say I was terribly mesmerized. I thought if they had that lesson before hand, they might have the khutbah in Arabic, but it was mostly Turkish. I was impressed with how full the masjid was for Jumuah though, alhamdulillah. A lot of people went to the outside pavilion area first, with people sitting on straw mats and the like. It probably won't be so prime in the winter. By the end the whole pavilion had filled. The masjid area and the mezzanine/balcony area were also full. The Imam asked us twice or three times to move up and create more room. I had never had that happen to my in Damascus before, but I guess there aren't as many masjids per capita here. I was quite pleased, especially with the variety of people attending. I even saw a guy with earrings in both ears. You can never tell, alhamdulillah. Alas, I don't know that most people attended Jumuah – if they did, there wouldn't be any room. I don't see any new mosques coming up in Istanbul, or especially in this central business area, so even if more people became practicing, they would have to pray in the streets. It is interesting, that at one time, it was a rule that the buildings of other religions could not be taller than the largest mosque. Now however, the buildings of that new religion – capitalism/materialism – outstrips everything in the Muslim world. I am sitting in the 10th floor of a 20+ story building. One other note, while the mezzanine/balcony is typically for women I think, even during taraweeh, it was full of men during Jumuah.

Of course, after Jumuah, and even taraweeh, there is the typical appearance of the needy. I need to start carrying around coins – my wallet is too hard to get out easily.