Today at ADAMS Center, the first salah had the distinct honor of having Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi as the guest khatib. For anybody that doesn't know who he is, Dr. Siddiqi holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Religion from Harvard University. Those who are members of the Islamic Society of Orange County are blessed to have him as their Imam. I always felt somewhat of a personal connection with him just because he is the uncle of a friend that I grew up with in Virginia. Having Dr. Siddiqi as the guest Khatib got me thinking about my first Jummah prayer that I went to when I lived in California.
The first year that I lived in Orange County, I did not have a car. It was not an issue for many months because I would spend much of my free time in Newport Beach which was just a short bike ride away. I had a circle of friends who would come to my apartment every day so if I ever needed to go somewhere far away, I would go with them. I think the first 8-9 months that I was there, I did not know a single Muslim and it didn't really bother me. I was at the beach a lot and had little Islamic influence in my life.
Well, it just so happened that an old family friend lived about 15 miles away and we got together (he was about 30, I was 20) and he told me that there was a mosque in Irvine, which was about 10 miles away from me. In Virginia, 10 miles is not a big deal because the traffic on major non-highway roads is fairly steady so you can travel 10 miles easily. In California, it's very different. You cannot really go 10 miles on a single road because there are stop lights every block or so and traveling on the highway is impossible without a car.
I lived there for 8 months until I got a job and that's when I started using public transportation to go places, after I had gotten a job. I had felt so bad that I had gone so long without attending Jummah prayer so I had to go, even if it was hard to get there. The process for me going there was that I had to walk about half a mile to the bus stop, take one bus about 7 miles down the road to a very bad area in Orange County. I had to get off that bus and wait for another bus to come (the second bus only came once an hour so I had to wait for about 45 minutes) and then I would take that second bus another 10-15 minutes and get off at another stop. Once at that stop, I had to walk about one mile across an overpass and I get to the masjid.
So, I did all of that, it took a total of about 3 1/2 hours. I remember that first Jummah I went to in Irvine so well. I got there very early and was front and center. As the minutes passed, more Muslims started arriving and soon enough, I was surrounded by my fellow brothers in Islam. This feeling just hit me so hard, I was literally in tears. I was so so happy to see so many Muslims in an area where I didn't think too many lived and it really made me feel like I was at home; like I was safe. I thought to myself all the time, money and effort I had to spend just to do something which used to be a 15 minute drive. Going to the masjid on Fridays wasn't something that was easy like it used to be, it was a long process but the feeling I got every single week when I was finally inside was worth all of the trouble I had to go through.
Eventually, I got my car shipped out to me and getting there wasn't so difficult but I still never took it for granted.Fast forward 2 1/2 years and I think about how important Jummah prayer is. Every single week, I learn something new; something that doesn't just go in one ear and out the other but it is knowledge that will stay with me for the rest of my life, insha'llah. Jummah prayer is not something we do because it is obligatory, it's not supposed to be just another part of our weekly routine, we should look forward to it. The lessons we learn every Friday give us balance and stability in our faith and in our hearts.When I was living in Orange County those first few months, I didn't have that balance because I was surrounded by scantily clad people often, had friends who drank alcohol and did drugs, I saw people everywhere I went who were corrupted by their accumulation of wealth and Islamic Center of Irvine was the place where I felt like I was amongst balanced and normal people.
I hope people do not take their masjids and Friday prayer for granted. What you gain from going every single week goes much deeper than you know and if you lose it, it will affect you more than you know, believe me.
The first year that I lived in Orange County, I did not have a car. It was not an issue for many months because I would spend much of my free time in Newport Beach which was just a short bike ride away. I had a circle of friends who would come to my apartment every day so if I ever needed to go somewhere far away, I would go with them. I think the first 8-9 months that I was there, I did not know a single Muslim and it didn't really bother me. I was at the beach a lot and had little Islamic influence in my life.
Well, it just so happened that an old family friend lived about 15 miles away and we got together (he was about 30, I was 20) and he told me that there was a mosque in Irvine, which was about 10 miles away from me. In Virginia, 10 miles is not a big deal because the traffic on major non-highway roads is fairly steady so you can travel 10 miles easily. In California, it's very different. You cannot really go 10 miles on a single road because there are stop lights every block or so and traveling on the highway is impossible without a car.
I lived there for 8 months until I got a job and that's when I started using public transportation to go places, after I had gotten a job. I had felt so bad that I had gone so long without attending Jummah prayer so I had to go, even if it was hard to get there. The process for me going there was that I had to walk about half a mile to the bus stop, take one bus about 7 miles down the road to a very bad area in Orange County. I had to get off that bus and wait for another bus to come (the second bus only came once an hour so I had to wait for about 45 minutes) and then I would take that second bus another 10-15 minutes and get off at another stop. Once at that stop, I had to walk about one mile across an overpass and I get to the masjid.
So, I did all of that, it took a total of about 3 1/2 hours. I remember that first Jummah I went to in Irvine so well. I got there very early and was front and center. As the minutes passed, more Muslims started arriving and soon enough, I was surrounded by my fellow brothers in Islam. This feeling just hit me so hard, I was literally in tears. I was so so happy to see so many Muslims in an area where I didn't think too many lived and it really made me feel like I was at home; like I was safe. I thought to myself all the time, money and effort I had to spend just to do something which used to be a 15 minute drive. Going to the masjid on Fridays wasn't something that was easy like it used to be, it was a long process but the feeling I got every single week when I was finally inside was worth all of the trouble I had to go through.
Eventually, I got my car shipped out to me and getting there wasn't so difficult but I still never took it for granted.Fast forward 2 1/2 years and I think about how important Jummah prayer is. Every single week, I learn something new; something that doesn't just go in one ear and out the other but it is knowledge that will stay with me for the rest of my life, insha'llah. Jummah prayer is not something we do because it is obligatory, it's not supposed to be just another part of our weekly routine, we should look forward to it. The lessons we learn every Friday give us balance and stability in our faith and in our hearts.When I was living in Orange County those first few months, I didn't have that balance because I was surrounded by scantily clad people often, had friends who drank alcohol and did drugs, I saw people everywhere I went who were corrupted by their accumulation of wealth and Islamic Center of Irvine was the place where I felt like I was amongst balanced and normal people.
I hope people do not take their masjids and Friday prayer for granted. What you gain from going every single week goes much deeper than you know and if you lose it, it will affect you more than you know, believe me.
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