Ramadan

Several weeks ago, at the church service I've been attending, we had an Islamic teacher come and dialogue about beliefs and misconceptions. I had forgotten so much about what I had learned in high school about the Muslim faith and the Pillars, etc. that I was no use for intelligent discussion or even questions.

And we are now in the midst of Ramadan month, a period when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Last night, I had planned on heading out to church like many a Sunday. At the last minute, I got word that a couple people from the church were invited to break fast in the evening with a Muslim family and would I like to come along?

Answer: With bells on!

It was a new experience for me to have the hospitality of a Muslim family during Ramadan, or at any time for that matter. An interesting part was that the lady of the house, who had prepared the entire meal, was a Frenchwoman who had been raised in the south of France in a Catholic home and school environment, but had converted to Islam only a couple years ago.

The evening did dip into deeper conversation as we asked questions and answered their queries on what we thought about subjects like prayer and interacting with people of different beliefs. Our hostess explained that she believed that we are all (as in everyone in the world) Muslim, but some people learn more slowly.

The family also said that there were 3 kinds of people: believers, non-believers and hypocrites. And this launched us into a discussion on our own ability (or lack thereof) to judge others.

I really didn't have much intelligence to contribute to the conversation - but I was content to listen and learn.