Asalaamu alaikum...
So the other day I was sitting in the break room here at work and a coworker was trying to get the coffee maker to work. I mentioned to him that I wasn’t drinking coffee due to it being Ramadan and caffeine makes one tinkle. He said that he couldn’t fast because he was on an antibiotic for his tooth. I asked him if he were Muslim and when he said yes I got excited and gave him the Salaam… which he returned graciously. I told him I prayed my salaat here at work and if he would like I would be honored if he would pray with me (the other brother here won’t). He said he would; I told him what time Zuhr was, and that I would come get him for wudu before prayer time.
Well, we did make wudu and then went into the prayer room here in our building. I asked him if he wanted to lead the prayer or if I should. “Oh you go ahead” he said. “Ok,” I said, “go ahead and do the adhan”. “Oh you do that too” he said (first red flag). Um.. ok so yeah I did the adhan and also I lead the prayer. When I started the prayer, he crossed his arms over his chest – left arm on top of the right with both hands on his shoulders (second red flag). At the end of the salaat and it was time for the asalaamu alaikum over the shoulders he didn’t do it (third red flag).
When we got back to our work area he came to my desk to chat for a moment and I decided to ask him about his Islam and where he learned to pray that way. He started to hedge and said that he embraced Islam while in prison, and that he learned most of it in Oakland (for those of you who aren’t familiar with this area, Oakland is heavily African American and very Nation of Islam, so much so that unfortunately many Black folks in that city get mislead into NOI when they seek Al Islam).
Finally he asked me, “Have you heard of the Prophet Elijah Mohammed?” Ok that set off not just red flags but all sorts of danger alarms. I explained to him that there were and will be no Prophets after Mohammed, peace be upon him; he got fairly incensed saying “Oh yes even the Qur’an predicted Elijah’s coming!” He went on to insist that Islam in the US would not exist without Elijah, Fard Mohammad, and Farrakhan. I tried to explain to him that those three have nothing to do with Islam other than the name.
It turned into a very polite argument from there, with neither side conceding his point. I was a bit surprised; the Nation of Islam (to which he obviously belonged) do not wudu, do not fast on Ramadan, and do not pray salaat. I could only hope that he’s in the transition to Al Islam and that someday he will recognize our Prophet peace be upon him as the Seal.
Later I told a brother at the masjid about this experience and he told me to re-do my salaat until I explained to him that I had lead. Afterwards, when I was at the masjid with my brothers, I reiterated the story and said “After I found out he was NOI I felt like I really had to…had to…” and left it there. The brother helped me out by saying “Ghusl?”
Needless to say I’ve not invited this individual to pray with me again, nor has he had the nerve to ask…
So the other day I was sitting in the break room here at work and a coworker was trying to get the coffee maker to work. I mentioned to him that I wasn’t drinking coffee due to it being Ramadan and caffeine makes one tinkle. He said that he couldn’t fast because he was on an antibiotic for his tooth. I asked him if he were Muslim and when he said yes I got excited and gave him the Salaam… which he returned graciously. I told him I prayed my salaat here at work and if he would like I would be honored if he would pray with me (the other brother here won’t). He said he would; I told him what time Zuhr was, and that I would come get him for wudu before prayer time.
Well, we did make wudu and then went into the prayer room here in our building. I asked him if he wanted to lead the prayer or if I should. “Oh you go ahead” he said. “Ok,” I said, “go ahead and do the adhan”. “Oh you do that too” he said (first red flag). Um.. ok so yeah I did the adhan and also I lead the prayer. When I started the prayer, he crossed his arms over his chest – left arm on top of the right with both hands on his shoulders (second red flag). At the end of the salaat and it was time for the asalaamu alaikum over the shoulders he didn’t do it (third red flag).
When we got back to our work area he came to my desk to chat for a moment and I decided to ask him about his Islam and where he learned to pray that way. He started to hedge and said that he embraced Islam while in prison, and that he learned most of it in Oakland (for those of you who aren’t familiar with this area, Oakland is heavily African American and very Nation of Islam, so much so that unfortunately many Black folks in that city get mislead into NOI when they seek Al Islam).
Finally he asked me, “Have you heard of the Prophet Elijah Mohammed?” Ok that set off not just red flags but all sorts of danger alarms. I explained to him that there were and will be no Prophets after Mohammed, peace be upon him; he got fairly incensed saying “Oh yes even the Qur’an predicted Elijah’s coming!” He went on to insist that Islam in the US would not exist without Elijah, Fard Mohammad, and Farrakhan. I tried to explain to him that those three have nothing to do with Islam other than the name.
It turned into a very polite argument from there, with neither side conceding his point. I was a bit surprised; the Nation of Islam (to which he obviously belonged) do not wudu, do not fast on Ramadan, and do not pray salaat. I could only hope that he’s in the transition to Al Islam and that someday he will recognize our Prophet peace be upon him as the Seal.
Later I told a brother at the masjid about this experience and he told me to re-do my salaat until I explained to him that I had lead. Afterwards, when I was at the masjid with my brothers, I reiterated the story and said “After I found out he was NOI I felt like I really had to…had to…” and left it there. The brother helped me out by saying “Ghusl?”
Needless to say I’ve not invited this individual to pray with me again, nor has he had the nerve to ask…