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Blessed Return
Submitted by Rabia Terri Harris on October 15, 2007 - 3:15pm.
“Eid Mubarak!” The greeting for the end of the holy month, Islam’s global spiritual retreat, the great commemoration of God’s care for humanity. It’s a door now closing behind us. Most who have fasted feel at this moment both relief and loss. Farewell, rare beauty, rare opportunity! Hello again, dear morning coffee, ordinary life. “Eid Mubarak” means blessed return. May our return be blessed.
It goes so quickly, the time we have to reorient our lives, our time out of time. And then the old habits close over us again. Have we made a change? Will it make a difference? Ramadan is designed to remind us of mortality, weakness and strength at once. That is its sweetness. Should we savor it fully, we may be moved to recommit ourselves to justice, to kindness, to waiting upon the pregnant unknown, heavy with revelation. She is always ready to deliver. May we always be ready to assist her.
[Editor's note: This entry was written last week as was to have been posted on Friday to mark the final day of Ramadan. The delay is due to human error on the part of the blog editor.]
Meditation Room
I wanted to share a gift that this holy month of Ramadan has given not only to our Muslims students but also our religi ous and spiritual faculty and staff.
I work at a Community College and have been advocating for a prayer room for our Muslim students for the past five years. They started with a little cubicle in thier club room which they shared with another club and one year when the number of club members dwindled they lost that space all together. Our Muslim student population continued to increase, though many of these students were older and did not have time to stay and be a part of a club. Rooms were opened to them by public safety, some prayed in corners in the library and outside when the weather permtted.
I had been club advisor for the Muslim Student Association for a few years and last year I became co-advisor to the Turkish Club. The Turkish students banded together and collected over 250 signatures(from all faiths} and we advised the students to request an interfaith room that would be open to all.
This summer the advisor and I researched what was done in other colleges and universities and reported back to administration. We just got a new president for the college and the issue was sent back to the end of the priority list.
For Ramadan, I asked if we could at least accomodate our students for this month- I was given permission but since we are a state college I had to announce it as a "meditation room". As you can imagine in a college with over 15,000.00 students and faculty from many faiths and cultures
there are always "opinions"! I was told that this room was temporary until Ramadan and a permanent one could be created in 2-3 years when a student servies wing was renovated.
Today, I open my college webpage and find a general notice to the general college population that the temporary room is now permanent and available for all students, faculty and staff.
I think that you will agree , this is the hand of God. I thank God for the miracles that appear before us every day.
Eid Mubark!
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