By: Joe Sprite

As a Special Recognition awardee, I was seated between the Catholic and Muslim religious personalities. It would have been an awkward situation but since the members of the Jagna Muslim community had been assimilated into the local society the distinction between them and the natives had faded. Even then, ours is a multi denominational family. Though most of the family members are predominantly Roman Catholics, my brother is a freemason if one can call freemasonry a religion, which is not. At present he is the Worshipful Master of the Metropolitan Lodge No. 352 in Downey , California . A niece married an Egyptian Muslim.

That means, Islam is not strange to me. Devout Muslims considers Christians and Jews as People of the Book although fundamentalists have other ideas. With a slight difference in semantics, Islamic tenets are not much different from Christians. With a slight variation in the translation of “La illaha il allah, wa Muhammad Rasul Allah” into there is no god but God and Muhammad is a Prophet of God, there can be no basis for conflict.

A saying in the Christian Community Bible with a nihil obstat from Fr.Efren Rivera O. P. states that “God saves people of any nation But only to us has he made known through a rejected Savior he mysterious ways of his love.” So to each culture God sent His messenger; Lord Buddha to the East. Jesus Christ or Nabii Eesa to the West and Muhammad to the Middle East. The Fatiha or opening prayer of the Holy Koran, when directly translated into English is practically the same as the Lord's Prayer as Allah is the Arabic name of God. It runs thus

In the name of God, the merciful the compassionate Praise belongs to God the Lord of the worlds The merciful, the compassionate Wielder of the Day of Judgment Thus do we serve. Thus do we call for help Guide us on the straight path The path of those upon whom Thou has bestowed good Not that of those upon whom anger falls or those who go astray.

A good Muslim is just as good as a good Roman Catholic or a good Buddhist. The Muslim cannot be a Muslim if he does not observe the Five Pillars of Islam. He must accept with all his heart the words La illaha il allah, wa Muhammad rasul Allah. There is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God. He must pray fie times a day. He must give a portion of his earnings to the poor. He must observe the Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer. If he can afford it, he must go on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his lifetime.

Like the Christians, there are also sects in Islam. There is the Sunni or those who revere traditions. Saudi Arabians and our Muslims are sunnis. They look to Mecca as the center of their religion. Then there are those who are of the Shia sect. The Shiites disregard traditions. Most Iranians Afghans and Pakistanis are Shiites. They do not face the direction of Mecca when they pray. They have their own holy cities and their religious authorities are called mullahs.

There are also smaller Muslim sects like the Ismaili and Druzes. Before the Mongols invaded Arabia , the Muslims under the Caliphs attained a high degree of civilization. Sciences, mathematics, astronomy and literature flourished. My favorite poet who was a mathematician and astronomer was Omar the Tentmaker or Abdul Fath Omar Khayyami ibn Ibrahim, Omar Khayyam to the western World. A day or two from now if not now, the Ramadan begins. The period is just like Lent. After that is the Eid el Fhitr. We do not know what are the greetings for these occasions. Perhaps As salaam allaikum will do.