Pre-Flight Islamic Prayer on Jazeera Airways

I went to Kuwait last weekend to see one of my children in a school sports tournament. One of the wonderful things that has developed in the region in the last 5 years or so are low cost regional airlines. Jazeera Airways, a Kuwaiti airline, is one such company. I got a roundtrip air ticket from Dubai for about 360 AED (100 USD).

The flights were great and one very interesting aspect of this particular airline is that before every takeoff there is an Islamic prayer for travel that is broadcast on the airplane television screens. You hear someone performing the prayer (it’s a recording) and see the Arabic text scrolling onscreen. It takes about 1 minute or so total. I took a little video of it and uploaded it to youtube only to find that someone had done a much better job!  The video above is from the guy who did it better than me

I’ve not experienced this prayer on any of the other flights out of Dubai. I’ve wondered if it’s on Jazeera since it’s out of Kuwait and Kuwait tends to be more religiously conservative than the UAE.

I tried to google “Islamic Travel Prayer” and came up with a number of hits. This one seemed to make the most sense but I still don’t know if it is the actual prayer that is being spoken on the video. If someone who knows Arabic could listen to the video and tell me if the prayer is the one I’ve got printed here I would appreciate it.

Allah is the Most Great. Allah is the Most Great. Allah is the Most Great. Glory is to Him Who has provided this for us though we could never have had it by our efforts. Surely, unto our Lord we are returning. O Allah, we ask You on this our journey for goodness and piety, and for works that are pleasing to You . O Allah , lighten this journey for us and make its distance easy for us . O Allah, You are our Companion on the road and the One in Whose care we leave our family . O Allah , I seek refuge in You from this journey’s hardships, and from the wicked sights in store and from finding our family and property in misfortune upon returning.

Also, what do you think about the idea of a ‘travel prayer’? Does it make sense? What about the others onboard who are not Muslims… Does this make sense for them?

No Kissing at the Mall

Interesting policy implemented at the Mall of the Emirates last month. If you’re feeling amorous with your shopping partner (or someone you meet there you should take note of the second prohibition listed… “No Kissing or Overt Displays of Affection”. You might also get stuck at “Please Wear Respectful Clothing” too.

This raises a number of questions. Does this apply to all kissing? Like the “peck on the cheek” kind? Or just the ‘extended lip-lock’ kind? Who makes this decision? Is hand-holding an overt display of affection? Is an arm around the shoulder? Exactly where can a hand be put?

And what is respectful? Of course I assume they mean respectful to the host culture. But that is a tough thing to do when you (Dubai) are setting your goals on drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists to your country. Tourists by definition almost always see themselves as not a part of the culture they are visiting. It’s as if they think of themselves as viewing everything from behind a glass window.

When I first moved here I used to not wear shorts except to the beach and to the park. But I’ve loosened up about that over the last 5 years. I wonder if I ever offend anyone when I go to the store.

As a Christian I’m eager to keep the commandments of the Bible as an act of gratitude to God for what he’s done for me through Christ – the forgiveness of sins and the adoption into the his eternal family as a son of the King. The Bible would teach “let there not be a hint of immorality among you.” (Ephesians 5:3) But the real challenge is that immorality has some culturally defined boundaries. Or at least the “hints” are culturally defined often.

So, even when I take my family of all women (4 daughters, 1 wife) to the mall they don’t go in shorts or sleeveless shirts just out of respect for the host culture in which we live. But even then I wonder if people see my daughters, know we’re from the west, and then just assume they are immoral. What can I do about that? Nothing I think. Other than to live it down among the people who really know us.

When we go though, we’ll just have to make sure… no kissing!

What do you think?

NYTimes Report: U.S. Universities Expand to the Gulf

Fascinating New York Times pictorial and written report on US Universities expanding into the Arabian Gulf region. One of the Universities mentioned is George Mason in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. I was just up in RAK in December teaching a seminar at the RAK Women’s College. I saw the signs to George Mason University when I drove through the town (yes, it’s not really a city).

I’d like to develop some seminar and training business at George Mason in the future. The second picture below is the women’s college. And yes, that’s a moat around the building. Though it’s not filled with water you might guess why they’d put a moat around the women’s college… (hint: the men’s college is close by

On that day I taught both men (pictured) and women. It was only the second time in their college careers that they’d done anything together. The area is very conservative. I asked about a picture with the female students but none would agree to a picture with my camera. They did take one for themselves with their camera though.

It was a great group of students and I really enjoyed working with them. I hope it works out to go back sometime. By the way, it’s about an hour drive from Dubai.

The RAK Women’s College

The male student government leaders from the RAK Men’s College

Rare Sight… Little League Baseball in Dubai

I took this picture a month ago. It’s particularly interesting to me because baseball is not a popular sport in Dubai… it’s particularly American. And the Burj Dubai is so clearly visible in the background. My oldest daughters work the concession stand at the ballpark.

Replay of October 2007 CBS "60 Minutes" Report on Dubai

This is a very interesting report on Dubai and it’s visionary… Sheikh Mohammad. I’ve not completed both parts but it’s a great summary of what’s happening here in the city.

The CBS website won’t let me embed the part 2 video. So here’s a link to it:

CBS 60 Minutes – Dubai Inc. Part 2

NYTimes Photo Report on Peshawar Pakistan

I really enjoy the multimedia presentations of different places around the world on many of the many US newspaper websites. Here is a very interesting one from the New York Times website. It’s a photo report on Peshawar Pakistan. Peshawar is a battleground between the Islamic extremist groups like the Taliban and the Pakistani government. Click the link below to get to the slideshow. The pic above is the first one in the show… a striking black and white shot.

Peshawar Under Seige

Pictures from Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi

This mosque has been under construction for as long as I have lived in the UAE (over 5 years) and it’s finally been finished. I’m currently looking into whether it’s open to the public. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.

Nevertheless, it’s very very impressive. Take a look…

Click here to see the slideshow

Christians Not Allowed to refer to God as Allah in Malaysia?

This is a very interesting article I ran across today about the Malaysian government banning Christians (specifically Roman Catholics in this case) from using the word “Allah” to refer to God in their publications. It raises very interesting and ominous questions about religious freedom. The Malaysian Christians make the point that the word Allah is pre-Islamic and therefore cannot be protected as an Islamic word as such.

I don’t have too much time to comment but here is what the de facto minister for Islamic affairs official said in defending the ban…

“The use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims may arouse sensitivity and create confusion among Muslims in the country.”

What do you think?

Friday Prayers at the Mosque

This is the scene in front of a Dubai mosque just yesterday, Friday, and I took it at a stop light on Jumeirah Beach Road. You’ll notice how full the mosque is. This is atypical for the middle of the week but somewhat normal on Friday at the Jumuah prayer.

The Jumuah is the name for the Friday prayer time in Islam that happens just after noon and is preceeded by a sermon or Khutba by the Imam of the mosque. The friday prayer is perhaps the most important of all the prayer times for muslims. Prayer is required 5 times a day but this one is special in importance. Thus most of the mosques see large crowds gather particularly on Friday. The Khutba (or sermon) is typically broadcast over a loudspeaker to the surrounding neighborhood here in the UAE.

Here’s a selection of things the Koran, the Hadith’s (saying of the Prophet), and some Islamic scholars/teachers have said about the Jumuah and muslim prayer in general:

The Prophet said…

“If a person had a stream outside his door and he bathed in it five times a day, do you think he would have any filth left on him?” The people said, “No filth would remain on him whatsoever.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said, “That is like the five daily prayers: Allah wipes away the sins by them.” (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)

In another hadith, the Prophet said,

“The five daily prayers and the Friday Prayer until the Friday prayer are expiation for what is between them.” (Recorded by Muslim.)

And…

“Of all the days, Friday is the most virtuous. It is on this day that the trumpet will be blown. Send abundant blessings upon me on Fridays because they are presented to me on that day.”

On this day it is commanded by the Prophet that you should take a full bath (ghusl), put on clean clothes and perfume/cologne if you have it. Also, it is not obligatory for females to offer this particular prayer.

The Koran says…

“O you who believe! When the call for Friday prayer is made, hasten towards the remembrance of Allah Most High and leave all transactions. This is best for you if only you know.” (I’m unsure of this reference)

“Verily, man was created impatient, irritable when evil touches him and niggardly when good touches him. Except for those devoted to prayer those who remain constant in their prayers…” (al-Maarij 19-23)

The Christian View of Prayer – A Very Short Summary

The Christian view of prayer is different from the Muslim view. Christian prayer is simply communication with God. In prayer, a person can do any number of different things including, acknowledge God’s character, holiness, and other attributes, cry out to him in emotional pain and anguish, make requests of God to intervene in our lives and in the world to act in certain ways in keeping with his character and purposes in the world, remind God of his promises, ask for wisdom for decisions and life choices, etc. The Bible is full of examples of prayers of people in many different life situations. We should study them and pattern our prayers after them in the appropriate times and situations.

I know of no examples of Muslim prayers in the Koran presumably because the Koran is almost thoroughly a recounting of God’s words directly to the Prophet.

One of the most important things about Christian prayer is that is not a duty that atones for or makes expiation for sin. It does not enhance one’s moral standing before God. In fact, only through Christ, the perfect God-man, can we “boldly approach the throne” of God in prayer. Apart from Christ we approach a holy God as sinful and rebellious people and we will not be accepted.

Also, it should be noted that for the Christian no physical cleaning is required to approach God in prayer.

For the Muslim readers who check out this post, let me know if I’ve made mistakes in my simple recounting of Islamic prayer and specifically the Jumuah prayer. I got most of the information from here, here, and here.

Back to Blogging… And a Few Dubai Christmas Pictures

I’ve taken some time off work to be with the family during this Christmas season and that always means my blogging slows down. But there’s much to post and discuss so it’s time to jump back in!

Before I move on to other news and ideas I’ve given you a few pictures I took during the Christmas season here in Dubai. Dubai is a wonderful place in the Arabian peninsula in that they allow the celebration of Christmas. I’m thankful for that. But I think that much of the motivation for the demonstrably public nature of Christmas is for merchandising reasons. Dubai retailers have learned the “cash cow” that a commercialized Christmas can be. It’s kind of a shame but again, I’m grateful for the allowances that are made for celebrating this Christian remembrance in an Islamic country.

“Santa-Hat” clad checkout workers and baggers at Spinney’s Grocery Store

Arab musicians at Mall of the Emirates. I don’t think there was any special Christmas connection here.

The Filipino Church, a partner with our church, came to do Christmas caroling at our home one night! They sounded great and even sang a Christmas song in Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines.

Here’s a short (and low quality) video of the Tagalog song they sang for us.