The Second One

Alhamdulillah, this Eid certainly was a Best Day Ever--making it Best Day Ever #2! Alhamdulillah. It was really a wonderful day, even though... it started off kinda poorly. Why?

Well, the prayer was at 8. To give some perspective, sunrise was about 7:25. Meaning... you needed to pray fajr first thing and you best be on your way... or maybe even pray fajr at the eid gathering!! I arrived by 8--this must be said. But spent entirely too long waiting in line just to get into the arena! Just to get in! Because women move sooooooooooo slow. It's like they've never prayed before!! Much less in a group! Women irritate me so much.. and I feel like I can say this totally sexist remark because I am a woman. They just do not know how to behave--too many of them causing trouble. First of all, they take up too much space. It's like they didn't even know that had to be in rows, or they thought they were the only ones coming. So they'd spread out a blanket and "picnic" on the tarp when there should be room around them for people on the sides, a row behind, a row in front... grr.. They didn't want to fill in gaps, they wanted to take their strollers in (where are stroller going to fit??) This room is so crowded, totally full, and people still not having room to pray. Quite a lot of people didn't have room to pray thanks to these shenanigans, actually.

Once they started forming rows, they wouldn't fill in gaps. On top of that, the rows were spaced too far apart--a good 10 more rows could have fit in the women's section--and 10 more rows were needed at least to accomodate the women (like myself) standing in the doorway just watching this mess. Then once the prayer started instead of still forming rows people just stopped and prayed in the aisles... mind you, they were in the way, meaning they were blocking everyone else behind them who now had nowhere to go.

Why is there never enough space for women? A few reasons--one, the women take up too much space; they don't close the gaps, their rows are spaced far apart, the kids are running around... but two, they have all the kids anyway!! They need to be stricter and they are lax, and it's such a mess. Talking during the khutbah, walking around and talking during the khutbah!!! Shameful!! I would comment about the brothers doing the same thing, but compared to the sisters, it's not worth noticing. So many women were moving, it was such a disaster. I'm embarassed to be a woman. :-(

But why is that?? Why don't women know how to pray in congregation?? Because they don't. Thanks to the last hundred generations of Muslims who have forbidden women to pray at home--assuring that women have no knowledge of their deen and persist in such foolishness as I saw that day. How horribly embarassing. Oh, and did I mention, that several of the girls were looking around at the mess, from their rows, during the prayer? Yes, the imam reciting, and they're looking left, right, up, behind, anywhere but down in front. Sigh.

But THEN! I listened to the khutbah what of it that I could and afterwards got to greet the sisters I knew. Afterwards, I said. Some sisters were just too impatient, like I said they had to get up and socialize during the khutbah. Why the hurry to get eid over and done with? Why do they not care about the religious aspect but only want to move on to socializing??

Once I left I was invited to eat at someone's house... someone's mother's house, actually, and the food was soo wonderful. And plenty of people came, including my sister's old neighbors (who happened to be Muslim, though I didn't know them really before I converted and really didn't meet them until this Eid.) Then I went to someone else's house... from a boisterous family gathering to a prim and proper daytime social, it seemed like. The second was so quiet and to be honest, kind of boring--and I was there for a while, almost 6 hours. By the time that was over I was just tired, went home and to bed.

But the two hours I spent at the first house was wonderful enough for the whole day. Great food (everywhere), great company (everywhere), and really celebrating an Eid for the first time since I'd become Muslim made it the Best Day Ever. :-)