Muslims Brave Violent Storm to Attend Friday Prayers

Editor's note: Christine A. Scheller writes regularly on local places of worship. Follow the links on this page to read her other stories.

"Open the gates of mercy for all of us," Imam Maqsood Qadri prayed as congregants trickled in for Friday afternoon prayers at the Islamic Center of Ocean County in Toms River.

A violent storm had just rolled through the region, pouring down rain and hail, flooding roadways, and making travel dangerous. The communal prayer time, known as Jumu' ah, was understandably more sparsely attended in the aftermath than it had been when Patch visited June 17.

After offering prayers in both Arabic and English, Qadri's sermon, or Khutbah, picked up from where it had left off the previous week. He talked again about a miraculous night journey that Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad took from Mecca to Jerusalem and then from Jerusalem to heaven, where he encountered Jesus and Moses and received revelation about five-times-daily prayers.

He said the miracle "gives us more strength and power to be a practicing Muslim."

"One who believes in Allah should have no doubts about his journey," said Qadri. 

Talking about miracles given to the prophet will increase faith and blessings, he said. 

Qadri also told a story in which a man asked how a person can know that Allah is happy with them. 

"The person should ask in his heart if he is happy with Allah. If he is happy with Allah, Allah is happy with him," said Qadri.

The imam concluded by instructing children to listen to their parents, and said it is also important for parents to try to be good. He noted the futility of fathers instructing children to be faithful Muslims if they're not practicing faithfully themselves. 

There were community announcements after Qadri spoke, and another man led a round of devotional acts, or prayers, called Dhikr.

"Allahu akbar," "alhamdulillah," "subhanallah," the man called out in a deep rhythmic cadence.

The meeting concluded with the imam offering supplications for the sick and suffering, for summer travel, and for the forgiveness of sins.

Qadri was educated in Pakistan and has been imam at the center for three years, he said when Patch spoke to him June 17. The congregation follows the Sunni branch of Islam and is "mainstream," he said.

The center was founded 14 years ago and met in a doctor's office on Rte. 9 until the mosque was built five years ago, said Qadri. When it was under construction, there was minor chalk vandalism, but overall the neighbors have been "very good" to the congregation, he said.

During worship, women wear a hijab, or head scarf, and clothing that covers their arms to the wrists and legs to the ankles. They gather in an upstairs loft that overlooks the room where the men worship. Two television monitors broadcast from downstairs. 

Those who are menstruating sit at the back of the room, a woman told Patch June 17, or they stay home. There is a basin in the women's rest room so that worshipers can perform ablution, or ritual cleansing, before prayer. 

In other mosques, women and men sometimes worship in the same room, but the women stand behind the men and the sexes never pray intermingled, said Tarika Rabbi of Brick.

Rabbi is a native of Bangladesh and has attended the mosque ever since it was built. The structure of worship is the same everywhere in the world, she said, except that the imam's teaching is spoken in each location's common language. It is mandated, she said, that prayers be offered in Arabic.

All the women were dressed in eastern attire Friday, but Rabbi sometimes wears western style pants and shirts, she said.

"I work in Brick Head Start as a teacher. In my workplace, I work with Jewish people, I work with Christian people. I'm a Muslim. What I've found [is that] basic beliefs are all the same. Same God we believe in. What is my prophet's teaching, Mohammad, peace be upon him, is the same teaching that Moses taught, that Jesus taught," said Rabbi.

"Deep down, I believe in God. I believe that Mohammad, peace be upon him, is his messenger. This is the main belief of Muslims. I believe it. I pray five times a day. During the fasting month, which is called Ramadan, I fast. Since I do it, I always practice all my deeds, deep down with the faith, I feel blessings of God in my everyday life," Rabbi said, explaining that she, her husband, and their two children are all healthy, if not rich. 

"I live pay check to pay check. I'm okay with that," she said. "I'm extremely happy."

"[Islam] dictates how to live your life, what to do in every scenario, said Haroon Zia of Toms River. "It shows us, basically, how to act, how to behave, and what to do no matter what scenario we're given. So it's a part of our life on a daily basis, not just on a weekly basis," he said.

"Islam is one religion which is a way of life. All of the religions, you go to church or you go to synagogue and you perform and that's a ritual," said Tahir Shah of Toms River.

"Islam is one faith, which is basically you have to live through it every day. You have to do certain things at the command of Allah," he said. "Everything is living Islam."

"Right from waking up to sleeping, you have to follow certain guidelines" added Mohammed Shakaib, of Jackson. 

"Qu'ran is just a rule book. You just follow rules and you follow what Prophet Mohammad did. Obviously Qu'ran did not spell out each and every thing. ... Whatever prophet did we follow, which is basically the way you live: the way you talk to your neighbors, the way I'm talking to you,  the way I interact with anybody, the way we sit, the way we get up, the way we sleep, the way we eat, the way we share," said Shakaib.

Friday prayers begin at 1:30 p.m. and Friday evening lectures begin at 8:30 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public, Qadri said.

Sunday school runs from 10:30 a.m. to  2:30 p.m. Qur'anic classes are held after school Monday through Thursday when school is in session. Summer school runs from July 5 to August 5. 

The center is located at 2116 Whitesville Road, Toms River. For more information, call (732) 363-1940.