Mile High Mosque

Last updated on: October 17, 2016 at 10:07 pm by Hind Makki

Mile High Mosque 2016-10-17T22:07:49-06:00 Hind Makki

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Toronto Skyline by TsaiProject/Flickr Creative Commons

This is Day 22 of Hindtrospectives’ #MyMosqueMyStory series for Ramadan 2015

By Alev Karasu

This is the final year of my PhD and the pressure is rising. I live in The Netherlands, and am completing my PhD in medicine at a university hospital. The past few years with Ramadan I was able to adjust my schedule a little bit: I wasn’t working late (a 36-hour workweek would have to do) and I came in a bit later and left later. Elhamdulillah, this was possible thanks to the flexible hours of doing a PhD here. The time I had left was invested in strengthening my relationship with the Quran. Iftars for me mean family time. I hadn’t spent a single Iftar alone in my life, being fortunate enough to always been surrounded by loved ones. But this year, Ramadan was to have a different start.

With mountains of work still to do, I prepared for our biannual large congress, which took place in Toronto, Canada this year in exactly the first week of Ramadan. The prospect of being away from my husband – our first Ramadan as a married couple –, family and friends, and the fact that I would be spending it mostly alone, or with non-fasting or non-Muslim (and mostly atheist, which in my opinion are the hardest audience to explain Ramadan to) colleagues, wasn’t exactly reassuring. I had a heavy heart going into Ramadan.

Because of the long flight and the time-difference, I was not able to fast during my travels. But once I arrived at the congress centre, I ran into a pleasant surprise. The lady at the registration desk told me that since the congress falls in the holy month for Muslims, special considerations were taken. We were able to pick up our cool boxed lunches in the late afternoons.

When I responded: ‘Wow, that’s very considerate, thank you’, she mentioned that it is common courtesy to take into account a large population of individuals that are fasting. ‘We would’ve done the same if it were a Christian or Jewish holy time.’ I smiled at her and nodded. I had been to Canada before, but I had forgotten how kind and thoughtful these people are.

Prayer room at Congress centre

‘Oh, and you do know that there’s a prayer room, right? Just here downstairs.’

Oh man, this just keeps getting better!

Later that day I went to find the prayer room. An empty room with a prayer rug spread on the floor indicating the direction of the Kaaba. The rest of the week I was able to perform my prayers there. Elhamdulillah.

1 minute to go until Iftar, high in the sky in the CN Tower

From my experience of breaking my fast alone in my hotel room, I pray nobody finds themselves in a situation like this. But every down comes with an up. In one of the final days of the congress, my colleagues and I went up the CN Tower to have dinner. As dinner was going to be at 9 pm, exactly at the time of Magrib, I was able to join. I witnessed, high up in that tower with a beautiful view over Toronto, the beauty of the sun going down at Magrib time. I didn’t need a watch or an iPhone to know when I could break my fast: seeing the sun disappear at the horizon was enough.

Enough and magnificent. Elhamdulillah.

Alev is an MD/PhD candidate in the Netherlands, with love for many more things outside of medicine. Find her on Twitter @Alevvvelaa

#MyMosqueMyStory

Previous Post

July 8, 2015

Uninvited

Next Post

July 10, 2015 Ramadan For Two

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #BlackLivesMatter #MyMosqueMyStory #ZoulSoul American Hijabi in Europe Black History Month Ertugrul Hindtrospectives Linksies Mawlid Pop Culture Trans Atlantic Relations Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2018 December 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 August 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 December 2012 November 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 October 2010 September 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the primary beverage in biblical times?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Milk Water Wine Beer