Now That's the Way to Go!

I must say that my New Year wish did come true...on the very first day of the year! For the first time, I was impressed by the way Friday prayers were organized (I'm a Muslim by the way). Instead of the usual chaos and commotion that accompanies the holy prayers, I was startled and very secretly pleased that there were coordinators placed very strategically within and around the mosque compounds, directing the pious masses to their allocated praying places.

Usually, I could reliably expect silent inaction from the mosque management. It's something like this, "-----". Yup. Nothing but silence. Which inevitably meant that the congregation had to struggle their way in through the masses who were conveniently - I repeat, very conveniently - supplicating to the Lord Almighty right at the mosque entrance. Maybe they were simply subconsciously unaware of the presence of other people around them trying to get into the mosque. Ah, the bliss of prayers! It makes you unaware of the unholy things around you!

Today was a different case however. As soon as I arrived at the entrance, I could hear the "Friday prayers emcee" (I have no other accurate term to describe this unique appointment) reminding the congregation to fill in the empty ranks around them so that others can comfortably squeeze themselves in the mosque. Very important - but it seems that other mosques overlook this matter. Tsk tsk!

Another superb observation was that the entire prayers session (sermon + prayers + waiting...) started and ended according to schedule. Amazing!

On other less fortunate days, I can expect to wait up to 20 mins for the sermon to start. And after that, I would be entertained by the Khatib (yes, the same Khatib as in Khatib MRT; Khatib = person who delivers the sermon) who reads out the MUIS-prepared sermon in a boring monotone voice. Sometimes, if the Khatib feels that he is in a particularly multi-racial mood, he would read out the English version in a grating and tortured voice like as if he was made to eat boiled broccoli which always makes me cringe in ...well...cringe-worthy manner. And the English sermons would with nearly 100% accuracy be punctuated with DE (the) and DIS (this) and a whole lot of other horrible-sounding pronunciations. Urgh!

Back to the story, the sermon immediately began after the after the call to prayers were announced. The Khatib smoothly glided through the sermon in crisp, articulate Indonesian-accented Malay in just 10 mins and then promptly proceeded to start the prayers. More surprisingly, the Khatib-turned-Imam (Imam = prayer leader) read out loud only the short Quranic verses which in turn saved us from eternal damnation caused by dutiful snoozing through long-winded prayers.

The usual modus operandi was for the Imam to read out the loooooooong verses in perhaps the vain hope that the congregation would appreciate and reach spiritual nirvana listening to his accomplished mastery of musical Quranic recitation (most of the time it sounds as if he's got a fat frog clogged in his throat).

Even the after-prayers dismissal was brilliantly managed. The crowd was guided to the exit area where a huge donation box in the form of a large glass-encased silver dome (quite tacky!) was strategically placed to remind the congregation of their $$$ responsibilities. Ingenious!

To sum it up, I am impressed by the mosque's professionalism!

Ahmad Ibrahim Mosque, kudos to you!