Recently, my phone has been flooded with images of corners of people’s homes decorated with prayer mats, prayer beads and Ramadan-themed art. This was in response to a challenge to create a mihrab or space of worship in your home for Ramadan.
The bright-colored prayer mats gave me an even brighter smile. They gave me hope that coping during a quarantined Ramadan is possible.
But some of us are still struggling to make that adjustment. With the masjid closed, what can we do to allow our homes to be the stand-in masjid?
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A Home and a Masjid: The Prophet’s Story
The Seerah offers interesting insight into what it means to establish prayer in our homes. In early Islam, the Muslims of Makkah were heavily persecuted for the faith. From being beaten to forced to lay out in the burning sun with boulders on their chest, the safety of the Muslim required secrecy of congregation.
Therefore, a companion named Al-Arqam bin Abi Al-Arqam offered his home as a gathering space. Essentially, this was the first masjid that we reference as “Dar (House of) Al-Arqam.”
The status of Al-Arqam with Allah is immense for sacrificing his meager home for the sake of Allah. So what say we reap the reward of sacrificing our homes for the sake of Allah?
Another fact is that the Prophet’s Mosque in Madina was attached to his home (peace be upon him). In fact, the prayer space of the masjid and his bedroom were separated by a simple curtain! Within a few steps the Messenger of Allah could wake from sleep and rise to lead prayer for the Muslim community.
Many times, we view the masjid almost as this mystical segregated place of worship. This was farthest from the truth for the Prophet! Adopting the paradigm shift can be very helpful in making the most of this Ramadan.
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