The Story
More from Morocco!
Hello again!
To start off with the incredibly ridiculous, we had MWF classes on Saturday. Yes, believe it or not, Saturday became a class day the weekend before our mid-semester break. The reasoning behind this bizarre and criminal change to our academic calendar was that, on Thursday, November 6, we have the day off for the Green March in Morocco (when Morocco forced Spain to cede Western Sahara), but not that Friday. Therefore, AUI decided that to give us that Friday off, we would need to have a "make-up" day of MWF and that the perfect day would be Saturday!
Despite groans and protests from students, we went to classes and suffered through them (imagine, a 9 AM class on Saturday!). In expressing my frustrations to my Moroccan friends, I told them that this shenanigan of a Saturday class would never occur at US public universities without student riots!
However, students see class cancellation differently here. Unlike in the US, where if class is canceled, it's canceled, in Morocco, if class is canceled, it must be made up at some point. However, I didn't let the classes I had in the morning and afternoon ruin my day, and after classes I prepared myself for Laylat al-Qadir and Ftour...
I have never experienced anything like Laylat al-Qadir. To provide some background information on Laylat al-Qadir, it is the night that Muslims believe is most likely to have been the night in which the Qur'an first began to be revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
As a result of this, it is the most special night of Ramadan and most Muslims spend it praying and reflecting in Mosques. In fact, it is said that Laylat al-Qadir is like 1000 months (83 years) and that prayers made during the night are multiplied and are the most pleasing to God.
Due to the significance of this night and my studies of Islam, I chose to go to the Mosque with some of my friends to experience Laylat al-Qadir from their perspective. I must say that it was one of the most incredible experiences in my life! There are few words to describe the atmosphere in the Mosque here at AUI. The Mosque wasn't full, however, there were a significant amount of students staying in the Mosque during the night. Some even stayed the entire night from 8:00 PM to 5:15 AM!
There was a presence inside the Mosque-- this night was so special to all that were praying that an aura just seemed to exude and permeate the building. Additionally, I feel that this experience enriched my study of Islam, which is one of the primary reasons why I wanted to study in a majority Muslim country. It was truly once in a lifetime, and an experience that I won't forget.
In my next post, I’ll include all that I did over the ‘Eid al-Fitr (end of Ramadan holiday) break!
This is one in a series of posts by Adam Farrar from Morroco.