A post about Islam

 

As the title indicates this is a post about Islam. But first, a word about Germans. Neither Muslims nor Germans have a great recent history with my people, so perhaps it's a natural lead in.

Last week my Audi S5 would not start. The battery died. If I had asked my neighbor for a jump start we'd have to find the battery on the damn car. Not an easy task. It's buried beneath the spare tire in the trunk. The boot, as the British would say.

Turned out the battery was the size of a carry-on suitcase. 

I've never owned a "performance car", how was I to know? The new battery, the Uberkockinfuffen 7000 cost me close to $400. It worked like a charm but the emergency ignition locking mechanism on the dashboard began to rattle. It seems the Germans are still out to get me.

That necessitated a visit to my local Fancy European Car Shop in nearby Palms. Having dropped the car off, I began the 2 mile walk back to my house, where I discovered my new replacement hip (also Teutonic) was fine for biking but needed to acclimate itself to walking. Note to self: stretch, you lazy bastard.

On the way back I also passed the King Faud Mosque, near the old NFL Films Headquarters. It was a Friday afternoon and the men had just started piling out of the mosque. From a distance, I could see a middle aged woman, in a hajib, and two young children standing on the corner. She was holding a sign and clearly in need of assistance.

Despite the exorbitant cost of my auto repairs, I decided I'd give her some money. Particularly since none of the exiting men were. This is not to disparage them. In fact, as you'll see, it's the opposite.

I opened my wallet and gave the mother of the two young kids what I could. She smiled at me.

"Inshallah", she remarked, and couldn't be more grateful.

I was tempted to tell her I was Jewish and was simply making one tiny gesture at reconciliation, but decided against it. Mostly, because that would have been self-serving, and moreover, stupid.

As I continued walking, I was directly behind a younger man in his 30's. As he made his way back to his car, I could see him carefully folding his prayer rug. And that's when (pardon the allusion) it went off like a bomb in my head. 

This was scene that harkened me back to my youth when the more religious Jews walking to and from temple, would carry their beautiful, velvet tallit bags. The words and the rituals might have differed in flavor, but it was the SAME thing.

In fact, as we were taught in Hebrew school, and just as Christianity is derived from Judaism, so too is Islam. And in many ways, much more directly. We learned of the 500-600 years in the Middle Ages when Muslims and Jews in Iberia, in the Fertile Crescent, in North Africa, co-existed peacefully. At least more peacefully than those who do cross fit and those who don't.

I was walking and nursing my bum hip so I had time to reflect on this a little more. And recounted the many times on this blog and elsewhere when I had spoken/thought poorly about our Abrahamic brothers. To be frank, I am ashamed of myself for doing so.

Indeed, in the time since then, I've become friends with an ad colleague, Mahmud (I hope Moody won't mind me mentioning his name). And like to think that our friendship/partnership has helped me evolve. And softened and changed my earlier hardline stances on the matter.

It's a continuing process. And if I can paraphrase Winston Churchill, "Show me a man at 64 who thinks the same way he did at 44 and I'll show you an idiot. Or a Red Hat." 

Put another way, as Ms. Muse likes to say, it's the emergence of Rich. 2.0.