Wrestling to adapt and adopt
I follow the teaching of the Catholic Church – like Walker
Percy, another bad Catholic. I’m working on how to incorporate parts of Muslim
prayer into my own prayer. So: thoughts on a phrase and gesture.
The phrase
Allahu Akbar. To the Western ear, that’s a war cry, and in
fact it’s usually the violent shriek of a terrorist. But to a Muslim, it’s the
most common phrase in prayer, repeated over and over all though all the five
prayers of the day.
At Mass in the Maronite Rite (in full communion with the
Roman Catholic Church), God is addressed in Arabic, as “Allah.”
So we can (and I do) incorporate the words that are precious
to our Muslim brothers and sisters into our Christian prayer. It’s really
pretty urgent that Christians stop associating Muslim prayer with terror. So
TRY! Consider, for example, the refrain in the great Swedish hymn, “How Great
Thou Art:
Then sings my soul, my savior God to Thee,
Then sings my soul, my savior God to Thee,
How great thou art, how great thou art.
“How great thou art” can be translated “Allahu akbar.” If you’re going to replace the line from the Christian hymn with the Arabic words, you have to pay attention to how it scans. The “u” in “Allahu” is not a complete syllable, more like half a syllable. It’s like the “ur” in Saturday: you can make it a separate syllable – SA-TUR-DAY – or not – SAT-[eh]-DAY. Or the “r” in “where” in New England: it can be two syllables if you think that “r” is a vowel – WHAY-UH – or one – WHAIR. ALLAH is two syllables, for sure. AKBAR is two syllables, for sure. But the “u” can be a clear syllable, or a transitional sound more like a “w” attached to “AKBAR.” If you make it a transitional half-syllable, then the hymn scans properly, with four strong syllables in the Arabic line:
Then sings my soul, my savior God to Thee,
“How great thou art” can be translated “Allahu akbar.” If you’re going to replace the line from the Christian hymn with the Arabic words, you have to pay attention to how it scans. The “u” in “Allahu” is not a complete syllable, more like half a syllable. It’s like the “ur” in Saturday: you can make it a separate syllable – SA-TUR-DAY – or not – SAT-[eh]-DAY. Or the “r” in “where” in New England: it can be two syllables if you think that “r” is a vowel – WHAY-UH – or one – WHAIR. ALLAH is two syllables, for sure. AKBAR is two syllables, for sure. But the “u” can be a clear syllable, or a transitional sound more like a “w” attached to “AKBAR.” If you make it a transitional half-syllable, then the hymn scans properly, with four strong syllables in the Arabic line:
Then sings my soul, my savior God to Thee,
ALLAH [u] AKBAR, ALLAH [u] AKBAR!
The gesture
I was thinking about Muslim gestures over the weekend. I have
had a strong negative visceral reaction to a detail in Muslim prayer. I’m
troubled by a position in prayer – not quite prostrate, but on my knees with my
head on the ground – and with my butt above my head. Parts of it I understand:
it is certainly true in both Muslim and Christian prayer and behavior that
bowing to God is often tied tightly and causally to a sense of equality in
relationships between men – eye to eye with great dignity and calm. Still, the
posture bothered me. So I sat there Sunday, fussing at the Lord: “It’s undignified.” I sat there in church and looked at a
crucifix – Jesus scourged, mocked, nailed, crowned. The figure on the cross has
spit running down his face, although it’s not obvious because it’s overlaid
with sweat and grime and blood. I looked, and thought, “That Muslim position is
undignified.” And (it seemed to me, I imagined) Jesus’ grime-encrusted eyes
popped open, and he looked at me, and he said … Well, he didn’t say anything,
but the expression on his spit-spotted face seemed to say, “You’re kidding me,
right?” (Actually, I’m censoring what I thought his face said.)
Got it. I’m still going to tuck my fanny as well as I can.
But butt me no buts. When I’m praying with my Muslim brothers, I’m putting my
forehead on the floor, regardless.
