Reconnecting with my faith

The weather in KL reminded me of Pakistan. The humidity slapped you in the face the moment you stepped outdoors. The sun was bright and piercing, so we were forced to squint. Getting tanned was not a problem but a nuisance. Still, all of this was a welcome change from the frigid temperatures of China and Japan. It was nice, also, to finally ditch our winter jackets and bust out our lighter clothes.

Because we had so little time in KL (today is the only full-day that we had), we opted for a driving tour of the city, which took us at a blazing speed through all the significant sights, which included stops at the royal palace (the guard looks like I’ve lost my marbles):

The national mosque, where they had special garments for the tourists in shorts to put on before entering:

The architecture inside was beautiful (the second picture is of the inside of the main dome):


KL architecture in general is a wonderful blend of Islamic and western. The Petronas towers, which together comprise the second tallest building in the world, are a great example:

The highlight of our KL romp, however, wasn't even on the tour itinerary. We had been dropped back at the hotel, and had the whole afternoon ahead of us, so we decided to visit the Islamic Arts Museum. I have to say, this museum had a profound impact on me.

The United States is, in my opinion, one of the greatest places in the world to practice freedom of speech and religion. Still, it is predominantly a Christian nation, and as a Muslim I have to adapted to the environment. I offer prayers by scouting out an empty classroom during breaks (or an empty conference room when I was working). Life doesn't slow down when Ramadan rolls around - I am expected to work the same long hours, and complete the same amount of work. Religious celebrations such as Eid are not public holidays, and come out of the vacation balance. But none of these are an insurmountable challenge - they're just facets of being a Muslim in America. It has been the events of the last few years, however, that have caused me to lose faith in others who falsely claim to practice the same religion that I do, and then perpetrate acts of complete lunacy.

So as a member of any religious group would do, you try to find solace in things such as your community, or local religious events, or by visiting the city museum when an Islamic art museum rolls into town. But I didn't realize until now, when I visited the Islamic Art museum in KL, how I had only ever seen the tip of the iceberg at even renown institutions such as the Smithsonian, or the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Here, in a developing Muslim country, Islamic Arts Museum did such an amazing job of explaining the beauty of Islamic art that it took my breath away. I had seen examples of Islamic calligraphy before, but never been confronted with walls and walls of art from all over the world - Africa, China, Egypt, and South Asia. I had seen silverware and pottery from the Islamic Renaissance before, but I had never seen rooms of jewelery, headpieces, armor, bridal wear, coinage, scientific instruments, and furniture from centuries past. I had seen pictures of the mosques in Mecca and Istanbul, but had never been confronted with full scale models of the Blue Mosque, the Alhambra palace, the Haram Sharif, the Taj Mahal, and the Dome of the Rock -models that took up an entire wing of the museum. And the centerpiece of it all was the Kiswah, the covering that is draped over the cubic structure that sits in Mecca, and towards which all Muslim pray, that was the highlight of the second floor. This particular kiswah had covered the Ka'aba in 1966, and had since been removed and placed in the museum. The cloth was a magnificent black, and the beautiful calligraphy in deep gold jumped out at you.

We spent hours at the museum, reconnecting with all that is beautiful in Islam. For anyone who wishes to learn more about this faith, I recommend this museum. For any Muslim who finds themselves within a day's drive of Kuala Lumpur - this is a place they MUST visit.