Please wear proper safety equipment upon entering the masjid

By Laura El Alam, IFN Columnist

Monday, 17 August 2009

Imagine this scenario: There is a group of young children. Many of them have not eaten anything all day; however, one hour ago, they bolted down two chicken kebabs and a few tablespoons of rice, chased by three cans of Coke, two syrup-soaked ethnic pastries and eight miniature Snickers. Right around their regularly scheduled bedtime, these sugar-saturated children have been herded into a huge hall with about 100 other youngsters. There is little to no adult supervision, because all the grown-ups are too busy. What would you call this situation? Chaos? Madness? Go ahead and call it by its name: Taraweeh prayers at the local masjid. I have heard brothers and sisters from nearly every masjid complain about the same issues during Ramadan. Our taraweeh prayers are continuously disturbed by uncontrolled children running amok. Even the mosques that are organized and generous enough to offer babysitting seem to be thwarted somehow by unsupervised children who weave in and out of rows of praying people, cavort in dark parking lots, scream, squirm, squeal and crash into prostrating people with their Razor Scooters. That last example is, unfortunately, not a figment of my imagination. Apparently, Razor Scooters were last year’s must-have accessory for children attending taraweeh prayers in the outdoor musallah of a local masjid. Perhaps this year their parents will let them bring badminton equipment, a trampoline, or maybe a few Frisbees for their enjoyment. After all, we wouldn’t want our children to get bored during prayer. In fact, I can see that many parents are bored with those “annoying” suggestions that everyone keeps making during Ramadan, like having spouses take turns praying at the masjid so their children can get a good night’s sleep. Or the crazy idea of keeping our children right next to us during prayer – clearly impossible. And to suggest that someone break their prayer or even – gasp! – leave the masjid and pray at home when their children get out of hand?! No way! The people have spoken, and they are clearly saying, “Let the masjid volunteers skip their sunnah prayers and attempt to supervise our children all night long so we can rack up our rewards!”  Given the prevailing laissez-faire attitude toward parenting during taraweeh prayers, I feel compelled to suggest the following ideas for Ramadan this year: 1. Each mosque can set up a giant inflatable bouncer right in the middle of the prayer hall. Anyone who wants to pray taraweeh can squeeze in around the bouncer and do his/her best to hear the Qur’an over the loudspeaker. The mosques can start advertising these events as “Taraweeh Fun Nights.” 2. At the entrance of the masjid, volunteers will hand out helmets and pads for adults to wear during prayer. That way, when we get trampled by children or crashed by Razor Scooters, it will not hurt quite as much. 3. Children will all be equipped with glow-in-the-dark wristbands so that when their parents let them play unsupervised in the dark parking lots and streets near the masjid, they are slightly less likely to be hit by a car. 4. Each masjid can provide a cordoned-off area especially for cell phone and Blackberry use, right in the middle of the prayer hall. Clearly, our technologically-advanced brothers and sisters need a place where they can simultaneously text and pray. 5. Cozy coffee and tea lounges will be established near the prayer hall so that parents who like to chat and relax will not be disturbed by the sounds of their children screaming in the lobby or, worse yet, by the worshippers. With implementations like these, taraweeh prayers are bound to be more exciting, user-friendly, indulgent and entertaining. They might end up being so much fun that we’ll all forget why we’re in the masjid in the first place. Or have we forgotten that already?

Last Updated ( Sunday, 08 November 2009 )