The Warmth of Silent Prayer

It felt calm and serene praying in the mosque. Praying is a sense of belonging somewhere, belonging to your source, your creator, the Almighty, God. The feeling was intense, I felt the presence. Inside the mosque, there was magnificent eternity that got me lost in the thoughtlessness of the past, and the future. It was only the presence of belonging, the serenity of existence.

Dayana, my classmate, who happens to be an English teacher by profession took me there. From our university to the ever so famous and the largest mosque in Central Asia, the Hazrat Sultan Mosque, the distance is hardly 15 to 20 mins by walk.

We exchanged a lot of talks on our way. Our conversation went from the pros and cons of traditions, how cultures evolve and perish, and how we human beings are so complicated social animals lost to the merciless capitalism, they're trying to find traces of our individuality all in vain, but we find hope in places where the heart feels free, feels at home.

At this very moment, everything about existence was the mosque, nothing else, for the way it made us feel, feel so complete and at peace for what and how we talked without any disturbance. Even the children playing around was serving a soothing effect, mostly it is annoying.

My friend talked about the USSR regime, and almost with tears that she somehow held back, told me how people craved for praying in mosques back then, but they were denied the right to it. Their idea of a mosque was only a heartfelt hidden desire that couldn't even be openly discussed with someone. How delightfully grateful, she vibed me when she said " I am ever so indebted for this religious freedom". Kazakhstan is free now, we own our mosque, a symbol of belongingness that sometimes seems too surreal.

Denying people from prayers, denying them of their home, their eternal abode with God is a horrible nightmare, be it a mosque, a church, a Buddhist temple, or a mandir. Religion is a basic human right we all are born with, snatching it away is inhumane, it is torture and we prayed that may glory be to Kazakhstan, where people of every religion believe are free to practice their faith.