NUREYA NAMAZ, Film & Video major, writes: I get in the taxi cab and hand the torn magazine page to the driver, a young man probably in his early twenties. He squints as he looks at the Chinese words, and hesitates as he inches the car forward--just a little. Then, smiling, he shakes his head telling me, "Sorry." I smile and leave to get another cab. Immediately another car pulls up. This time the driver looks to be in his fifties. I show him the paper, and after mulling over the address, he springs the car forward into traffic. Yes, we are off! It takes about 15 minutes to arrive at a bustling home and tourist attraction known as the Yu gardens. My total fare came to about 15 yuan, which is a little more than two U.S. dollars.
Yes, I've finally made it. A little off to my right resides the building I am looking for. Outside, the structure is a nice light blue, and on top of the huge double doorway, Arabic and Mandarin name the entrance. This is a mosque, also known as a masjid. As I enter the structure, I'm amazed at how beautiful everything is. On the outside, even though the building is a private place for prayer, it's a public space for welcoming strangers like myself. You won't find pictures of people or animals on the walls, only simple Arabic calligraphy and mostly white walls with the occasional color--mostly blue and green.
When walking in, passing the Islamic bookstore and a meeting room, there's a small open courtyard. To the far right and left are long corridors leading to wash rooms for men and women, respectively. Walking into another building are two large wings: a prayer room and a meeting/banquet hall. I washed, prayed, and walked around taking pictures. People either smiled at me or gave me the greetings, but no one asked why I was there. From what I could see, there were about three people total in the whole complex, but eventually more and more people arrived. And then I saw what was going on. A wedding was about to take place. In the room across from the prayer hall, men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims, gathered together for a wedding. At first I wasn't sure if I could take pictures of the wedding, so someone asked the groom for me, who said, "Oh, yes, assalamu alaikum (peace be with you), please do! Thank you for coming!" I then said, "wa-alaikum salaam" (and may peace be with you) back, and congratulated the both of them.
Honestly, the whole experience was surreal. Of all days I chose to come to this mosque,
there's a wedding! The bride wore traditional white and the groom a tuxedo. The imam
(priest) spoke in Chinese, Arabic, and English. And unlike in most U.S. or Middle Eastern
masaajid (plural for masjid), the women and men sit and stand next to each other regardless of there being designated spaces for men and women. Even after the ceremony, in another room where there were sweets (powdered-sugared fried dough and chocolates) laid out for everyone, both men and women sat next to each other as if nothing was an issue.
I made some new friends (we exchanged e-mails and took pictures together) and I got a chance to talk to the imam, who said that "things are better" for the Muslim population
in China than they have been before. He wouldn't go into detail about that, which is in
line with what I've experienced from others. No one wants to talk politics, and I respect that. They have their reasons.
