Woke up this morning an absolutely new woman! I was really worried yesterday that I was going to be in for a bout of insomnia over here, because of how I felt after the sleepless night on the plane, the unfamiliarity and the distance from home and family, but after my prayers and relaxation exercises I slept like a baby!
So it is with much greater positivity and energy that I face a new day in Kuala Lumpur.
I am still deliberating as to what to focus on in this blog so I am just keeping it really general for now : we’ll see what unfolds.
I find myself reflecting on the practice of Islam in the new country, as a Muslim from a country in which Muslims are a minority. Personally, of course, it is easier right now for me to do my practice without the added responsibilities of housework and family. But I am interested also in examining how each country we visit facilitates the practice of Islam in various ways: how practicing Islam in an Islamic society is different from home, and how it is different in each of the countries we visit. My special interest in women's access to mosques could play in very nicely with all of that...
In KL there is really no excuse not to pray tahajjud if you have come from Australia where fajr salat is currently at around 4am: fajr salat doesn’t in even start until six fifteen here at the moment, with the sun rising at nearly half past seven!
Again, just as at the airport, there is a prayer room easily accessible here at the hotel: the Islamic prayer becomes not just part of the individual's day, but is located within the structure of the whole society and the amenities are at hand, though it is not obvious visually here in the city centre. There is no Islamic architecture, no minarets. There is one mosque over beyond the huge shopping mall at the Petronus Towers. This is an Islam that flows with the comings and goings and the demands of a big city. As the old Sufi saying goes, "Islam fills a vessel and takes its shape".
As I leave the comfort of my room to head out and attempt once again to get through to the family, I find an English speaking newspaper hanging on the doorknob. Yet another nice attention to detail in this hotel. Did I mention the staff who are without exception pleasant and helpful?
Front page news is the new decision to include all mother tongues spoken in Malaysia in the national curriculum, as day subjects, rather than after school electives. This seems like a move towards equality between the races in Malaysia and I will be on the lookout for more like it.
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