There was a cat on the minbar. All are perfectly aligned and praying salat ul-asr. The cat is facing the congregation, it’s fur completely white except for a grey patch on the left eye and ear. She sits at the very top and watches the Muslims pray, as if inspecting every movement to make sure the regiment is solid and no one is off beat. Rukua, then sujuud, then sajda, then standing again. The cat walks down the fourth row, her paws walking a straight path, connecting the dots where the foreheads just met the ground. She gives the gathering a closer inspection. All are in line. Heads turn to the right, heads turn to the left. For most, the prayer is finished. She walks along, rubbing against those who are sitting, remembering the names of God and praising Him, counting on their fingers. The cat is loved by everyone, and she is clean. I hope her prayer was accepted.
I'm not sure what a Minbar is (I'll look it up directly after this comment's posted), but here's the image this sparked in my head. There's a group of Muslims praying on a Corniche-like arrangement. Right next to the ocean, on a sort of large extended sidewalk that's purposefully made for larger congregations. The sea's this deep blue, perfectly reflecting the sky, and the cat's sitting on the railing of this Corniche, just looking out at this group praying. It's Fajr time, and so it's not too hot outside --yet. The wind from the ocean is tousling the hairs of those performing salaat and the cat's just watching them, walking across the lines, brushing up against them from time to time. asdlfkja;sdlfk. I know I'm way off about this, but thanks for making that scene pop into my head :)
ReplyDeleteYep, I was very wrong.
ReplyDeleteAh well.
its fur*
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeletereminded me of the cat i saw in Makkah ages ago. it walked around a woman that was praying. i'll never forget that, subhanAllah.