Monday, January 10, 2011

The Islamic Center of Dallas

On Friday, January 7th, 2011 I visited the Turquoise Center in Richardson for Quran Study Program with a Turkish group.  The talk was called, "An outline of the complete system of Islamic life, Chapter 103: The Time" The teacher was Mr. H. Toprak.

I found I was very concerned about visiting this group for study.  I observed my discomfort and listened to the words it was telling me.  It was very instructive.  It said, because of uncertainty, it would be easier not to go.  I finally overrode everything and went anyway.  I set up this project to get to know people in different faith-practices.  It turned out that I had even met a couple of people through a Ramadan dinner the previous Fall, at Unity Church of Dallas.

I walked in with a very friendly woman and served myself some of the traditional dinner. There were three large round tables where men were sitting and one large round table where women were sitting.  Two women did not wear head scarves.  I had checked before I came, through the Meet-Up group about appropriate dress.  I was informed that I could wear anything.

During the talk, we were invited to ask questions about anything.  An American man sitting closer to the speaker did ask a couple of questions which were graciously answered.

I found myself listening to the principles of living a spiritual life, principles which could be practiced anywhere, in any religion.  I visited with the women after the Quran teaching and we talked about childbirth, a universal experience.

I went home feeling elated.  I had taken notes during the talk so I could follow it with more focus.  I went to bed feeling very good about the whole experience and woke up the next morning with a sense of deep peace.

Here is the link to the MeetUp group:  www.meetup.com/quranstudy

The Dallas Islamic Center is a religious organization based in DFW, promoting religious understanding and providing Quran Studies on all Friday nights at 7:00.

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