Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 222
Justice (‘ Adl ), Benevolence ( Ihsan ) & Kinship ( Ita’i Dhil-Qurba ) in Worship 217 ago. Their mosques did not seem to be modelled after the mosque of the Holy Prophet sa. They were strictly divided into sectarian divisions. No person belonging to any one sect would dare to enter the mosque of his opponent. This reminds one of the segregated churches that once existed in America. At that time the churches of the Whites were kept strictly separate from those of the Black. It is said that a black person once tried to enter a white church, but was forcibly prevented from doing so. This incident hurt him deeply and while he sat sobbing on the steps of the church he fell asleep. In his dream he saw Jesus as who asked him why he was crying so bitterly. The man replied, 'Why should I not cry? While I tried to enter this church for the sake of worship I was thrown out. ' Jesus as replied, 'O poor man just look at me. Ever since this church was built, even I could not dare to enter it. ' Moderation in Worship Another beautiful feature of Islamic worship is that Muslims are forbidden to overdo worship in an attempt to please God. The Holy Prophet sa always discouraged rigidity and extremism. He said, 'Do not be cruel to yourselves. Nations before you were ruined because of their efforts to forcibly extract the pleasure of God by exercising overmuch hardship in their prayers. ' 28