Bassam and I headed back into Queens to check out Masjid Al-Hikmah. The building is extremely difficult to miss in the homey residential neighborhood on 31st Street
http://bassamtariq.com/30days/indonesian/storefront.jpg
This place has a predominantly Indonesian congregation. Given the fact that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the entire world, the breathtaking size of the mosque seems fitting.
http://bassamtariq.com/30days/indonesian/masjidfront.jpg
Apparently last week the mosque had this awesome food festival that I wish I would have known about beforehand, it sounded amazing.
We got there a little early before prayer and found people inside the mosque mainly keeping to themselves or deep in worship.
http://bassamtariq.com/30days/indonesian/musala.jpg
Our friend Fatima Ashraf came too and here’s what she had to say about the women’s area:
“Masjid Al-Hikmah is welcoming of anyone who steps through its doors. What’s remarkably different about this mosque from others in NYC is its perfectly equal accommodations for men and women. The prayer space, a gorgeous room complete with chandeliers and plush carpeting, is divided exactly in half, with the front half for the men and the rear half for the women.”
Fatima said she’ll try and visit many other masjids we go to for the rest of the month, so hopefully you’ll get to read a lot more of what she has to say.
I love Indonesian people and their food just as much. To break our fast we had dates and this person in the blue shirt was serving this really good Indonesian soup.
We didn’t get a good photo of it, but it’s this tasty rice and chicken soup. Here’s a photo on another site of it.
I added a little bit of salt to the soup and it tasted fanstastic.
http://bassamtariq.com/30days/indonesian/detention.jpg
I was coming down with a cold today and the soup really helped my scratchy throat. One of the people there I talked to said it was fairly easy to make so I definitely need to try the recipe for myself.
We then headed back upstairs for prayer. Instead of leaving to try some of the fancy ethnic cuisines Queens is known for, we decided to stay at the mosque and have dinner there.
During dinner there was a different kind of soup, it was a clear noodle soup with chicken and vegetables. We didn’t get shots of it, but this site has a good photo of the soup.
I ended up eating two bowls of it to help my throat. I can’t say that it cured my cold, but it got rid of my scratchy throat.
It can be a drag fasting while being sick, but so far it hasn’t been overbearing. It’s a minor cold anyway so in a few days I won’t have to worry about it. Plus, fasting helps you mentally focus on more important things; if anything fasting has helped me get through it.
