A
Muslim man at prayer in the mosque - women pray in their homes
In
the fifth programme in the new landmark Sense of Place series for
Herts and Beds, Bhagwant Sagoo, a Sikh, explores Islam through the
eyes of a Muslim woman who lives in Luton with her English husband,
a convert to Islam.
As
a Muslim woman, Nazia Khanum does not attend the mosque but instead
has a special room in her home which is dedicated to prayer, study
and contemplation. Nazia allows us to visit her prayer room and
speaks to us about how her faith shapes her life and how she practises
it in Luton.
Nazia
brought her family to Luton in the early 1980s. The town has had
a Muslim community for over 40 years and Nazia聮s involvement
with the Community Relations Council led her to decide that it was
important for her to live among the Muslims she was working with.
Nazia
and her husband David Cheeseman have just completed their first
Hajj, and we learn about the importance of this holy pilgrimage
to Mecca. This is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you
cannot decide to undertake it unless you have received the call
to do so. We hear how Nazia and David decided that the time was
right for them to make this special journey.
Nazia
and Bhagwant speak of the mutual tolerance between the Sikh and
Muslim faiths and discuss the need for a global open-mindedness
towards all religions.
