PARIS LOVES YOU
My journey to Paris is a pilgrimage of two weeks in which I will ask Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh, and many other spiritual, but also non-spiritual leaders, like famous French atheist or nihilist leaders. My goal is to find Allah among the people. Among those who are able to express what I see as the purest form of Allah: Compassion.
I was tested myself on my first day in Paris. I saw a young veiled girl whose name was Maria and was begging on the dirty flour of the stairs of the metro of Paris. She came from Latin America and couldn't speak any other language then that. I wanted to find out more about her and offered her a drink and some food. She came with me and suggested we go to the LIDL supermarket. Inside the LIDL she changed into a kid in a candy-store. The total price of the purchases was 95 euro!
I made someone very happy...And the funny thing is that most of the stuff she bought was for the people she lived with: diapers, chicken, shampoo, fries, Pringles, a sweater and for herself: hairspray!
I forgot how important it is for young girls to look pretty. Looking good gives her back the dignity she naturally has in her, because I noticed immediately that she was smart and strong. Life only placed her in a challenging situation. When we walked back to the metro we crossed a pharmacy and she communicated she needed something from there too. I agreed and searched for someone to translate her spanish. Thankfully we found a Colombian guy, who went inside the pharmacy with us. She needed the medicine for a two years old toddler who had a sore throat, headaches and pain in his ears. His name was Louiz. We fixed the medicine and happily Maria Loaded two very heavy bags on her shoulders and headed home.
Close to my stay was a synagogue. After dinner I headed to the synagogue. I saw the lights were on and rang the doorbell. A man came outside and asked me to return in 20 minutes. They will be finished with the prayers then. As I was walking back to the Synagogue I was greeted by a young Senegali man. I greeted him back and said a Muslim blessing over him after which we got into an animated conversation. He happened to come from a family who descended from the prophet and he is also the first Sufi Senegali singer in France! His name was Modou, a Senegali variant of Mohammed, which also is the name of our prophet. It is derived from 'hamid' which means 'to praise'. Modou had a mix of spirituality, boyish flirtation and a strong, but peaceful belief in Allah over him. I feel honored to have met this gem on the streets of Paris.
He sent me this video.
(When I returned to the synagogue it happened to be closed, so that is to be continued...
tomorrow.)
Please enjoye &
Allah bless you!
Salima el Musalima
Avant- Garde Imam
avantgardeimam@gmail.com
Bonjour Sisi! Erg leuk om van je te horen en ik zal je zeker volgen, de komende twee weken. Succes en voor daarna hoop ik dat we het contact kunnen herstellen, groet, Hans
ReplyDeleteHonorable monsieur Hans!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great pleasure to hear from you here!!!!!!! I will give you a call as soon as I get back to the Netherlands. As you might already know I admire your work and am dreaming to find a free day in the week, every week, to dive into the many articles and books you have written! please keep on doing the important work, you have one very big admirer here! You are giving us, starting artists and spiritual workers the right tools, the right frame, to base ourselves into the copmlex and fascinating societies we live in!
your disciple,
Salima
Thanks, mercí, dank, bevakasja, shakar! Hope to hear more form youir Paris adventures!
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