Obligations

Today marks 365 days I lived in Sofia. 

A year ago, I had so much worry about one and only things. "SOLAT" 

Dkt mana nak solat, dkt mana nak ambil air sembahyang. Soalan tu je yang bermain-main dikepala. Tapi Alhamdullillah, berkat doa Allah permudahkan segalanya. 

They provide a meeting room for prayer. Like multi purpose room; It can be a praying room, also a meeting room at the same time. They tinted the glass just to make sure that I don't draw anyone attention; it was transparent originally. Some of them don't even aware that Muslims need to pray 5 times a day. They will be wondering if they saw someone doing something out of the norm. Some of them have Muslims friend but they do not practice them as their way of life. That is how it was here.

They asked me to book the room for a year during specific time just to ensure that I had what I need. Memang syukur sangat, Allah permudahkan. They even passed me the key so that I can lock myself in the room during prayer. Very considerate people I would say.

Before they did that, they even make a research and ask about how am I going to take ablution. And I told them that should be okay, I just need a place and nothing else, and that is enough for me. My boss told me, our company is probably the first company doing such thing in Bulgaria. All in all, I am thankful for everything.

Today I passed by Banya Bashi mosque during Friday prayer. Obviously, it wasn’t my first time here but it was my first time passing this places during Friday prayer. Am just curious to see how’s the crowd during Friday Prayer as Muslims are hardly noticeable here. Since today I opt-ed to work from home, I head to the center during lunch break hoping to see something (because this is something which is not common, if you understand what I mean). Religion in Bulgaria has been dominated by Christianity, mostly Bulgarian Orthodox. And Muslims is just 12% of the population. Eventhough they had been conquered by Ottoman Empire for 500 years, it does not stay. After Ottoman, they are few sequel of wars, and at the end, they were invaded by Soviet Union, and a communist government was put into power. As a result, Bulgarian suffered under the restriction of religious freedom during the communism in which Communism tried to eradicate religion from the daily life of society in the past. The impact is what we can see today, as I was told by my Bulgarian friend that they were not religious at all, be it Christian or Muslim. For them, religion is just something they were born with. I also was told that Bulgarians often don’t have time for religion, they have other more important things to deal with. Still, I am at least happy to witness such moments. It literally means they are still Muslim who takes religion and makes them as their way of life and not just passed by blood-lines. .

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There are still people who believe in God, eventhough there are also many who is not.

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It’s not easy to live in a place which Islam is not common to them. We don’t even have praying room in the office. Men don’t even have luxury having rest time from 12pm to 3pm on Friday. Yet, they managed to do their part. Those who has everything in place, what is your reason skipping them? Jangan kufur nikmat Tuhan.

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#sofiabulgaria 

#bulgaria