A Surreal Conversation
on Phil Bradfield (The Gambia), 05/Jun/2010 13:23, 34 days ago
(Written 05/06/2010 12:45, RED5, Janjanbureh)When I volunteered with VSO, I expected all kinds of new experiences, the kind of things that you can never imagine doing before you find yourself in the middle of them. One of those happened late last night, when I found myself called to mediate in an argument between two Gambians. The subject? The merits and importance of prayer in Islam. Hardly my specialist subject!On the one side was my neighbour Diwa, who categorically stated that prayer is the most important pillar of Islam, and anyone who does not complete their five daily prayers cannot call themselves a good Muslim. On the other was Siaka (aka Steven, the guy I talked about in the postNo, I’m Not Converting), saying that he does not pray because his faith is not strong enough and he would feel like a hypocrite to be praying to a god in which he has insufficient faith.And who finds himself asked to referee? The utterly non-Muslimtoubab. Who else?!I’ve got to say, it was absolutely fascinating to be there. I’d arrived back at my compound at about eleven pm, thoroughly intending to go straight to bed, but in the end it was gone one when I finally crashed out. All worth it though, Diwa especially: he’d be jumping out of his seat, waving his finger as he made his points, lapsing back into Mandinka or Arabic when he couldn’t express himself strongly enough in English, then marching back to his seat and throwing himself into it with the utmost finality when he was finished, only to be bouncing up again a few seconds later when Siaka tried to respond! Brilliant fun to watch!