Working with Muslims

Working with Muslims

 

While I was in New York City I went down to ground zero on 9/11.  There was a protest of the proposed Muslim mosque and the things I heard and the signs I saw can only be described as the lead car on the freight train of Fascism that is rolling inexorably into america.

 

This experience made me ill so I went to the counter demonstration several blocks away, where my people were doing their best to counter the fear and hate, to try and recuperate.  One of the signs I saw there said it all:

 

"When Fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"

 

-Sinclair Lewis, 1935

 

So now I am living and working with the Muslims that some say hate us, hate our freedom and want to kill us.  Let me tell you a bit about these people.

 

The first thing you notice is their hospitality, which is legendary in that part of the world not controlled by fear-based corporate media.  They not only ask what they can do for you, but they are always on the lookout for something they can do before you ask.  The other day I was hunched over my computer and, without saying a word, Haddi gathered up a few pillows and placed them behind my back.

 

At times the hospitality can get a bit over the top.  Surkhab cannot resist buying me food from stores and street stands.  But I have no opportunity to eat this food because all of my meals are provided.

 

The environment on the job is remarkable.  There are no radios blasting and even though I cannot understand what is being said, I can sense the tone.  And that tone reminds me more of the cooing of pigeons than anything else.  Their speech is amazingly gentle and pleasant.  The only time I hear a voice raised it is immediately followed by laughter from all involved.  I've been told that one of the guys is the crew leader, but you would not be able to discern who that might be by how the guys interact.  Having worked on a great many construction crews myself, and at times been the crew leader, I can tell you that such an environment is as rare as hen's teeth.  One readily settles into this comfort zone where even the thought of anger or hostility soon vanishes.  I've been waiting to see what happens when something significant goes awry, but so far nothing has.

 

I wonder if there is a connection.

 

 

Yesterday (Thurs., 9/23) Haddi and I went from my apartment to his house so he could do some plastering there.  He lives within a small group of small structures.  Some appear to be mud huts but the one he was working on was made from brick.

 

He wanted to add some sand and cement plaster to several of the unfinished walls and while I was hoping I would be able to help some, between being very tired and the space being pretty confined, I mainly watched.

 

He used a method that was new to me.  First he applied a cement-rich mixture directly on the bricks and followed that with a sand-rich mixture that he built up to about 1 inch thick.

 

Haddi moves with an efficiency and grace that comes not only from decades of experience, but also stems from his culture. At one point, near the end of a day that would have exhausted most of us, he had several large chunks of the sand/cement mixture fall away from a wall that was nearing completion.

 

There was not a nano-moment of distress on his face as a result.  Instead, in his broken English he looked up at me, smiled, and said what has come to be a standing joke between us, "no problem."  I respond with the Urdu equivalent, "kui bat nahin" (koy bot nah-HEEN) and we both had a good laugh.  Without breaking stride, Haddi repairs the damage.

 

I talked later to Surkhab about this and he told me that Muslims are much more accepting of "what is" than we are in the u.s.  As a Buddhist I see the pain and suffering that comes from resisting "what is" and hope to learn from these beautiful souls who have this simple concept imbedded in their millenniums old culture.