Article January 1, 2000 ISSUE

Prayer is a part of life

Name: Anis Khemakhem

I think the most important value that I have in life is family. Family comes first. Honesty and honour are very important, too. Prayer is actually a part of life—it's not a separate thing. If you're honest and want to keep your honour, you have to pray. You can't do anything without the help of God. One must be honest with God, with one's self, and with other people. I feel it's kind of weird when people only pray when they're sick and forget it when they're healthy. Prayer humbles me and makes me think more about what I have. You have to thank God for what you have, no matter what it is or how much.

For me, spirituality is what guides your life. Spirituality is your belief in God, and your relationship with God. If you don't have that, there's no real meaning in life. There are a lot of ways to practice my love for God. For Muslims, the first is belief. You have to believe in the inimitability of God, in the hereafter, in the angels, in the Holy Spirit, in all the Prophets. To us, the Prophets are Moses, Muhammad, Isaac, Jesus Christ, Joseph, and all the other Prophets that came before Muhammad.

We pray five times a day, and then we pray other prayers to show thanks to God. It's not just talking. It's actually actions and getting close to God. We practice fasting, which humbles you and makes you appreciate the food that you usually have—and that during the fast you don't have.

There are certain things you are not supposed to do. You refrain from hurting any animals, from hurting anybody. By Islamic rules, we have to give to charity, to thank God for what we have, and to help other people. You have to treat people as you want to be treated, and that includes honesty, love, not talking behind their back, not starting arguments. There are values embedded in all of this. The love of God and respect for your family come first. It goes this way: God, the Prophets, your Mom and Dad. That's what God gave—us a kind of hierarchy. My Mom and Dad are in a high position and have dedicated their lives to me. I have to show them respect and appreciation.

A few years ago, my mother passed away. She had cancer. She was young... and I was young. It was such a horrible tragedy that one might lose sight of all these values and then even start asking, “Why does God do that?” That's when I had to really seriously dig down inside and understand the reasoning behind anything and thank God for everything—thank God that she had the chance to redeem herself in this life and do the things that she wanted. You have to accept what God has given you. I was very close to my mother, and I think if I weren't spiritually strong, I would have had a very hard time. And I thank God for His guidance and sometimes even for putting me through this experience, because as rough as that was, it made me a better person. It made me aware of the people around me, appreciate life more, go out and help people more. Prayer really helped me through it.

When I read the Koran, it helps me understand why we are here, what we should do, and what really counts in life. After my mother's death, I got more involved with helping kids, teaching them about differences between people and about appreciating these differences—understanding the diverse cultures, diverse environments they live in. I talk to them about how they should treat their parents, people they don't know, and people with different religions, looks, handicaps. Also, to be more tolerant toward everybody and not to prejudge people. I always emphasize not to stereotype people, because that's something that I went through.

I participated in a program with the St. Paul School District and the University of Minnesota, in which we go to kids in mainly urban areas. My emphasis in doing this was really about broadening their understanding of things. I talked to students about what religion in general does for you—not necessarily specific denominations like Islam, Christianity, or Judaism, Religion is really the belief in a higher Spirit. It is about “why does a person have to be honest?”

About the author

Birthplace: Sfax, Tunisia
Graduated: University of Minnesota, St. Paul,
Minnesota
Religion: Islam

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I pray every morning
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