Our First Encounter in Kathmandu

 

Date: June 23, 2008

Setting: Library to the largest, most prominent mos.que in Kathmandu (most probably in Nep.al)

M’s: Hari, Rajendra, Nick (short-term M), and myself

Mus.lim Participants: Roughly eight Mus.lim men, among which was the central member to the National Mus.lim Forum of Nep.al

Length of discussion: 3.5 hours

This encounter was our very first apart from an instructor.  And, I must say, it was very exciting.  This group of Mus.lims proved to be much more apologetic in nature—they were very obviously more educated.  At the time we had no idea who we were talking to (Go.d is no respecter of persons).  It was not until the end that we discovered Go.d had given us an opportunity to speak with what appears to be some of the most influential Mus.lims in the nation.  Two (maybe three) of these men serve on the National Mus.lim Forum of Nep.al; and one of them is the group’s central member.*  The discussion went extremely well, ending after roughly 3.5 hours as our Mus.lim friends were called to afternoon pra.yer.  Though we had talked for 3.5 hours, the men asked that we return for further discussion.  They provided us with some books to read, which both defended Is.lam and affronted Chris.tianity; we thanked them, told them that we would study these, and return for further discussion at a later date.  It was unanimous among our team members that these men seemed to be thinking about certain truths for the very first time. 

The next installment to this section will be “Our Second Trip to Pokhara.”

 

 

*This is our interpretation of his business card, which reads “Central member, National Mus.lim Forum, Nep.al.”