Toronto+Vancouver City of Labyrinths Project

Today is Day 26 of Ramadan 2020.

This video is from my journey to Madinah, Saudi Arabia in May/June of 2011.

I was walking from my youth hostel to visit Masjid Qiblatain.

Masjid Qiblatain is known for having two Mihrabs, or Prayer Niches.

Originally,

Muslims had faced north west from Madinah towards Masjid Al Aqsa in Jerusalem when praying.

A time came when the Direction of Prayer, the Qibla, was turned south east towards Makkah.

Hence,

The Masjid with Two Qibla.

En route,

A traffic island in the distance somehow caught my curiosity.

Alhumdulillah,

A Triangle Topiary Hedge Labyrinth !

Discovering this was a HUGE moment for me.

Muslims in The Holy City of Madinah were also making Labyrinths !

Afterwards,

I found a a small playground near Masjid Qiblatain.

In that park,

I outlined a simple three lane Classic Labyrinth in the sand and walked it.

Turning north and south and east and west.

Not unlike the Turn in Congregational Prayer Direction from Jerusalem to Makkah in the Masjid I was about to enter and visit.

It used to be that when I searched online for “Labyrinths” and ““Islam“, almost nothing turned up, except my own blog posts, and my own images.

Recently, I am stumbling upon posts and images like this with increasing frequency…

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
وَعَلَى الثَّلَاثَةِ الَّذِينَ خُلِّفُوا حَتَّىٰ إِذَا ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ أَنْفُسُهُمْ وَظَنُّوا أَنْ لَا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ
#سورة #توبة
آیه ۱۱۸

“In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

“And the three who were left behind to the point that the earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him.

“Then He turned to them so they could repent.

“Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.”

– Qur’an : Chapter/Sūrat At-Tawbah (The Repentance) Verse (9:118)

“Trying to leave a Masjid while others are praying”

Okay, I found that funny, as would any Muslim…

It’s Ramadan and this caught my attention…

This image visually weaves together two of my parallel projects, this, The City of Labyrinths Project and my 30 Masjids in 30 Days of Ramadan project.

Another stepping stone in my understanding of Labyrinths in Islam.

“This project emphasizes once again on the power of calligraphy and its crucial role in Islamic art. I though the first project (ALLAH calligraphy) was not enough to explore the rich universe Islamic calligraphy has to offer.

“For this project, I mixed calligraphy with the lecture about Qur’an (by using Surat Al-Fatiha) and that about interpretations…

“In fact, for this project, I created a labyrinth out of the first Surah in the Qur’an (Surat Al-Fatiha) by using a very unique type of calligraphy.”

“The reason why I mention interpretation is that the way the Surah was represented is full of meanings. I believe the Qur’an is a very powerful work of art where the readers get lost, just like Alice did in the wonderland…

“In fact, this sheds the light on the importance of interpretations and ijtihad in Islam since once ayah in the Qur’an can have many meanings. Getting lost in the Labyrinth and finally seeing the light and finding the way out with a rational interpretation is what makes the Qur’an experience very unique for Muslims and non-Muslims.

“As a side note, I wanted the calligraphy style to be one where there is no obvious end in the words to represent some situations we can face nowadays, where some debates are endless and where you can see neither the end of the arguments nor that of the debate…

“I hope you enjoyed the labyrinth of Qur’an. Please read it. You might get lost. But hopefully, you will find yourself fast enough. That is all that matters.”

— Mohamed Mehdi Aourir, Harvard

Muslims in Toronto have been marking the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan with Eid al Fitr.

I attended GTA Eid at Metro Toronto Convention Centre hosted by Muslim Association of Canada.

After prayers, Muslim children, namely brothers Omar and Ammar and their big sister, helped create a Labyrinth using masking tape.

More Photos

Bismillah

Bismillah — In the Name of God Alone — is spoken aloud and whispered upon the lips millions of Muslims — and some Arabic speaking Christians — before they began any endeavour, simple and ordinary or complex and involved.

I found myself catching the Fajr — Dawn — prayers at the Dawah Centre in Bloordale Village this morning.

With the shortest of the five daily prayers completed, worshipers dissipated elsewhere into the prayer hall, allowing me to eye the prayer mat of the Imam. I notice as if for the first time, the pattern framing the prayer rug had a labyrinth-like motif.

Could the answer to my elusive quest in search of Labyrinths within Islam have been right in front of me my entire life? More Photos