Call to prayer

AS PRINTED IN THE WHITWORTHIAN:

The song seemed to echo through Melaka, a strange, foreign chant. Muslim women walk by dressed in hijabs, traditional head coverings women wear in public.

Loudspeakers broadcast the Muslim call to prayer five times a day to all Muslims in this port city in Malaysia. The melodious cry served as a constant reminder to me that I am a stranger traveling through a country that is 60 percent Islamic.

(View a slide show of Melaka here.)

Leaving Whitworth for the last semester of my senior year, I am studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong for six months. I decided to travel through Singapore and Malaysia in Southeast Asia during my two weeks vacation for the Lunar New Year celebrations.

Before traveling to Malaysia, I had never been to an Islamic country. I did not know how Islamic Malaysians would view Americans. I was wary of how Muslims would interact with me after it seemed President Bush had labeled Muslims as evil. I also was not sure what images Hollywood has given Malaysians about Americans, and how I would be treated as a result.

I had read in the news and heard from various people in the United States that Malaysia was a hotspot for terrorists. I knew southern Thailand, just north of Malaysia, was experiencing terrorist attacks from Muslim extremists.

After two weeks of travel, I discovered my fears and hesitations about traveling in an Islamic country were completely unfounded. The people I talked to kept telling me: "This is a peaceful country. We are not a terrorist country."

My travels echoed that statement.

While Malaysia is an "Islamic" country, Islamic law only applies to Muslims when family law and religion are involved, according to the CIA World Factbook.

On the top of a hill in front of the ruins of an old Catholic church, I closed my eyes and listened to the call. The song was not a call to hate-it was a call to worship.

Upon arriving in Melaka, the first people to help me understand the bus system were a group of Muslim girls dressed in hijabs. They were kind, helpful and trusting. They did not hate me because I was an American. Instead they seemed happy to help a foreigner. They treated me with the same kindness and respect they showed everyone else.

I had always believed terrorism and extremists did not represent the majority of Muslims. Now I had seen that what I believed in theory was true in reality. Traveling through Malaysia showed me just how beautiful Islam can be in a country where other religions are given freedom to coexist alongside one another.

The dilapidated old church behind me served as a reminder that Islam has not always been the dominant religion in Malaysia.

According to a 2000 census, the country is 60 percent Muslim, 9 percent Buddhist, 19 percent Christian, 6 percent Hindu and 3 percent a mix of traditional Chinese religions. During Portuguese rule, Christianity dominated due to colonial influence.

While Islam may be the largest religion in Malaysia, the current government guarantees freedom of religion to everyone. The Malaysian government is currently promoting an agenda of unity, harmony and peace between all ethnic groups and religions.

As I stood beside the Catholic ruins, I could see a Hindu and Buddhist temple below. The call to prayer continued to resonate through the city. Church bells from the town square below started their throng in unison with the Muslim song, creating a harmonious sound.

Jessica Davis is a senior majoring in journalism and history studying abroad at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Contact her at jessica.davis@whitworthian.com.