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Mehak Ali

ENC 1101

11/13/17

Draft 2

Jamatkhana: A house of prayer for Shia Ismaili Nizari Muslims

A discourse community is a group of people who share basic values and have similar goals.

Everyone is part of a discourse community, and some might not even know it. The discourse

community I am a part of is Jamatkhana. Jamatkhana is a house of prayer for all Shia Ismaili

Nizari Muslims. There are only a few percent of Ismailis when compared to the rest of the

Muslims. The two main types are Shia and Sunni. After that there are multiple divisions.

Shia Muslims chose to follow Hazrat Ali after Prophet Muhammad, while the Sunnis believed

that Prophet Muhammad was the last messenger, and he has no successor even though Prophet

Muhammad had declared Hazrat Ali as his successor. Shia Ismaili Nizari Muslims still have a

current living Imam, and we believe that the nur or light gets passed on from one generation to

the next.

There are religious ceremonies held every day. The religious ceremonies are from 7:30 to 8 on

Mondays-Thursdays, on Fridays it is from 8-9, and Saturday-Sunday it is from 7-7:30. The

members who attend are called the jamat. Everyone is given a chance to recite something

during the ceremonies. You can recite a ginan which is a devotional hymn or poem, recite the

holy dua which is a ritual prayer, recite a farman which is pretty much the only thing that is in

English (everything else is in Arabic) and is written by the Imam and sent to us to guide us, or
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recite tasbih which is the repetitive utterances of short sentences in the praise and glorification of

Allah (god).

Besides the ceremonies, there are a lot of events most of which are held in Khane (short for

Jamatkhana). There are events like game night the first Saturday of everything month,

Partnership Walk, Know Your Talim Night (Talim is knowledge, so its know your knowledge

night), Skits to bring awareness of different things, Movie Night, Practice ACT/SAT exams, and

Sports Tournament. You probably do not know what these events are about so I will explain.

Game night takes place after the religious ceremonies. The volunteers bring out the board games,

the tables for table tennis, and set up a little area for karaoke. While everyone is playing, the

volunteers are preparing snacks for everyone. Partnership Walk is held at a park. It used to be in

Orlando, but they have moved it to Tampa. Partnership walk is meant to bring everyone together,

Ismailis and non-Ismailis, to raise money and end poverty. Know your Talim Night is also held

after religious ceremonies. The students study the history of our current leader, learn what he has

accomplished, what each organization does for example AKDN (Aga Khan Developmental

Network is a network of private, non-denominational development agencies, which aims to

improve living conditions and opportunities for the poor, without regard to their faith, origin or

gender). The students are given about 2 weeks to prepare. After two weeks, they are placed into

teams and play Jeopardy. The team with the highest points wins a prize!

As you can see there is a lot that goes on in Khane. Without the volunteers, none of this would

work. I was appointed as the girls youth team leader in 2014. There were a lot of meetings I had

to attend, but it was fun. I enjoyed the responsibility. I love helping out in anyway, so I didnt

just tell the girls what to do, I did the job with them. Sometimes it would get a bit overwhelming

because I would have to text the volunteers that were scheduled to give duty, and almost all of
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them could not volunteerespecially on the Saturdays when there were not any classes. It would

take hours, but eventually I got some of them to come and help out. Other than just getting them

to show up, I would have to make sure they were in their assigned spots and not hanging out with

their friends. The key was to know who their friends were and assign them to the same place so

they would complete the assigned job. If that does not work then have them assigned at two

different places so they are both busy. I was only team leader for 6 months so I got it easy. My

brother was appointed as the boys youth team leader a couple years after me and it seemed liked

the guys had it easier than the girls. We were told to text the volunteers a couple days in advance,

and my brother would text a couple hours before the ceremonies started. I guess everyone just

has their own way of handling responsibilities.

Being a Shia Ismaili Muslim is a big part of my identity. Its who I am. Going to Khane and

getting involved was all I knew. I truly feel at home when I go to Khane. The one in Orlando is

an hour away, but thats ok. No amount of distance can keep me away from my safe place. I feel

like I can forget about all my worries and come out with positive vibes and a solution. Seeing

everyone work as a team to make the ceremonies work smoothly makes me feel glad to be a part

of it. It truly is a sight to see. The way we just become one and make everything flow truly is

incredible.