“My Sisters Prayer” is a poem of strength and power. To be a committed religious woman is to surrender to the divine. There is both a patience and eagerness to meet and please the higher power.
In the first stanza a line reads, “bears witness five times a day” which speaks to the level of commitment and passion the woman has for Islam. Further, another line reads “She faces East.” At the beginning of this semester, I found myself questioning this line. What is the significance of direction here? According to further research, east is the direction the sun rises. It is a source of inspiration, of enlightenment. To face east, then, is to look towards the light. In later lines the author writes, “…and washes her body covers her human form-in preparation to meet the Most High.” In other words, by allowing the sunrise to enlighten the woman (in the poem), she is cleansing herself of darkness.
The third stanza is also incredibly important to this poem. There is acknowledgment of the “engaged surrender” that Islamic practicers engage with. Specifically, in the line “Humble and knowing she needs no defense…knowing angels will raise her back up.” The undoubted belief and confidence in that belief in conjunction with the significance of direction in stanza one constructs a narrative that represents a cleansing of the soul and the mind. There is embrace of light to the body and embrace of god to “raise her up.”
The fifth stanza also holds great significance in this poem. The lines, “Head to the ground-Even the floor she walks upon becomes sacred” speaks to the vastness of the woman’s prayers. Because of the steps (literally and metaphorically) the woman is taking in Islam, the ground she walks on is sacred. She herself is sacred for her acts of dedication.
This poem at the beginning of the semester was incredibly engaging. However, now, with the context of other readings and more general understandings of Islam is even more impactful. The value and sacredness of submitting to the divine, the cleansing of a being for embracing the light are all processes that make Islam what it is.
