Otto’s discussion about the rationality of God made me wonder a little about whether he would consider the Taqwacores to be worshipping rationally. They seemed to consider Allah as a complete mystery more than giving Him human characteristics. They certainly, however, regarded him as Holy as defined in this essay. The complete mystery, the “mysterium profundum” seemed to often overwhelm the inhabitants of the house, whether because of the electric call to prayer from the roof, or because of the intensity of the relationship between the characters and their daily routines.
Eliade’s idea of the “hierophany” fits in well with the radically different religion as well; again, Jehangir seems to exemplify this, at least for Yusef. As Yusef describes the house in the first chapter, we get a glance at a hierophany of sorts, as Jehangir holds jumaa on page 19:
“He’d stand there by the hole in our wall with brilliant high stripe of hair down the middle of his head, the sides often dark with stubble and whip up something about the Rasullullah, sallallaho alayhe wa salaam, that would send us charging out the door feeling like we could all be the secret heroes who lurked as fantasies in our chests, the Super Mumins, MegaMujahids and Laser-Eyed Shaheeds.”
The whole culture of the house is based on the idea of hierophanies, and the characters live their lives in a constant state of anticipation, waiting for the next divine moment which would illuminate just a little more of what it means to be Taqwacore. Eliade would also agree that the Taqwacores belief system, their religion, is more than just the sum of its parts. It’s not defined by when they pray, or what they eat, but rather by the meaning it holds for each one of them. It’s a far stronger and more personal religion than researchers like Tylor might portray in a report.
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