In Madinah there is a small platform called Al Suffah, it is adorned and decorated in fine carpet with golden railings surrounded by great pillars of marble extending in all directions seemingly endlessly.

It was once a small platform shaded by palm leaves in a small mud brick mosque built from the Hijrah, the exile of Muslims from Makkah to Madinah. The purpose of Al Suffah was to shelter the homeless. It still does. The poorest followers of Islam who had only the clothes on their back and no place to stay, like the disciples of Jesus Christ the Messiah (PBUH).

And under these palm leaves the Prophet (PBUH) would share his daily meals with these men, the Fakir, giving them as well any gifts he received and living as always in simple humility. From these homeless Muslims, those who sleep in the mosque, was born the entire mystical tradition of Islam and its ascetics. The Sufis, the Fakir, the practices of meditation and fasting, of ascetic seclusion.

And in many mosques today, an atmosphere of peace and prayer where soberness and order prevails, you may find someone in some corner or some pillar or shelf on the soft and clean prayer carpet simply napping. Discreetly, not bothering anyone or in anyone's way. Homeless? No, not homeless. The mosque is to some a second home, and for the Fakir, their only home. The zawiya, quite literally translating as corner, is built as a lodge for these Fakir. It is a palace for the homeless, built just for them, who lead strict lives of ascetic prayer and meditation among their peaceful duties.

Some men dream of penthouses, of mansions, I have worked on these grand houses for rich men doing construction work for low wages. Speaking anonymously, I dream of an otherworldy house built for God to fill with endless prayer, and subtly, to lodge the poorest in ascetic brotherhood in the ancient monastic tradition.