Salaam guys, this is the story of the first Sunni get-together and jamaat I've had since leaving Tashayuu. Although I've done fake jamaats with Sunnis and went to the local (Sunni) masjid a few times, it was all while I was a Shia (lol). I was invited to go to an all day weekend youth event event by one of my friends (Sunni). I asked my mom if I should go, she was hesitant and doesn't want me hanging out with these 'other' people (ever since I started questioning certain beliefs). After playing the 'I need friends' game, She finally accepted
We did all our Salaahs their (minus Fajr) and Alhamdulillah I even prayed hands closed (big deal for me)!:D
It was nice as the Sheikh kept the center of his speeches on Allah (swt) and Prophet Muhammad (saw) while mentioning and discussing some virtues of Hz Ali (ra) and Hz Abu Bakr (ra) (Such a Nasibi!!!).
Something else I realized was that the Sunni sheikh didn't start directly/indirectly bashing the 'other' groups. I go to a Shia 'ImamBara' regularly and I don't remember once were the Mullah didn't bring something up (especially now with Muharram). One of the many things I disliked about Shias, is that they know more about 'rebuttals' then their own religion! I even caught one of the Shia 'elders' twice making fun of Sunni beliefs (quite harshly), only to correct her that and prove that they're Shia beliefs as well (quite awkward for the poor lady).
Somethings that probably aren't related to Shia vs Sunni. Were:
*First: The youth who were there were MUCH nicer then the youth at the Shia centers I've been to. At the Shia centers I've been to, the youth generally would give me a cold shoulder and not respond to me when I say "Hi". Wheras the Sunnis were MUCH nicer (saying Hi, talking to me, ect).
*The Salah the Sunnis did was MUCH better then any of the Shia places I can remember. The rows were aligned properly, shoulder to shoulder, our feet close to our 'neighbors' (I believe the sunnah is less then 4 fingers) and everyone did the next 'step' at the same time properly (like ruku and sajdah) instead of having a 'race' with the imam.
* In the Sunni center, the people were MUCH more diverse. I met Pakis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Afghans, White people, Mexicans, Malaysians, Indonesians, Palestinians, Somalian, Bosnians, and even Chinese (I didn't even ask everyone, so I might've missed a few cultures). This is unlike all the Shias places I've ever been to which is usually either Desi (Hindi/Paki) or Iranian (which are more of 'Cultural Centers' then actual Masjids) or Iraqi or Afghan.
Anyhow, that was my experience. I told my mom that I 'made friends' (which I did) so I'm hoping I'll be able to go to more events!