Islamic Center Visit

Site visit

I was always interested in exploring new things and widening my horizons. Religions and ways of life different than mine have always make me curious so I decided to go to an Islamic Center. Because of the latest war in Iraq and all the things happening in my country, I wanted to find out what that fuzz was all about.

Obviously, once I entered the Mosque I took a seat on the side and with curiosity waited for the prayers to begin. While I was waiting I took a look at the interior of this Mosque. It is a two floor Mosque that reflective of Muslim tradition, the ground floor is for males only while the first floor is reserved for females. On the corner of this huge room I found a booklet with a prayer directions. On the first page of this book I noticed a picture that was drawn on a wall and it looked absolutely the same as the one which was painted on one of the walls of the Mosque. The picture was approximately the height of a human being, and I found out that those who are praying have to have their faces turned toward that drawn picture. The praying people are not facing the picture for no reason. Here is the reason: by facing the image they are actually facing Medina (the holy town where Muhammad died). The floors of the Mosque are covered with different carpets and the religious people have to walk bare-footed.

Before beginning, the faithful have to wash visible parts of their body starting from the top of the head and moving down to their toes. After doing that, they walk in the Mosque and take a place setting themselves in the rows and, of course, facing Medina. The ritual is led by an IMAM (Muslim priest) who wears a white hat and a long coat. Before praying the priest gives a 45 minute speech advising people about the ways they should lead their daily lives. Once finished, the priest calls the worshippers to stand up and begin the ritual. It starts with the priests words pronounced in the Arabic language (word that you can see in the Qur'an too). Shortly after the priest's words, the faithful start saying them but not as loud as the priest did. The words are followed by sitting down and standing up. The third time the faithful sit down they turn their heads to the right and to the left and in Arabic language say: "ve selamu alejkum, ve rahmetullah" (translation: Allah will save you all). This is repeated