Thursday 3 December 2009

Mosque Visit


We visited a Muslim Mosque as a group and learned a lot about the religion of Islam. here are some notes that I took at the Mosque.

Mosque Expanded Notes

Muslim/Islam Mosque:

· The common greeting is a prayer; you are sending blessings to the person you greet

· This mosque is the central mosque in London and UK, and one of biggest in Europe

· It was designed by a non-Muslim

· Women and men pray at the same time but in separate rooms

o To maintain privacy and modesty of sexes

· Pray 5 times a day

· Before prayer, they go through a washing. They wash their feet, behind the neck, and hands. This is to soothe and relax and also to look and feel your best for God.

· Removing shoes is required. This is both to keep the place clean and to pay reverence and respect.

· The design of the dome is purely practical—it is the best design for acoustics, it is structurally stable, and provides for good air circulation.

· There is a certain protocol to prayer. It involves prostration and bowing. They believe it was taught to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel

· There are four units to the prayer; one must finish all four units or the prayer is not complete.

· The mosque is very busy and crowded on Fridays

· An imam is a leader

· There is a symbol above the altar which is actually a prayer

· There is a nursery school provided in the basement

· Cat Stevens is the chairman of the weekend services at this mosque

· Every mosque is required to have a library; this is the source of knowledge and knowledge is very important to the people of the Muslim faith

· Muhammad is the founder of Islam. He lived from 570- 633 A.D.

o His wife was the first person to accept his teachings

o His name means “the praised one”

· 5 Pillars of Islam:

1) There is one God and Muhammad is the final messenger

2) Prayers

3) Alms- charity, giving to the poor and needy

4) Fasting during Ramadan

5) Pilgrimage to Mecca

· Allah means “one and only” (referring to God)

o It is without plurality and gender

· Service, teaching, and smiling all very important; part of giving alms

· Modesty also very important; that is why the women wear scarves on head

· Forced marriage is prohibited but arranged marriages ok

I learned many new things about the Muslim faith by visiting the Mosque. In fact I knew very little before our visit. It surprised me that there are many similarities between the Muslim faith and our beliefs as Latter-day Saints. Our guide was very nice and made me realize that although people may be of different faiths, they are still normal people. There are many false misconceptions about people of the Islam faith, but visiting the mosque answered many of the questions that I had.


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