Visit to the Medina Mosque

A Visit to the Medina Masjid Mosque

A mosque serves as a place of prayer for Muslims. It is a structure where Muslims worship their deity. I've always been very interested in Islam, so on #VisitMyMosque Day, I decided to go to the Medina Masjid mosque. Last week when I heard about it in my church lecture, I felt it would be a terrific idea, a relevant example, and a cause to learn more about Islam and what a mosque is. My Muslim friends talk to me about their religion and the advantages of adhering to it. Thereby, I can assert that this experience took me out of my comfort zone.

Exploring the Mosque

The experience was fun because we were shown into the main room of the mosque a place where most first-time visitors sit at the back of the hall to watch the prayers taking place. We arrived before the second prayers, and we were received warmly by Muslims eager to share their beliefs and after checking in, we were asked to remove our shoes. My main reason for visiting the mosque was to seek answers about the true view of the Jihad (holy war) and what they had to say about the ongoing Islamic conflicts around the world. My awareness about the Islamic religion came from televised programs and cable news and documentaries, and I could tell that most of the visitors felt very familiar with it. We could see people turning off their phones and the sounds of children crying that were familiar with most of us the churchgoers although they pray facing the direction of Mecca.

The Beauty of the Mosque

The mosque has great designs, and for a moment, I felt disappointed as opposed to my thought that a mosque was a rugged and old building, the mosque itself is very modern. It was mainly painted green and a green carpet too to reflect the color of Islam. Muslims kneel, sit cross-legged and some lay down on the floor between intense prayer sessions. When the call of prayer was made they lined up facing mecca, with emphasis on the lack of preferential treatment because Islam forbids racism. Indeed it was a special treat to witness a call from the muezzin. The ancient prayers (salat) began with most followers reciting them by memory and spoken in unison with fixed postures and fixed gestures. Throughout their prayers, we conversed with the other Christian visitors as more men came in to pray. While catching the latecomers finish their prayers, their commitment to order was imminent.

Worship Differences and Similarities

Their format of worship feels very different from ours is a Christian, and the services are led, Imams. I realized, however, that the men and women are separated by a cloth between them and either sex sit on the floor. I had a preconception that different mosques practice different forms of worship, but I found out they were all synonymous everywhere in the world, so we admired how they had managed to standardize their services globally. In the wider sense similarities continued-with support coming from a committee of volunteers, with everyday activities of the mosque. We did not understand much of the sermon as a result of language barrier where they mostly use Arabic to preach, although we were taught a few introductory words. I had thought I would not take a lot of time there, but I ended up spending over four hours there because I wanted to see the synonymy of the next prayers with the one we had experienced before. The great sense I got is that we are not very different, although, it’s clear that so many people in the community still struggle to make distinctions between faith and politics.

A Glimpse of Women's Role in Islam

The few women I saw wore hijabs, and traditional lose clothing which gave me a feeling of being out of place. However, I have come to realize that personal growth begins when we find ourselves outside our accustomed surroundings. After the first prayers, we went upstairs to the study room where we saw lots of books rich in the Islamic cultural practices and religion. I found a young man reading a book written in Arabic, his name was Dida, and he offered me an English translation of the Imam’s sermon on the importance of giving to the poor and also offered to guide me through my entire visit to the mosque. Dida also explained to me about how Islamic religion can become an excellent source of women empowerment. He later offered to buy me lunch at the eatery downstairs and then we went out.

Discovering the Truth about Islam

After lunch, we started talking about how long I had practiced Islam, and I told him that it was my first time to visit a mosque. He gave me a Quran and another book titled The Quran and Modern Science. They taught us that Muslims have high value for education because it is an essential principle of Islam. Dida helped me with the answers I was seeking about Islam, and I realized that there are misinterpretations and a negative perception in the society about the accurate reflections of the Muslim religion. Both religions have a high emphasis on the Imams and the preachers as the interpreters of the scriptures. However, a specific divergence is made as the Muslim leaves the mosque with expectations of absolute submission to the scriptures taught to them while the Christian leaves the church with the invitation to search out the scriptures for themselves.

Gender Equality in Islam

However, I came found out that the level of sexism was high among most Muslims although, this notion varies widely among different Muslim communities in the world. Women are not regarded as equal to men because most women are humiliated by their spouses, most school going girls do not attend school, and their rights to employment are only being adopted in the 20th and 21st centuries. However, the Holy Quran has expressed the spiritual and moral equality of men and women. Therefore, Muslim women share strong opinions that Islam is neutral and that it is bound to promote gender equality (Esposito, 2002). There has been a tangible significant rise in the Muslim women’s consciousness of the thirst for equality on the basis of gender through an Islamic model, although, there is minimal dedicated research work and studies to provide Muslim women the necessary research and non-governmental organizations with proactive mandate and actionable steps for reducing inequality within such communities (Lewis, 2013).

A Reflection on the Visit

Throughout my visit at the Medina Masjid mosque, inclusivity and incredible hospitality were reoccurring themes. I was met with respect for my curiosity despite being a Christian. While the Christian faith may differ from Islam, they are multiple points of unity between the two such as working towards a socioeconomic equality. I learned that the actual reflections of the Islam religion are brotherhood and mutual respect. I am reminded of the beauty of all faiths of a man. Each faith can be seen as flowers of different colors in a garden that God created, all of them complex but equally and collectively beautiful.

References

Esposito, J. L. (2002). Unholy war: Terror in the name of Islam. Oxford University Press.

Lewis, J. J. (2013). International woman suffrage timeline. Winning the vote for women