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A Foreign Building Essay

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Imagine walking into a foreign building where you were welcomed with open arms, warm greetings, and sincere smiles. We were introduced to a new way of life that started with us responding to “As-Salaam-Alaikum” with “Wa-Alaikum-Salaam” along with firm handshakes. Because we did a little bit of research before making the trip to one of the oldest mosques in South Florida, we felt a little more prepared and confident in what we came there to accomplish. This is what happened when our team of four anthropologists took a trip to Masjid Al-Ansar. Once inside, we quickly noticed that we could not understand any of the frames and paintings we saw because Arabic was prominent in them. There were many symbols in Arabic and pictures of the Kaaba designed around frames painted in gold. They only things that were in English were the names of the audio speakers and the projector. Our culture guide quickly mentioned to us that the females sat on one side of the room and males the other. As the service commenced, we witnessed the Jummah prayer and tried to take an etic account of what we were seeing as much as possible.

2.)Islam is a monotheistic religion. Belief in one God as the only deity of worship is the central teaching of Islam (Dian Alyan, Shahid Bolsen, Dr. Timothy Tennent). Islam came to completion in a revelation given by their God to a prophet named Muhammad. The Islam God is called Allah. Allah means God in Arabic. People who practice Islam are called Muslims.

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