Islamic Community Center Of Tempe

Driving along the highway, all eyes are drawn as a magnet to the unique building with its golden dome and unusual architecture. The Islamic Center is located at the base of a residential street in a small neighborhood. The center houses an Islamic school, a community center, an international school and the Mosque, which is the place of worship for Muslims.

For this paper, I have chosen to interview an acquaintance of mine who is a devote Muslim and follower of Islam. For the sake of this assignment I will be referring to him under the pseudonym of Jack. I spoke with Jack about some wide-ranging topics discussing things such as, media, bias, stereotypes, and really in general what being a follower of Islam is like in this divided country right now. In our country, today it’s pretty apparent there is a type of fear of Muslims, so much so that 7 heavy populated Muslim countries are not permitted from entering the United States of America. I never had conversations as personal as this with Jack and I feel as if I gained a lot of insight into the types of things minorities, and especially Muslims

Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.

During the last eleven years I have worked at the department of motor vehicles. I have met many people from different backgrounds and cultures. While I worked at the Tempe office, I came across many people from the Middle East, mainly Arabs and people from Pakistan and India. It was through my dealings with Middle East people that I notice how friendly and accessible they are. It was then that an interest in finding more about this culture started. When I decided to visit a mosque as part this project I was not sure what to expect. My experience is divided in two, as I ended up visiting two different mosques. On Saturday January 24 around 12:45 pm I arrived at a mosque located in

When it comes to the modern relationship that Islam shares with both Christianity and Judaism, it is not difficult to recognize mutual hostility. Islamic extremism has been gradually dominating the Western perception of Muslims—in the midst of this, the World Trade Center attacks could only exacerbate the situation. On that account, it was no surprise when these hostile attitudes were unmistakably revealed during the “Cordoba House” mosque controversy at which point in 2010, it was proposed that a mosque dubbed the Cordoba House be established near ground zero. Sure enough, the proposition was met with overwhelming opposition and rebuke (Barbaro). Most of the country objected to the mosque while many of those with more personal experiences

On November 12, 2015 Friday evening I had the pleasure of visiting the Jewish Community Center which is part of the Judaism faith and is located in 1529, 16th Street, NW, Washington DC, 20036. Personally, I am part of the Muslim faith as well is my entire family. Throughout my childhood and teenage years my faith was strongly emphasized in my household. My mother would take my siblings and I to Quran teachings every day after school to learn more about our faith and learn the holy text. I try to practice the Islamic faith to the best of my ability. Praying five times a day in my faith has kept me close to my faith and has helped me come over any struggles or worrying I

Being a Muslim-American in post 9/11 America has been turbulent. Like most children, I longed to fit in and be accepted, but I also wanted to preserve my native cultural roots. The odds were against me as I struggled to find balance in a place that could barely tolerate me as a child, and would hold deep seated fear of me as an adult. In an attempt to combat this growing reality, I tried looking to the mosques. However, the local mosques were, instead of religious areas, cultural centers, and when the Afghan community in Chicago is non-existent, I remained confused as a Muslim in and out of the mosque.

After the silent prayer time, I’m thinking it’s time to dismiss, not! We had to pray again to bless the bread & wine. It was time for communion. After communion, and 2 hours of torture, I almost felt myself running to my car. I had never felt that kind of torture before in church. Don’t judge me. I went with an open mind, expecting something different but not that different. The other event I attend was a Friday Mid-day Muslim Prayer Service with one of my students at the Islamic Center of Macon GA. My student advised me on how to dress. In other words, make sure the top of my outfit was long sleeves and the bottom was long enough to cover all of my legs. I thought I was ok, until I got there; they gave me a scarf to cover my head. Oh, I forgot to mention, I had to take off my shoes and leave them before I entered into the place of prayer. I guess you can call it a sanctuary. One thing I found odd was the men and women do not pray in the same place together. Since I was a guest of my student and actually a participant of the prayer time, the wudo, which is a ritual of purification, was not necessary. My student prepared me for the experience very well. She said, “Ms Finney, when you enter the mosque, just go in with the mindset that you are there to talk to Allah himself.” That’s where she lost me, I’m down with Jesus, but I didn’t tell her that. The women’s prayer session was very warm and the ladies

On December 1, I attended a program called “Stories of Black Muslims in America” sponsored by Damietta Cross Cultural Center. As a white Muslim, I haven’t experienced any racism toward my skin color so it was interesting to see how black Muslims in America have embraced both sides of their identity. “Black” and “Muslim” are terms often not associated with one another. In fact, most Americans have a hard time understanding the concept.

Throughout my elementary school years, I went to an all-Muslim school. Most of my friends and teachers were Muslims, so my transition into a traditional public middle school felt overwhelming. I was not prepared for the following years of criticism I would endure simply because of my background. In a post-9/11 world, I grew up having to accept my religion publically being viewed as a symbol for hate, yet I was raised knowing that my religion was synonymous with peace and love. Throughout my pre-teen and early teenage years, I found out that many people believed that Muslims were not American or that Muslims could not have an American identity. It is for that reason I felt that it was my duty as a Muslim-American to open up the conversation

Being a Muslim in America country is a struggle, and ever since 9/11, things have taken a turn for Muslims. When Trump was elected president, the discrimination against Muslims has grown stronger. People need to be educated about Muslim culture and eliminate the perception that every Muslim is a “terrorist.” The community I am looking towards on the University of Kentucky campus is the MSA. The MSA is the Muslim Student Association and their goal is to promote Islam and teach us all about the peaceful nature of the religion. Throughout my paper these 5 sources that I researched played a major role in the Muslim community. My first source was a video called Muslim leaders speak out after mosque fire. My second source was an article called Young

In addition, I visited a local mosque to experience firsthand a Muslim prayer service. Finally, I interviewed a coworker to discover an inside view of the Islam religion from someone who practices the religion. The coworker has been a Muslim since birth and was very pleased to share his experiences with Allah (God) with me and was happy to answer my questions about Islam.

The region of the Middle East and its inhabitants have always been a wonder to the Europeans, dating back to the years before the advent of Islam and the years following the Arab conquest. Today, the Islamic world spreads from the corners of the Philippines to the far edges of Spain and Central Africa. Various cultures have adopted the Islamic faith, and this blending of many different cultures has strengthened the universal Islamic culture. The religion of Islam has provided a new meaning to the lives of many people around the world. In the Islamic world, the religion defines and enriches culture and as a result the culture gives meaning to the individual. Islam is not only a religion, it is in its own way a culture. It may be this very

The objective of this work is to examine Islam, a highly controversial sensitive issue in today's world and specifically to examine the misconceptions, beliefs, and values of those of the Islamic faith. Most people think that the majority of Muslims live in the Middle East, while in reality there are more people of the Islamic faith living in Indonesia. Islam, just as Judaism and Christianity, is practiced in various cultures, serves to shape, and is shaped by those cultures. This study examines the perceptions of those of the three faiths in various countries and how they view one another and seek to answer how a level of threat is felt by those belonging to these three religious groups in various countries. Countries examined in this study include those of the United States, Great Britain, India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. The depth of understanding or the teachings of Islam among the various religious groups in these various countries will also be examined in terms of how these understandings impact the ways that Muslims and non-Muslims interact and communicate with one another.

I chose to research the Muslim religion for my site visit. I wanted to have in depth experience with this religion since I did my group project about Sikhism and during class we went into great detail about every other religion. I did not know what to expect when visiting a mosque, it was a pretty nerve-wracking experience for me being a non-Muslim. I have been raised with Christian morals my whole life even though I have only gone to church a few times in my whole life. Almost all religions have a house of prayer; Jews have synagogues, Buddhists/Hindus have temples and Catholic and Christians have churches and cathedrals. Muslims have mosques; each religious center has their own different rules, rituals and services that need to be followed. A mosque is a place of prayer for Muslims within the Islamic belief. Another word for mosque in Arabic is Masjid. Kind of like a church, a mosque is where Muslims worship and bow before Allah to declare their obedience and loyalty. Mosques date back till the time of the prophet. In order to find a mosque, I went on the Internet and stumbled upon Masjid Beit El-Maqdes.