The Prayer Of The Mosque

The most beautiful building among these is the Mosque. The Mosque was built in early 1990's and is American built, almost entirely by local architects and local artists. There is a fountain in front of the Mosque and a second fountain inside the vestibule. These fountains have come from as far away as Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia and are merely for decoration though in older times fountains were used for washing before prayer.

The mosque can be identified by its elaborate squinch-supported domes. The Great Mosque of Cordoba is one of the finest surviving examples of Umayyad architecture in Spain. The mosque has marble capitals and columns in the hypostyle prayer hall. A person enters the hall through an open courtyard called a sahn. Its famous horseshoe arches have an alternated pattern of pale stone and red brick voussoirs

An Arabic term meaning "in the direction of Mecca," it identifies a niche found in a mosque intended to indicate the direction in which to

There holy book is called Quran and contains the revelations that god made to Muhammad. They believe that through god Mecca was the holy city and the center of Islam. The five pillars are very different from any other religion because all Muslims must know them and they are the key to Islam. They are Shahada, Salat, Zakat. Siyam, and the Hajj. The Hajj is a key step in the five pillars and it tells that a Muslim must travel to Mecca to participate in a series of rituals if money and heath is stable. Islam’s holy building is called a mosque. They also have two major sects called sunni and shii.

The form and function of the Mihrab is consistent to the traditional structure of many prayer niches during that time. There is nothing abstract or necessarily different about the way it was constructed other than the color and design used. This is simply a functional structure that held true for what it was used for which is the direction in which Muslims prayed towards, inside the mosque itself.

This Madrasa is especially significant, because it is one of the earliest pieces of Islamic architecture to still be standing today. It was also one of the first Islamic architectural buildings to employ to use of decorated floral mosaic tiles which was uncommon during the Ilkhanid period but later mastered by the Timurids. Earlier mosaic designs were strictly geometric, but this new floral pattern gained popularity as time passed. While walking through the museum I was fascinated by several secular and religious pieces of art from the Islamic region. The reason that I chose to analyze this piece over the other exhibits was a result of my interest in mosque architecture, and because this was as close as I was able to get to an ancient piece of Islamic architecture. I have seen many qibla walls, many qurans, and many mihrabs, but this specific one was unlike the modern prayer niches in the mosques that I visit, it was a spectacular masterpiece of polychrome mosaic and it was unlike any religious architectural exhibit in the western world. It’s impossible to ignore the important role that the east Asian ideas of the Mongol empire played in the religious architecture of the Ilkhanid period, and had the Ilkhanids not been so heavily influenced by Mongol traditions their architecture would have had a completely different look and feel.

Where do Jews, Christians, and Muslims usually pray? These three religions have a house of worship where they can sit down and pray. But however, the houses are different and build differently for their satisfaction and comfort. Jews pray in a synagogue which is also like a temple. These temples are built facing Jerusalem with long halls for prayer. Synagogues can also have smaller rooms for studies and sometimes a social hall for occasions as well as offices for bookkeeping. For Christians, they pray in normal churches. Most churches, especially older ones, are built in the slope of the cross. Muslim's house of worship is a Mosque. Mosques are built with no furniture, no painting or statues. It's just a big empty room where Muslim can sit on the floor and pray. When entering a Mosque, shoes are required to be taken off. When men and women pray, they are separated into two different rooms. All three religions pray in a house, that is a correct. But, the way the houses are built for them to pray are different.

Next, my mother told me this mosque is the biggest one, and the second religious buildings, also it has the tallest minaret in the world. This mosque has a roof made of light steel, and decorated with cedar wood which opens in 3 minutes for bringing fresh air during the summer. Also, this mosque has many chandeliers made in crystal. The location of this mosque is right by the sea overlooking the Atlantic ocean,

Truly, the entrances made me feel welcome, especially with the wide glass door. Once I step inside, I saw that they have on the right side the ablution facilities and the bathrooms. Also, at the left side, there were shoes shelves, office glass window, and the aisle that takes you to the office. Moreover, the desire of cleanliness is to take off your shoes before getting into the prayer hall. Because shoes are not allowed to be worn anywhere rather than the cloakroom. Finally, in front of me is the prayer hall. After I took off my shoes and did the ablution which called “Wudu”, I got inside. The prayer hall was big as what I expected. The floor was totally covered with a special carpet. Furthermore, by facing north, there were “Mihrab,” which is the semicircular niche in the wall. Mihrab demonstrates the “Qibla” or the direction that Muslims should face while praying. Also, it’s where the Imam addresses the congregation and lead them in the prayers. The Qibla wall is made from marble. However, the walls of the mosque have only a few items so it doesn’t distract the

Mecca, Saudi Arabia is the home of the Kaaba in which Islam’s go to when the time of the Hajj arrives every year. This is a material creation within the city. Islam people are required to attend the Hajj at least once in their life to worship the God of Abraham. A mosque stands in the middle of Mecca and in the very center is the Kaaba. The Muslims believe the Kaaba was built first by Adam and Eve, and then rebuilt by the prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael from when a flood struck it back in Noah’s time. As a result of the Kaaba being built, about 1,000,000 people live near it on the outskirts of the mosque. Many Muslims are encultured into this religion because they were born and live in the city. Mecca has been inhabited by Muslims for 1,400 years. Although the city has a lot of Islam people due to the fact that Mecca is a sacred city and only Muslims are allowed, during the Hajj many people migrate from all over to get to the five-day event. There are all sorts of races that come to the Hajj every year and participate in it. For example, the American woman attends the

This is set by the time of day. The last important component to the prayer pillar is the public day of prayer, Friday. On this day, devote Muslims join together to pray in mosques (Molloy, 432-434).

The second pillar is prayer. Devout Muslims pray five times a day. Once at dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sunset and nighttime. The prayer process for Muslims is extremely sacred and done ritually. The prayers are called together by a “muezzin” from atop a tower called a minaret. Another ritual involved in Muslim prayer includes a purification process with water or sand, where the believer cleanses their hands, arms, face, neck and feet before beginning. Believers always pray facing

My first impression upon arriving at the mosque was that it was very drab and plain inside, as compared to how it looked on the outside. The religion I grew up in had beautifully decorated churches; while I wanted to ask why the mosque was so drab inside, I felt it would sound rude and unkind. Furthermore, I was disappointed to see the only chairs available to sit upon in the mosque were for pregnant, disabled, and elderly people. The religion I grew up in had nice, plump, padded pews for its members to sit upon. Again, I did not question why there were no pews as I felt it would be unkind.

Kaaba – a sacred building made of “black stone” in the shape of a cube in Mecca and when in prayer Muslins turn in this direction (Dictionary)

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.