Visiting The Masjid At The Islamic Center Of Little Rock

I had the privilege to conduct field research at the Abu Bakr Masjid, also known as the Islamic Center of San Diego on Friday, October 9, 2015. I attended both salat al-Maghrib and a lecture given by Imam Sh. Taha Hassane. Salat al-Maghrib is the “West sun” prayer which takes place five minutes after sunset. Salat al-Maghrib started around 6:37 p.m. Imam Taha Hassane’s lecture started at 7:00 p.m. and ended at 8:01 p.m. before the last prayer of the day: salat al-‘Isha’a. Imam Taha Hassane was already waiting for me outside of the mosque. The first matter he explained was that it was considered proper to enter the masjid (mosque) with my right foot first and exit with my left foot first. Furthermore, I was also explained that in order to enter the prayer hall, I needed to be in a state of ritual purity. This purification consists of ablutions, called wudu’, which involve the washing of the feet, hands, head and face. Once I completed the ablutions, Imam Taha Hassane instructed me to take off my shoes in the designated cabinets in the hallway. This is primarily done to ensure that no outside dirt would violate the sacred space. At Abu Bakr Masjid, like in many other mosques around the Muslim world, genders are separated—men pray in the main prayer hall while women pray upstairs in a separate prayer room. When I asked why, Imam Taha simply explained that it was a matter of modesty and concentration.

When studying Islam, it is important to understand the essential elements of the faith, how they are practiced, and the distinctions among the three branches: Shiite Islam, Sunni Islam, and Sufism.

First off, I was born and raised a Catholic. I went to a Catholic grade school, Catholic high school, and I am now at a Jesuit College. The study of Islam has always been a foreign topic to me. I have for a long time wanted to know more about it, but was never pushed in the right direction

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.

“The Women’s Mosque of America seeks to uplift the Muslim community by empowering women and girls through more direct access to Islamic scholarship and leadership opportunities. The Women’s Mosque of America provides a safe space for women to feel welcome, respected, and actively engaged within the Muslim Ummah. It complements existing mosques, offering opportunities for women to grow, learn, and gain inspiration to spread throughout their respective communities.”

Religion plays a huge role in today’s day and age. In fact, religion has been of huge importance since cavemen were, well, cavemen. Religion is the factor that keeps many people going in life but at the same time, the same reason our world has so many problems and has been torn apart. Through studying the main tenets in call, Judaism, Christianity and Islam were analyzed for weeks. Christianity and Islam take the cake for the two biggest religions in today’s population however, Judaism plays the smallest role. These three religions, although different, are easily able to be compared and contrasted because of all of the history and information we have attained towards these separate beliefs. I think it is crucial that these religions be studied by people all around the world so that we can be understanding towards other religions, not just our own. Through religious beliefs, things we can learn through teachings and comparing and contrasting we can learn more about Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

I decided to do research on the local Mosques in San Francisco for my cultural humility project. The reason why I chose to choose to do my cultural humility project on local Mosques is because there is a lot of misconceptions on what it is, what do they do, and how do they help their communities and if mosques around the area communicate and collaborate with each other to reach their goals. I want to educate fellow members of our class and the people I meet in life on what is the purpose of a mosque, is it for all religions or a specific religion, and who runs and funds the mosques. After looking into the local mosques, I was astonished that they

It 's a tale almost as old as time itself. This story begins, from what most scholars conclude, around 2018 BC, when a man named Abraham a.k.a. Avraham to the Jewish people or Ibrahim to the Muslim people reached the ripe age of 90 years old and began to have children (Behind the Name). His first son Ishmael was born to him through his young Egyptian wife Hagar. His second son Isaac was born through his 90-year-old wife Sarah. Two wives, two sons, one land as an inheritance, and the rest is history (Palizzi). Thousands of years later and the battle still rages in the small area of land next to the Mediterranean Sea where to this day still stand the dome of the rock Muslim mosque and the Wailing Wall which is the only remains left of the

While at Sussex County Community College I was able to take some classes that really helped gain more of a healthy understanding of culture around the world to give me a more rounded sense on how the rest of the world lives. A great class in gaining knowledge on world culture from a historic point while progressing to more modern present day was Comparative Religions PHIL 201 instructed by Professor MacDougall. During this Course we were required to turn in a paper on a countries religion along with there Culture and life style. Professor MacDougall gave us the freedom to choose the religion and country that interested us the most. For it was a no brainer to choose Morocco and its Muslim Culture, the main reason I choose Morocco

I sought to do just as Largen, Hess, & Sapp (2014) stated, “…the ability to remember and describe the core defining practices and beliefs of each tradition-including central sacred texts and general history of a founder” (p. 72). By learning this information, I was better able help find a space suitable for the student’s need and not violate his religious rights. An added resource to my research was my fiancé. He is of the Muslim faith in the Nation of Islam. He had numerous books and personal experience to help me. I made a telephone called and discussed my situation. He provided me with resourceful websites and laid books out for me to pick up after work. One of the sites quickly informed me that, “For a Muslim his prayer is his spiritual diet, of which he partakes five times a day” (Sahib,

In October we were given an opportunity to tour the Islamic Center of Akron/Kent and this was my moment to swing open the doors of knowledge, new territory, and discomfort. As I prepared for that day I wondered what I would encounter. More importantly, as an observant Jew I felt uneasy, because I was about to embark on a new experience that would put me in a room where a religion that is different from mine was being practiced. As I drove to the Islamic Center I wondered who or what I would encounter. Upon entering the Mosque, the first thing I noticed was the large prayer hall on my right. The ceilings seemed as if they could touch the sky; the windows were tall and grand, allowing light to flood in and touch every inch

At its zenith, this mosque was the center of western Islam. The Great Mosque is a forest of stone columns that seem to go on forever. The effect is disorientating like a vast hall of mirrors where the worshiper

Learning courses specializing in religion can foster open-mindedness, cultural appreciation and improve behavior among students. Students may be more apt to accept differences in people around them, and portray a positive attitude when they have access to learning about diverse religions.

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.

“The Masjid (mosque) t welcomes everyone, day or night, summer or winter, requiring no application form or permission, and it does not turn anyone away be they young or old, male or female, Muslim or non-Muslim, black or white Arab or Non-Arab. Entry into the Masjid does not require any fee, insurance, or any permission. There are no hindrances, no obstacles, nor does the Masjid differentiate between the laymen and a scholar, nor between a ruler and a subject, nor between a wealthy and a poor person” (Mabdullah 2013) .