The Role of the Mosque in the Community
There are vast majority of mosques around the world. This is such a
blessing because Allah has bestowed upon the Muslim Ummah to make the
earth pure and making it a Masjid. As the Messenger of Allah said,
“I have been granted five things which were not granted to any other
Prophet before me: (one of them) the whole earth has been made a
Masjid. And pure for me, so whenever the time of prayer comes for
anyone of you, he should pray wherever he is.” (Hadith)
Currently the mosques are thought to be, a place of worship, for
breaking the fast during Ramadan and little other things. However,
this was thought priority 20 to 30 years ago when mosques were mostly
initially established. Though mosques have changed now in the sense
that more is expected from a mosque, they are developing more to meet
change and the needs of the community, for its new generation.
The mosques combine religious and social activities that encourage
active faith and strong community life. This is because Islam preaches
unity of Muslims; this can take place in the mosque with community
gatherings. Friday afternoon is the most important social-religious
activity for the community to get together and meet other Muslims.
Committing to religious beliefs is one of the strongest factors
influencing the preservations of a Muslim identity.
A mosque has a huge role in society and it has to maintain this.
Generally, a mosque is somewhere where people can come to pray and
contemplate. It is a place away from all the hustle from our day to
day busy lives. It is a chance where people can relax and reflect on
their day and worship Allah by praying or reading some Quran. The main
advantage of going to the mosque is the benefit of praying in a
congregation prayer, which is mostly for men. Majority of the mosques
are used to pray five daily prayers in congregation, people from
different places to come and pray together.
The article above “Modern-Day Witch Hunts” would fit greatly into Perspective. I agree with this article in the fact that Muslims have been treated unfairly since 9/11. I have heard many people say back home that Muslims were responsible for the plane crashing into the World Trade center. America practices the right to the freedom of religion. So why is building a public mosque in America causing so much controversy? There are ways to go about this respectively. If Americans are offended with the naming of this structure, they should have meetings with the New ...
In Islam, their communities are called ummah. Their mosque is in the center, and cities are constructed around it. This symbolizes a life built around faith. In the Nation of Islam, their temple is also their sense of community. Though their cities are not physically around the temple, their social and spiritual lives are centered there. With school, religious services, banquets, etc. the whole community of believers sees the temple as a common ground and gathering place.
What is Grief? Merriam-Webster ‘s online dictionary defines grief as, “deep sadness caused by someone’s death; a deep sadness; and/or a trouble or annoyance”(n.d.). This term may have a different way of impacting one’s life depending on geographical location; culture plays an important role in how those that experiences a loss or hardship, cope with grief. After further research, a closer look will be taken at the five stages associated with grief and loss, how Hindu and Islamic Muslim culture deal with death, and how cultural differences may impact the stages of grief.
Some were less religious in the new land, but most became even more connected to their faith when they came to the United States. They wanted to have a piece of their lives that was familiar to them on their new journey. They organized familiar rituals and spent their time at the mosque. As many immigrants that came to America, the Muslim people needed to establish a base to rely on. On September 11, 2001, things took a turn for the worse.
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
Many non-muslims after 9/11 have judged and criticized Muslims for their ethnic, religion, and the Islamic terrorist groups in America. (4) Surprisingly, most Muslim Americans in our population are completely against Isis. Together as a country, we must create more unity and peace within Muslim communities in the United States. Building Mosques for Muslims is a great way to bring communities together! A Mosque is a Muslim place of worship like a church. (1) The first Mosque structure built in America, was in North Dakota, 1929.”The number of Mosques built in the United States has risen up to seventy-four percent since 2000 and there are over two-thousand Mosques built today. (1) “Mosques help Muslims integrate in U.S. society, and in fact have a very productive role in bridging the differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in the United States.” Mosques encourage social and political speech. (5) “Many American Muslim leaders and non-Muslim organizations have spoke out against terrorism and extremist violence.” Working together to prevent terrorism plays an important factor in uniting Muslims and non-Muslims. American will continue to help increase unity with Muslims and non-Muslims across our
.... For a Muslim, Friday is the holy day and special services are held in early to mid-afternoon. The Mosque is open seven days a week and available for each of the daily prayers.
... (Becoming) Islamic community is like Christianity in the aspect that everyone in community is closely connected and is focused on helping each other. In fact, "the word Islam connotes the community of all believers, suggesting inclusion in one large family. (Molly 437) People are called to pray several times a day by a muezzin (Molly 439) Muslims are expected to attend mosque for prayer but it is not required.
In recent modern times, the Islamic faith and culture has been scarred by bad publicity and criticism worldwide concerning terrorism, fanaticism, and the treatment of women. All these issues have existed in most religions throughout time, but the treatment of women is different in which most other cultures and religions have minimized the issues and Islam, under its attempts to also end it, has failed to create a society in which the treatment of women is equal to that of men. The treatment of women, beginning from the time when they are born, to the time of their marriage, to the moment of their death, has not been equal to that of men despite the actions taken to end the injustice.
When visiting the campus mosque it was quite different than what I had expected. I have visited a Mosque back in my hometown so compared to that one; this ceremony was a bit less formal. When walking into the prayer space I noticed that even though men and women were in the same room they created a divide in the rugs to distinguish the area where the men were separate from the women. Everyone was instructed to remove their shoes and either kneel or squat on the rugs. The rugs were set up to face the corner, which is in the direction pointed towards Mecca. Women had their heads and most of the rest of their bodies covered to remain modest and the mean dressed in nice attire. People were chatting with one another when the Muezzin, the person appointed to begin the call to worship, stands up and chants the adhan. All of the worshippers recite the prayer “God is the greatest, God is the greatest, I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but God, I bear witness that Muhammad is the prophet of God, Come to prayer, Come to success, God is the greatest, There is no deity but God”...
On the board on Monday morning, there were numbers one through five and they each had a religion written next to them. 1 was Hinduism, 2 was Christianity, 3 was Judaism, 4 was Buddhism, and I was lucky enough to get 5: Islam. Oh, I know so much about Islam culture and their religion, are you kidding? I don’t even know where Islam is. I’m just kidding, it’s not a country. There are many differences between Islam and the United states like our religion, clothes, and food, and becoming a Christian or a Muslim, but Islam is the second largest religion in the world, so it’s important to a lot of people. The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Becoming a Muslim is not an easy process. You must do a long list of tasks. After you become a Muslim you must do everything in your power to try to have a good Muslim lifestyle.
Like most families in this city of El Paso, mine is Catholic, when talking about religion, I remember when I was little my mother and I attended to other religious services which my mother was invited to. From Sunday religious class I had thought that this was a sin however, my mother told me that it did not matter because we ourselves knew we were Catholic. Thus, I have the belief that people are born into religions and they must follow it as they were destined to. I tell this story to talk about the reaction I got from my family when they found out that I have attended a religious service at the Mosque.
They believe that there is one God, called Allah, and that it is the same in all Abrahamic religions, along with being the continuation of Judaism and Christianity. They are required to pray five times a day, which can restrict some of their daily social or work obligations although it has become more and more common for them to pray at different places due to work constrictions. They also direct this prayer and meditation time toward the center of Mecca. Due to having to be faithful and focused they are forbidden to drink alcohol. The men must also pray in mosques to strengthen relationships, the women however are allowed to pray in their homes so that they may continue to do their house and family duties (Muslim culture,
The members of the Islamic center welcomed us with food and drinks which was very sweet but also cultivated that welcoming feeling. The presentation of Islam was given by my new friend Rashed Fakhruddin which I had met the previous week at the Race Talk with the mayor. During this presentation Rashed said something that until today has stuck with me. He said “this worship tour is about learning our common humanity as people” that really touched me because that is one of the things that I try to do when meeting new people. Rashed also gave us a brief rundown of what Islam was and how people practiced it on a day to day basis. I was impressed to discover how similar Islam is to Christianity and how much community centered Islam