Visiting the London Mosque - Essay Example

My Visit to the London Mosque The London mosque is one of the most fascinating religious centers I have ever visited. The Mosque is situated in East London along the 6 Gressenhall Road, SW18 5QL and also lies just next to the City of London. The Mosque is arguably the largest Muslim community center in the UK launched in 1926. The Mosque is also arguably the largest in the entire U.K. since most is just one of its kinds. The mosque is very large to the extent that it can accommodate over five thousand congregants at a go. The Mosque is beautifully decorated a feature that makes the Mosque very attractive to visit. I did realize during my visit to the place that the London Mosque is built in almost the same design like other mosques in the country. Due to curiosity of knowing why the London Mosque employed a similar design like other Mosques, one of the Muslim faithful at the Mosque informed me that every feature has a religious meaning to the Muslim community. One of the physical features that I could see of the Mosque even before reaching the place was a tall tower, referred to as the Minaret. The Minaret is standing tall on the building, and there are four loudspeakers attached to it facing different directions. Despite not hearing the loudspeakers being used, I was informed by one of the congregants that they are used for calling congregants into the Mosque for prayers in the morning, mid-day and in the evening as commanded by Allah. Allah is the name given to God according to Muslim faithful. The loudspeakers are only used after getting permission from the government of the U.K. because I was told that they produce a lot of noise, which can be heard by someone living as far as ten miles away from the Mosque. The London Mosque also has a beautiful done-shaped roof protruding slightly above the building. The dome is also decorated in a language, which I could not easily understand, but later realized that it was Arabic, the language spoken by a majority of Muslims. It was fascinating to learn that the London Mosque has a dome-shaped roof to keep the Mosque cool and airy a fact, which I did confirm upon entering the Mosque. In addition, the London Mosque has a dome-shaped roof to amply the sound of the Imam leading the congregation. This makes the sound of the preacher audible to members of the congregation. In fact, I could easily tell even before arriving in the compound of the Mosque that the territory was dominated by Muslim faithful. This is because a majority of the congregants was dressed in Muslim attires mainly full dresses, with men dressed in white attires. Women, on the other hand, were dressed mainly in black attires with some covering their faces to the extent that one can hardly recognize these women. In fact, I wondered a lot how they breath inside their attires land bear the heat during the sunny days. However, I avoided questioning that because my conscience could tell me that it is a religious symbol and requirement that these women must comply with. The dressing cord exhibited by the Muslims in this Mosque was indeed a big contrast to mine. This is because I was dressed in a suit and a tie, which made me look completely peculiar from the rest of the congregation. Apart from the dress cord, a visitor to this Mosque is ushered in from close to a mile by the smell of the place. The area has a high concentration of conk perfumes, which are unique of the Muslim faithful. In fact, I found it very hard staying in the Mosque because of the perfumes that the members of the congregation applied. I remember leaving the room at some time just to get a breathing space outside free of perfume smell. I have never been affected by perfumes before, but my visit to the place has indeed made me realize that I am probably allergic to perfumes. It was also interesting to learn that everyone in the before entering the Mosque, every congregant is required to remove shoes before entering the Mosque since it is considered a holy place. This was very unique to me since I did not anticipate being subjected to removing my shoes. The worst part of shoe removal is that some members of the congregants appeared not to have washed their socks for a century as their shoes were producing bad odor, which could only be compared to a rotting animal. However, I realized that, however much congregants are required to remove their shoes, there is also a special place designated for cleanliness. In this regard, there is a special ablution facilities in one of the rooms within London Mosque fixed with taps used for hand washing, feet, mouth, neck, face, nose, and other parts of the body. These facilities did help me a great deal from the agony of the smell I felt before washing our feet. The inside wall of the Mosque is very beautifully decorated with Islamic artifacts made of different symbols and Arabic writings. It was fascinating to note that men and women have different rooms for prayers, which is quite different from the Christian mode of prayers where men and women combine in a single room for prayers. However, prayers are conducted by a single Imam who conducts prayers from the men’s room using a loud speaker fixed in other rooms as well to enable women to follow the service and imitate what the imam says. I was also flabbergasted to learn that the building had very few chairs as the whole Mosque is just a whole with a carpet laid on the floor. As such, congregants sit on the floor on carpets and not seats. However, the few seats in the Mosque are only reserved for the old and the disables, not in a position to sit on the floor. I also noticed a certain pattern of prayers in the London Mosque, where the congregation is required to face towards what Muslims call qibla was. However, I did not ask much why people have to face this wall during prayers. The Imams, on the other hand, faces what is called mihrab when leading the service. The mihrab has is uniquely designed to reflect the sound of the Imam backwards to the members of the congregation thereby making his voice audible. In fact, the mihrab is beautifully decorated with several patterns consisting of Islamic traditional calligraphies written in Arabic. Inside the Mosque is a Quran, which is the Scripture used during prayers. Usually the Imam reads the Quran and preaches based on the message obtained from it. The Quran is considered holy by the Muslims and is based on the Teachings of Prophet Muhammad. In fact, it is here that I learnt that Muslims does not believe in the existence of Jesus as Christian do, rather prophet Mohammed whom all Muslims are required to follow. It was also peculiar to learn that there was no singing in the Mosque for the entire service, something, which baffled me a lot. Indeed my visit to the London Mosque was very adventures since it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about the place, both external and internal environment. I also got to learn a lot about how the prayers are conducted inside the Mosque and what is required of a Muslim faithful. Read More