A Visit To The Mosque

I made a visit to a mosque located in New Orleans on 1911 St. I knew that Muslims meet on Fridays at noon to pray corporately and thus, I arrived at the gate a few minutes before noon. I felt that it was not right to enter the surrounding without seeking guidance from the followers and thus, I stood at the gate. Two minutes were hardly over before an aged man who physically resembled people from Meddle East States appeared. I approached him and explained the purpose of my visit. He introduced himself as Mr. Sulayman. He welcomed me and asked me to follow him towards the mosque. Though he looked serious, he was kind to me and gave directions as to what I was supposed to do.

Inside the Mosque

Before entering the mosque, he led me to a cleaning area where he removed his shoes and instructed me to do the same. He proceeded to wash his face, hands and fit but explained to me that I was free not to do it. Since I was eager of everything, I found it necessary to do the same. We then entered the prayer room and I was directed to sit at the back, an area that seemed to be designated for visitors. I realized that there was a partition based by gender; men were in a different partition from women. All men were wearing long trousers and shirts. Some wore white garments on top. Women wore black garments that covered all parts of their bodies, with some only exposing their faces. Notably, these practices bring out the gender dimension of this religion (Diener, 3).The room was carpeted with only a few men, with some sitting on the floor and others were on a small stage at the front praying. I also sat on the floor. On one side, there were very few chairs which I later learnt that they were reserved for old men who could not sit comfortably on the floor.  I noticed that there were shelves on another side of the room holding some books. Mr. Sulayman moved to the shelves and brought me a Quran and a brochure.

I also noticed that the floor had diagonal lines which were painted in white. I learnt later from Mr. Sulayman that the lines were perpendicular to the direction of Mecca and Muslims face the direction while praying. More men arrived and within a span 15 minutes, they had formed what can be termed as a congregation. One man took a microphone at the stage and started chanting in Arabic. I later realized that he was giving some orders and the people responded by performing differing bows. After this was over, the speaker called the Imam to make a sermon.

Sermon Message

The Imam began speaking in Arabic and I could hardly comprehend what he was saying. He later changed to English, though he occasionally reverted to speaking in Arabic. I however grasped several points from his message. First, he mentioned tat there are people who engage in horrible acts and present themselves as Muslims, yet they are not. He explained that true Muslims who follow the word of God as per the Quran do not engage in horrible acts. He also talked about redemption. He explained that God is gracious and He gives redemption to righteous individuals who seek for it. He said that God sees inside a man’s heart and it is not possible for human beings to lie to him.

The Imam also said that people should ask for forgiveness of the sins that they have committed during the day before the sunsets and also eek forgiveness of sins that they have committed during the night before the sun rises. He explained in details how a man should behave in order to go to heaven and how one should escape going to hell. I heard the Imam saying that a man should engage in good deeds n.............