Masjid –e- Zakariyah and all other mosques also have a wudhu khana where ablution (washing of the body is done). We wash certain parts of our body to become paak or clean before performing Salah and reading the Qur’aan.
Masjid –e- Zakariyah also has two halls. One is used for praying Salah and the other is used for weddings etc this will be explained later.
Analyse and Explain the Role and Function of an Imam in a Sunni Mosque
In Shi’i Islam the ideas around the term imam are the very foundations upon which the rest of the theology rests. In Sunni Islam the term ‘Imam’ is used principally as a title, and has negligible importance in theology.
The word imam generally refers to one who leads congregational worship. More broadly the term also applies to religious leaders in the Muslim community. Whilst an Imam leads worship, gives sermons
and performs duties such as officiating marriages, they are not ordained clergy, nor do they belong to any kind of hierarchy. Also, an Imam does not act as an intermediary between an individual and God. The term imam has specific respected implications for Shi’is.
The Imam is regarded by Shi’is not purely as a political leader, but as a metaphysical being. One who is without sin whose doctrinal pronouncements are infallible and who bestows true knowledge on humanity. The Imams are referred to within the Shi’i tradition as “Ma’soom” – free from error or sin – and are regarded by the mainstream of Shi’is as twelve in number. The last Imam, the Mahdi, is believed not to have died but to be in hiding and will appear at the end of time in order to bring about the triumph of the Shi’i faith.
In all Sunni mosques imams simply leads the five times daily Salah. An imam is normally chosen by a group of people known as the committee who are running the mosque. Imams are trustworthy and are respected in a good manner. An Imam also does the Khutbah (speech) on Fridays and also on Eid day. Imams are those who have memorized the holy Quran and some imams also teach children how to recite the Quran itself. An imam of a mosque are known to officiate the Nikah. Some countries necessitate that the person who perform the marriage must be a justice of peace, or a judge or a licensed clergy. In some cities it is also illegal for an unlicensed person to perform marriages.
Explain the Role and Function of a Mosque in a Muslim Community
Building a mosque is a prophetic and Islamic tradition of Muslim communities. One of the first things that the Prophet Mohammed "Peace be upon him" did when he entered Madina, was to build a mosque, the mosque of Quba. Subsequently wherever the Muslim's have gone, they have built a Mosque for their needs in that community.
Let us ask ourselves, why do we need a mosque to begin with? After all, a Muslim can pray at home and his home is his mosque where he can live a comfortable Islamic life with himself and his family. However, we must remember that Islam is a religion to be practiced collectively therefore, all good actions performed in congregation has more of a reward than the same things done alone. Never in the Quran does Allah address Muslims as believer but, always as believers.
Thus we are supposed to pray collectively congregationally and participate in other acts of worship like fasting and hajj together. Therefore, we do need a mosque for collective prayer. Many of the well established mosques in the country started with a rented house, apartment, even a garage. By growth of the Muslim community and their enthusiasm, there are full fledged mosques.
But is the mosque only for prayers? No. The mosque is the center for all Islamic activity as it used to be in the mosque of the Prophet in Madina. In this mosque not only prayers took place, but it was a school of knowledge where companions used to study the Quran and ask questions. It was a place for the Government to receive delegations from foreign countries. It was a treasury from which charity work was done and it was a war-room where decisions and planning for wars imposed on Muslims were made.
In fact, a mosque should extend to the care for needy and orphans, and the sick as well as a place for giving D'awa to non Muslims.
Thus we need our mosques not only to be a place of prayer but, a place for seeking Islamic Knowledge for Muslims and non Muslims, and there should be formal classes for newly converted Muslims to ease them into Islam.
It should be a place where children can receive an Islamic education combating the worldly education of their public schools. It should be a place where community social functions can take place with Islamic guidelines whether it is an eid party, marriage, or aqeeqa ceremony that takes place. It should be a place where Muslim men can socialize with other Muslim men and women with women, young boys with young boys, and girls with girls. Not necessarily in the prayer area but, in other areas of the mosque.
Muslims should have in their mosque a reference library where they can go and study Islam. From the mosque, there should be collections and distributions of all Sadaqah and Zakat. In addition to Sunday school and full time Islamic school, there should be day time and evening coaching classes for students in high school and knowledgeable teachers and professionals in the community should tutor students so that they can do a better job with their grades and provide some career analysis.
Should we allow non-Muslims to come to our mosque or not? The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) did allow Christian delegations not only to come and talk to him about Islam but, also allowed them to stay and pray in their own way too.
The mosque I have mentioned above Masjid -e- Zakariyah also has a hall downstairs which was built for a reason. This reason is to feed people on occasions like weddings etc. There are also classes held Mondays to Friday at 5pm-7.30pm and 9am-11am on Saturdays, where children from the age of 4 start learning basic Arabic and Urdu. Once the children have learnt the simple Arabic letters the start learning harder words and finally move onto recitation of the Holy Quran. These classes are for both boys and girls until the age of 14. Girls are taught by a female tutor after the age of 9. There is also a hafiz class for boys at the mosque where boys of all ages can memorize the holy Quran. These classes are held in the mornings as well as after 5pm.
Also the Markazi mosque in Dewsbury is a boarding school for boys, where boys from all over the world are staying and studying Islamic knowledge.
You Do Not Need to Go the Mosque to Be a Good Muslim
The statement above can both be agreed and disagreed on depending on who it is referring to, either male or female.
It has been reported that the prophet SAW once said,
“Do not prevent your women from going to the mosque if they ask your permission”
But even to this there are some conditions which must be applied to. These conditions are
- Women must have permission from their husband or father.
- They must dress in a proper manner
- The mosque must have a separate area for women and women must respect this by not entering the area for males. It is inappropriate to socialize with men, to stare at them or to make eye contact with them.
It is important to realize that it is not obligatory on women to perform their prayers in the mosque as are men. Men in Islam are required to perform their prayers in the mosque in congregation. One of the reasons is because women are often busy at home with their children and also women have other responsibilities so it would be very difficult for them to leave their homes at all hours of the day. Along with that, the women’s prayer at home is described in Islam as the “best” prayer for women. Women should keep in mind that they should avoid going to the mosque if they think that they will face any danger or harassment on the way there.
Abdullah bin Omar RA narrates that he heard the Prophet SAW saying:
“Salah with jamat is 27 times superior to Salah performed individually”
Most men are at work around the zohar time but just because of this it doesn’t mean that it is an excuse to get yourself out of Salah. Salah is the second pillar of Islam.
“Prayer retains from indecency and evil. And remembrance of God is the greatest thing in life. And God knows the deeds that you do.”
[The Holy Quran Surah Al-Ankabut, Chapter 29 and Verse 45]
Every Muslim say, and knows in his heart that prayer is the "Pillar of Religion." It has become the line which divides Islam from non-Islam. Islam has not only thus described it, but has made it pillar of the faith, because of its exalted position, its absolute value and its great importance to God and His Prophet.
Im sure that most employers will allow time for Salah to be prayed. If we adjust our break times Salah can even be prayed at a mosque, but if this is not possible Muslims at work can gather and pray in congregation.
Maaz bin Abas RA narrates that he also heard the Prophet SAW saying:
“A person who does not go for Salah after hearing Adhan is committing a great wrong and is doing an act of the Kufr”
A Mosque is a place dedicated to the worship of God. Muslims are enjoined to observe Salah in congregation. If one is unable to reach a Mosque conveniently, or the journey to the mosque is unsafe, the Salah may be observed wherever convenient. The Holy prophet, (Peace be on him) has said that the whole earth has been blessed and made a Mosque for Muslims.
Another thing we can all distinguish between is the lives of those who go to the mosque and the lives of those who don’t. I myself have noticed the difference between these two groups of people. Coming from westernised part of United Kingdom a lot of people whom I used to know were not the practicing type of Muslims. In general we can spot the difference in these two types of people by many factors a few of them being:
- The way they dress
- The way they speak
- And even the way they live their lives is different to the lives lived by practising Muslims.
We can also notice that although a person prays their 5 times Salah and worships Allah by praying the Holy Quran and even doing a form of zikr does not visit the mosque: this type of person is also different to the type who does these above things and visits the mosque too.
By a very young age children are sent to mosque to learn basic Arabic and the recitation of the Holy Quran. Whilst going to mosques children not only learn the Holy quran but also learn hadiths from the prophet’s time about Islam etc. girls are taught about wearing Hijab and covering of the body. Boys are also taught various things such as wearing Islamic clothing instead of following the westernised way of dressing. Now if a child (particularly a girl) is not sent to the mosque and is brought up in a westernised way then she will be dressed in a westernised way wearing jeans etc and not wearing a hijab. If she is put next to a daughter from a practising family then we will see a major difference in the way these two girls act. Now if a person from another religion were to see these two girls what would she think? She would have split views on Islam and would not really know what the Islamic religion taught us. It would be hard for her especially if she was thinking of converting to Islam. This is the reason why it is important to tell our brothers and sisters in Islam about how important it is to learn about Islam and to send their children to mosques. I understand that some families live in a town/city where there is a very low population of Muslims but in this case we can teach our children at home or even join a little group for the other Muslim children so that they could all learn together. It is important that children are living in an area where there are other people of their kind living there with them. I understand that this may be hard sometimes for other reasons but when this is so we must teach our children and make them understand what Islam is about. We must teach them in a way in which they will remember no matter who they are growing up with whether they are Christians Jews or even Hindus.
“May Allah bless us all with good health and Guide us all to Truth and keep us on the straight path, and improve our affairs and purify us for the hereafter, Ameen.”
;’l;l;#
Bibliography/Evaluation
For my Islam coursework i was given a task to answer four questions in detail. I found this coursework very intresting as I found out a lot of new things. I had to do a lot of research to find out the answers to these questions which meant going to the library reading Islamic books and also going on the internet along with using what I already knew. Mainly I used the internet to find information and read it comprehensively before turning it into my own words. The books I used were :
1.Mosques (designing the future) by Iain Macintyre
2.Muslim Mosque (Places of worship) by Angela Wood
3.The Arcitecture of the Contempory Mosque by Ismail Serageldin, James Steele
4.Faza’il-E-A’maal by Maulana Muhammed Zakariyya Kandhalvi
I also went on the Internet to find information where I went on a choice of websites such as:
muslimsonline.com
and also where I searched for various information
Overall I found this coursework very appealing as I found out a lot of thing I didn’t know which was motivating and which I will be able to make use of in the future.
