Amanda Ferguson 10MN                                        21st May 02

The Mosque

    The mosque is the Muslim place of worship, which in Arabic is refered to as the Masjid this means 'place of prostration' because Muslims bow low to God when praying. Mosques can be set up anywhere you place a prayer mat and kneel down to prostrate yourself and pray to Allah. It does not necessarily need to be a building but it is necessary to go to a mosque during festival times as it helps the Muslim community to join together and become closer. Another distinctive feature of a mosque is the Islamic symbol of the moon and star. This represents how the light of the moon and stars guide men through the desert, which links in with the idea that, the moon and stars guide Muslims through life.

     Male Muslims will prayer five times a day in the mosque, female Muslims do not need to attend the mosque to prayer as much as it is seen as their duty to hold and keep the house together so they often pray at home. The Friday prayer in the mosque, called the jum'ah is the most important. ALL MALE Muslims in the area will try and join together for that prayer. It shows Muslims uniting themselves throughout the world.

      Most mosques have one or more slender towers called minarets. In Arab villages, a man would stand on the balcony at the top facing Mecca and call to the other Muslims to prayer. He is called a Muezzin but nowadays in Arab villages, a recording or a loudspeaker will be used instead. Most mosques have a dome on the outside which is important in hotter countries because it allows the air to flow around the building more easily. But its main purpose in this country is to make the voice louder when someone is speaking and it also becomes a distinctive feature of the mosque. To Muslims the shape of the dome represents God and the eternity of life. It also shows the significance of Allah compared to the size of us as it represents Allah creator of the universe looking down on us. In the mosque that we visited there was no dome or minaret because it was a converted hotel this also means that the call to prayer (adhan) was made within the mosque and was loud enough to be heard no matter where you were in the mosque.  

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     Every Mosque must have somewhere for Muslims to wash themselves before going to pray. Big mosques perhaps in other countries may have a large open-air pool or water fountain. But in this country and in the smaller mosques there tends to be small bathroom facilities and sometimes there is a cloakroom. Muslims must always have somewhere to put their shoes because they have to take them off before entering the mosque to stop dirt and dust entering the holy building. On our visit to Bournemouth mosque we noticed that there was a small room to put your shoes ...

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