Jummah:
Jummah is read every Fridays at midday. If you want to read Jummah, you have to read it with jamaat. If you are praying on your own, then you cannot read Jummah but you can read Zuhr. A mosque would read Jummah every week. This is usually held in the prayer hall.
Funeral Prayer:
Some mosques may be used for funeral prayers. The funeral will normally take place in the prayer hall, where the men pray. Only men would be allowed to come to the funeral. There would be a separate place for the women to look at the body.
Taraweeh:
During Ramadan, Muslims read a special prayer at the mosque. The imam leading the Taraweeh has to finish the Qur’an in thirty days. There be twenty Taraweeh a day. This is usually held in the prayer hall.
Eid Prayer:
After Ramadan, Eid comes and all the men in the house have to go to the mosque early in the morning to read Eid prayer. This is usually held in the prayer hall, with the imam leading it.
Library:
In various mosques, there might be a library for children and adults. The mosque builds this library so children and adults can come and read books about Islam, especially children who hang on the streets or stay at home, in front of the television.
Arabic classes:
In a few, there are usually Arabic classes for people who want to learn Arabic and its meaning. This class can be held anywhere in the mosque. This class might be held everyday or twice a week.
Teaching of the Qur’an
Within the mosque, they’re always a room where children go and learn how to read the Qur’an. This room is usually called a Madrassa. Usually, the imam of the mosque teaches these children. The children frequently begin at the age of 5 or 6.
Talks:
Every week or every day, the imam of the mosque will give a talk to people after praying a salah. This talk might be in Urdu or English and will be regarding Islam. This talk will regularly be held in the Prayer hall.
Eid Prayer:
I believe that this is important because you can only read Eid prayer in a jammat, which has to be lead by an imam. Without these things, you cannot read the Eid prayer.
Arabic classes:
I think that this is vital because this gives the chance of people not just to learn the Arabic, but also to understand it and know the meaning of it. An imam or a person who is trained to do it teaches these to people.
Sports Facilities:
A number of mosques might have sports facilities for children and adults. These sports services might be held outside of the mosque or a special room made in the mosque. These sports facilities will encourage children to come to the mosque instead of hanging on the streets or at home in front of the television.
The mosque is situated at the end of Islamabad, close to the Margalla Hills. The mosque is dedicated to the memory of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia who graciously donated the cost of the project as a gift to the people of Pakistan.
The mosque at its beginning was the mosque of the newly formed Islamic nation and was intended to symbolize the hopes and aspiration of Pakistan. The Turkish architect, Vedat Dalokay's design was very unique and outstanding.
Dalokay looked to modern as well as medieval Islamic design principals to design something which best reflected the people's desire. Instead of traditional domes which are found on most mosques, the main prayer hall is an eight faceted concrete covering representative of a desert tent. An impressive engineering feat, the shell reaches a height of 131'- 3" (40m) and is supported on four giant concrete girders. The surface is faced in white marble and decorated inside with mosaics and a spectacular Turkish style. The hall can accommodate 10,000 Muslims.
The mosque is in the middle of four tall minarets measuring 300' - 0" (90m).
The entry is from the east and is preceded by a main courtyard with covered entrance. The covered entrance can accommodate 24,000 Muslims while the courtyard can provide extra space for 40,000 people.
The International Islamic University was built under the main courtyard. The University is currently in the process of moving to a new site that was launched in 2000.
The Design of a Mosqueqe3r
Some mosques might have all External and Internal features below. Some mosques might have some of them.
External Features:
You would not probably recognize a mosque in a non-Muslim country from the outside because mainly houses are converted into mosques. You might probably recognize one or two mosques from the outside because they might have a Dome, a Minaret and a Crescent and Star symbol on top of the dome. The mosque which I have chosen has a unique design of a dome because it is more of a triangle shape than a dome.
The Dome:
The Dome is an important feature in the Middle East because Islam came from the Middle East and the climate there is very hot there and the dome allows the air to circulate. The Dome also allows the human voice to amplify. As you can see below the done is shown below of the Faisal mosque in Pakistan, it is very unfamiliar to the other domes compared to other mosques around the world.
The Star and the Crescent:
Some mosques will have a star and a crescent on top of the Dome and on top of the Minaret. This is because the five-pointed star and the crescent is the symbol of Islam. This symbol can also been seen on Flags and stamps from many Muslim countries, but as you can see of the Fasial masjid it has not got a star, I has a pointed stick coming out of the roof this is probably the special design the architects gave it when making the mosque.
The Minaret:
The minaret is a tall tower on top of the mosque, or in this case it is on the 4 sides. In hot countries, the Muezzin climbs to the top the minaret to do the Adhan. He does these 5 times a day:
(Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Magrib and Isha).
The minaret is like an alarm clock for the people living in that area because whenever they can hear the Adhan, they always know that it is Salah time. Now, they tend to use speakers so the Adhan can be heard as far as possible.
A Car Park:
Usually a mosque will have a car park outside the mosque, so the people who come to the mosque to perform salah can park their car there. It is very common in a mosque to have a car park because many people come to the mosque with their cars, when the car park is present it is easy for the Muslim to pray and park easily.
Internal features
The Prayer Hall:
This is the most important part of a mosque. This is where men gather together to pray to Allah. This room might be a disappointment to visitors because this is only one plain large room used for prayer. In hot countries, this might be a large open courtyard.
Faisal Mosque has the large prayer which can fit a few thousand of people inside and it also has some other space for other people in the courtyard etc to pray as well, it is a very big mosque in terms of containing a large amount of worshippers.
The Women’s Worship area:
Women do not have to attend he mosque to pray but sometimes their family responsibilities will prevent to do so. If they do attend the mosque, they will pray separate from the men. This is because then each other do not distract them. Often there might be a balcony in the men’s’ prayer hall. Usually men will not be able to see through this because it will have curtains on, which will be closed.
In Faisal Mosque it is a similar to the other mosques which have this access to the woman; it has got space for the women bit most of it is used to accommodate men who are the people who visit the mosque a little more then the females.
Washing Facilities:
In nearly all the mosques I have been to in my life has some sort of washing area even the smallest of the small have it to. They are very important to have this area because people can come from places without any wudu and they can not be clean.
Carpeting:
This is another feature which is common in all mosques maybe except the large mosques like the Prophets Mosque it is mainly covered with marble because of the large surface area.
It helps the worshippers put themselves in a straight line towards the Kaa’bah to pray to Allah. It also gives them comfort to pray and heats the masjid floor a small amount by stopping a little of the heat from escaping the masjid.
Usually on carpets they have a special printed design like a normal prayer which is attached to the neat mat and so on. An example of this is shown below:
Mirab:
This is present in May large masjid’s some don’t have this maybe because they cannot afford, after all most of the mosque’s now days are mainly big houses. This is like a sort of massive dent in the wall and it shows which way the Kibla is. It also amplifies the Imams voice when he speaks because of its shape.
The Mimbar:
He only piece of furniture, which is required in the prayer hall, is the Mimbar. This is like a chair with three steps. A person would stand on the first step on Fridays at the midday sermon, so he would be heard and seen by the people listening to him.
Decorations:
Some mosques are decorated with very beautiful intricate patterns some mosques are just plain. Whatever mosque it is, they cannot have any statues or any pictures at all. Islam teaches us that Allah is too great to be portrayed by human hands, and therefore forbids any images of him. Usually, the patterns on the mosques wall often take the form of beautiful writing (calligraphy) of the passages from the Qur’an.
Windows:
Usually, most mosques have small or no windows. This is because if a person is reading salah near a window, then he/she will get distracted with the stuff outside. If a mosque does have windows, then they will tend to be small and hard to see through. The Faisal mosque however has windows but they situated in places away from the people to distract them from the outside etc.
Also when the light is blocked of it gives a slight atmosphere that there is a little isolation within the room only for one thing, prayer.
(Conclusion)
So far I have explained many things; I have explained the features in a mosque externally and internally.
I have also explained the role of a mosque and what it is used for inside except for praying, I have also explained what the mosque is used for in the community.
Now I will be coming towards the last section of my coursework which will explain and talking about the topic of going to a mosque and being a good Muslim.
Firstly I will introduce to you what a good Muslim is like and what are his/her actions as a Muslim, then talk about what did the Prophet and Quran say about the mosques and attendance etc.
What is a good Muslim like?
A good Muslim will try and keep himself and other people away from bad things:
- Stealing
- Looking at pornography
- Swearing
- Back biting
- Lying to people
A good Muslim would and make people do good things:
- Read Salah 5 times a day
- Be kind
- Listening to their elders
- Respecting their parents
What do Allah and the Prophet say about going to the Mosque?
These are four Hadiths that the Prophet (saws) has said about people going to the Mosque:
“When you see a man frequenting the mosque, bear witness that he has faith.”
“Allah’s mosques are only visited by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day.”
“There are seven whom Allah will cover with His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His: a just imam, a young man who grows up worshipping Allah, a man whose heart is attached to the mosque from the time he leaves it till the time he returns to it….”
“If one goes out of his house to a stated prayer in a state of purity, his reward will the like that of a Hajj in ihram…”
Could someone not go to the Mosque but still be a good Muslim?
The mosque is a place where a Muslim is due to go their to pray if he doesn’t there is no use of building a mosque for the community. It is known that the Prophet once said that if one does not go to the mosque at Fajr time he would personally go to each and every house of those who don’t go and burn their houses with them inside. This shown the amount of stress the prophet put on the people to make them go to the masjid to get them use to doing them good deeds.
You will not only get the reward of going to the mosque you will also get the reward of traveling to the mosque, if you are walk you will get reward for every step you take to the masjid, this is proven by the following Hadith:
Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet (SAW) said:
"If anyone goes back and forth to the mosque [to attend the prayers], Allah will prepare for him a feast in paradise as often as he goes back and forth." This is related by Ahmad, Al-Bukhari, and Muslim.
So I think that a person that does have to go to the mosque to be a good practicing Muslim, because let’s say that person is ill or disabled or even lives far away from the mosque, even in this case it is advisable to go to the masjid.
There was once a blind man and he asked the Prophet that if hr should go to the mosque, the Prophet replied that “Do you hear the Azan” the man replied “yes”, so then the blind man under stood that he had to go to the masjid regardless of his situation.
That person could read the 5 Salah’s at home. He will be rewarded but not that much for a person who reads Salah at the mosque, with Jamaat. So I think that you should and it is advisable to go to the mosque if the person wants to get the extra reward. People may think going to the mosque to go and pray maybe become difficulty in the future, this person maybe wrong because when visiting the mosque several time you will get used to going to the mosque to perform salah and it will be something you will want to all the time.
So as a conclusion I give advice to the Muslim community to go the mosque because of the explanation I have stated above in this essay.
Bibliography
These are the following resources I used to collect my information, in order to complete this coursework I found the majority of the resources below (Internet related) by searching on Google and other search engines:
Internet
Books
- Islamic books
- Muslim Directory
- Religion in focus – Islam
