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 about Islam. This talk will usually be held in the Prayer hall.
I think 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.
I think that this is important 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.
Which of these uses are IMPORTANT?
This is very important because without this happening in a mosque, a mosque is not a mosque. A mosque would be incomplete and no one would come to it. Then would read at home instead, so the prayer hall is very important.
Jummah prayer in a mosque is very important because a mosque will do jummah prayer every week. If the mosque has 5 times a day jamaat, then the mosque will definitely hold jummah prayers. This is important because this only comes once a week.
- Teaching of the Qur’an – Madrassa:
I think that this is important because by teaching the children the Qur’an, you are spreading Islam. When the children become adults, they are going to spread Islam the way they were taught by the people at the Madrassa, so teaching children is very important.
I think that this is important because then adults who don’t know much about Islam can learn. This talk might be given in Urdu and English, depending on if the adults listening understand Urdu or English.
Which of these uses are NOT important?
- Funeral Prayer – Janazah:
I think that this is not important because this does not have to be held inside a mosque. The funeral prayer can be held anywhere, as long as the place where it will be held is clean and you are facing the Ka’bah.
(E.g. – a community centre).
I think that this is not important because if there where sports facilities at the mosque, it would encourage children to come to the mosque, but they would come to the mosque only to play. I think that when it would be salah time, they would run out of the mosque.
“A Muslim community does not
Need a Mosque?”
By doing the uses of a mosque, I have enough information to support or reject the hypothesis above.
I think that a Muslim community does need a mosque because than it brings all the Muslims living in that community together in one place, to worship Allah.
Also, if Muslims read salah together in a mosque with jamaat, then they would gain 27 times more swaab (good deeds) from Allah. It would also encourage people and children to learn about Islam and than spreading it to the rest of the world.
Without a mosque in a community, the children would be on the streets taking drugs and causing crimes, which takes them to jail. So a mosque in a community is very important.
The Design of a Mosque
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 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.
- 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.
The five-pointed star symbolises the Five Pillars of Islam
The moon and star are signs to Muslims of the greatness of the Creator.
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The minaret is a tall tower on top of the mosque. In hot countries, the Muezzin climbs to the top the minaret to do the Adhan. He does this 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.
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. If a person wants to park there car and go
shopping, etc, then the mosque would usually charge them.
Internal Features:
This is the most important part of a mosque. This is where men gather together to pray to one God, 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.
- 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.
Before people enter the prayer hall to perform Salah, they have to take their shoes off at the entrance of the mosque. The mosque provides these racks themselves.
When people come to the mosque to perform salah, they often don’t have their wudu or break their wudu on the way to the mosque. If this occurs, than that person can do their wudu at the mosque. The washing facilities will be separate for the men and women. In hot countries, their washing facilities might be outside of the mosque.
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In the prayer hall, the floor will be carpeted, so a person performing salah will feel comfortable for him kneeling down and walking around in bare feet. On the carpet, will be prayer mats to perform salah on. The prayer mats will be laid in rows, facing the direction of the Ka’bah.
The prayer mat usually has an arch design on it. Usually, the imam has a separate prayer mat at the front of the prayer hall, in front of people. This is because he leads the Jamaat in the mosque.
A Mihrab is an alcove in a wall. Nearly every mosque will have one of these because this tells you where the Qibla is. If the Muslims face this when they pray, they will be facing the direction of the Ka’bah. It also serves the useful purpose of amplifying the voice of the imam, who leads the prayers, facing in the correct direction at the front of the room, with his back to the rest of the worshippers.
The 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.
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.
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.
Which parts of that design are IMPORTANT?
I think that the following parts of the mosque are important. Without these, a mosque would not be complete:
The Prayer Hall is important because this is the most important part of a mosque.
Without this, a mosque would not be a mosque because this is where Muslims
come.
I think this is important because people might be coming to the mosque and break their wudu on the way. If this happens, then they can still come to the mosque and do the wudu again at the mosque. If a mosque did not have this facility, then a lot of people would pray at home
I think that the carpeting is important because when people come to the mosque to perform salah, they can read salah in comfort. If a mosque did not have any carpeting, then people would read salah at home.
Which parts of that design are NOT important?
I think that the Dome of a mosque is not important because if a mosque does not have a Dome, then that mosque is still called a mosque. So the Dome is not really important.
I think that a mosque does not really need a minaret because the muezzin can read the adhan in the prayer room. That’s what people do in the UK. So the Minaret is not really important.
I think that a car park made by the mosque is not important because the people who come to the mosque to read salah, they can park their car on streets. So a mosque does not need to make a car park for the people to come to read salah at the mosque.
I think that a mosque does not need a Mimbar because on Fridays, the imam can do the Khutba standing up, extend on standing on a Mimbar. So a mosque does not really need a Mimbar.
A mosque does not really need a Mihrab because you can tell the direction of the
Ka’bah by the way the carpeting is set out. The front of the carpet will be facing the direction of the Ka’bah. Also, some houses that have been turned into mosques don’t have a Mihrab, so a Mihrab in a mosque is not important.
I think that decorations in a mosque are not really important because without decorations, a mosque will stay a mosque. It doesn’t matter how beautiful it is or not, so a mosque
does not need decorations.
“The Design of the Mosque is not
Important?”
In this section so far, I have been telling you about the External and Internal features of a mosque. With all the information I have now, I will support or reject the hypothesis above.
I think that I will reject the hypothesis above because I think that the design of the mosque is really not important. Only three things in a mosque are important and I have told you this above.
There is a Hadith of the Prophet (saws), which is:
“The best on earth is the mosque”.
The Prophet (saws) says that it doesn’t matter if the mosque is small, it doesn’t matter if the mosque is beautifully decorated, and it doesn’t matter if the mosque hasn’t got a dome. The Prophet (saws) says that the best place on earth is the mosque, so it doesn’t matter what kind of mosque it is, a mosque’s a mosque.
“You don’t need to go to the Mosque
To be a good Muslim”
In this coursework, I have tackled two sections, to get information, which will help me decide to support or reject the hypothesis above. But before that, I will answer two more questions, which will give me more information, which will give me more ideas to support or reject the hypothesis above.
What is a good Muslim like?
A good Muslim will try and keep himself and other people away from bad things:
- Stealing
- Looking at porn
- 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:
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“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?
I think that a person that does not go to the mosque can still be a Muslim because lets say that person is ill, or disabled or even lives far away from the mosque. He can still be a good Muslim by reading Salah at home. 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 can still be a good Muslim, even if you don’t go to the mosque.
“You don’t need to go to the Mosque
To be a good Muslim”
Now with the information I have collected during this coursework, I will make a decision of supporting or rejecting the hypothesis above.
I think that I will support the hypothesis above because like I said on the previous page, you can still be a good Muslim and not go to the mosque. The people who would do this are:
- A disabled person
- A sick person
- A person who lives far away from the mosque
So I think that you can be a good Muslim and not go to the mosque.
Glossary:
Bibliography
These are the following resources I used to collect my information, in order to complete this coursework:
- Invitation
- Islamic books
- Muslim Directory
- Religion in focus – Islam