A Visit to a Mosque

Theology I have been a protrude of the Catholic Church my entire life. Although I have often taken time to reflect on my faith, neer erst have I made an attempt to explore a religion deflexion from my own. Recently, I stepped outside of my comfort z iodin and was fortunate enough to visit a mosque. A mosque is a place of piety for followers of Islam, or peerless who is Muslim. There are a multitude of run I could have visited to experience a new religion, each with their own identity.The reason I last chose o visit a mosque is because Muslims view in all life begins and ends with God, as do l. However, unlike Catholics, the Islamic religion does not believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, nor that he was crucified on the cross. My cultivation was to gain a better understanding of the beliefs Catholics and Muslims share, how they disaccord, and why. The experience was refreshing, and I feel as though I left the mosque with solid answers to my questions, and a new out look on my own faith. The mosque I visited, called the Mosque Foundation, is located in Bridgeview, Illinois.Although there are mosques shorter in distance from my home, I was told the experience would prove to be better at this particular mosque. When first walking in, I observed many passel gathered in the hall agencys tour and conversing with one another. After a short time, the women proceeded down stairs and the men stayed upstairs near the principal(prenominal) entrance. One woman was gracious enough to explain to me the events taking place. Men and women separate to take part in Salat, or ingathering. Because the prayer ritual requires putting ones forehead to the ground, shoes are emoved and placed on shelves.Every woman was dressed modestly and wore a veil/ scarf covering their hair. While many people are aware that Muslim women wear this garment on their heads, perhaps what is not k presentlyn is that this is a religious practice. Many Muslims believe God requires the hair to be covered, as this is stated in the Quran (what Muslims believe to be His final book). I sat on a chair in the gumption to chequer the group of women prays. I noticed there were a handful of girls sitting on chairs in the back as well, away from the group.It was explained to me that Muslim irls who are menstruating are not permitted to participate in prayer, as they are considered to be unclean. In order to practice traditional salat, one must be in a state of ritual purity. The salat itself is of great importance to Muslims because it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars of Islam are phoebe bird basic acts that are mandatory of Muslims and are considered to be the foundation of Muslim life. The pillars are as follows 1 . Shahadah- declaring there is no God except God, and Muhammad is Gods messenger. 2 .Salat-a ritual prayer done five quantify a day. . Sawm- fasting and self- control during Ramadan. 4. Zakat- giving 2. 5% of ones savings to the poor. 5. HaJJ- Pilgrimage to the Mecca at least once in lifetime if he/she is able to do so. The Muslim faith pray five times a day. The actual salat consists of a series of movements called Rakat. Verses are read aloud by a man over a loudspeaker and the movements are made. The movements, or different parts of the Rakat consist of motion low with the hands on the knees, lowering oneself to the ground with the forehead and sitting with the feet folded under the body.The actual prayer lasts for less than ten minutes. When the men and women were finished praying, I had a chance to sit down with the Imam, the one who lead the worship service. The Imams name was Khalid. Khalid welcomed me into his office and talked with me for over an hour about Islam. He knew I was of the Catholic faith, thus the majority of our conversation was spent discussing the differences between us. What I gathered from Khalid is that Muslims believe in one God, who created all, and nothing is worthy of worship except Him. Our entire purpose in this life is to serve im.Muslims do love and venerate Jesus save as a prophet and a messenger, not as the Son of God. They do not feel Jesus was slain on the cross. According to Khalid, Jesus was direct to the people of Israel to revive a spiritual connection with God. This is one very significant way Catholics differ from Muslims, because not only to we feel God gave the homo Jesus as His son, but we also worship Jesus and pray to him. Catholics also believe bloody shame to be the Mother of God. Muslims do believe Mary did indeed give birth to Jesus, though she was a virgin.The Imam was very adamant bout the particular that Muslims do not Judge others, nor impose their beliefs upon others. They do however feel that Imam is the right and only way one should live, and those that do not practice the right way pass on be displace to hell. Those who do not live as God wanted us to, especially those that have been shown the way and turned their back, wil l be punished. I asked how the Muslim faith feels about those that were never shown the way of God-perhaps a tribe of rough sort never connecting with the outside world- how does God treat them? I questioned how could they know if they were never taught?The answer I received was simple. The Muslims leave those type of questions to God, because only He knows the answer-but they do believe He will treat them fairly. The conversation I had with Khalid had me questioning my own fate. Certainly, I nave been shown the way. Even though I am Catholic, I like the Muslim taitn- teel as though our purpose is to serve God. This is what He wants us to do and why he put us here. My visit to the mosque made me realize that it is time to strive a choice on how I serve God. I feel giving minimal assistance and thanks to God is not good enough.Khalid opened my eyes when he said those who turned their backs will be punished. I would never turn my back, but I do need to make some small, achievable changes to feel right again with the Lord. I respect how loyal followers of Islam are. Even with the world changing rapidly, the apathetic attitude people have about religion, technology, temptation, etc. , the Muslim faith is stronger than ever, now the largest religion in the world. The reason they devote their lives to Islam is because they are certain they will be rewarded. Perhaps we could all learn something from visiting a mosque once in our lives.