A Visit to a Mosque

Theology I have been a member of the Catholic Church my entire life. Although I have often taken time to reflect on my reliance, never once have I made an attempt to explore a religion aside from my own. Recently, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and was prosperous enough to vi twit a mosque. A mosque is a place of latria for followers of Islam, or one who is Islamic. There be a plenty of services I could have visited to experience a new religion, apiece with their own identity.The reason I ultimately chose o visit a mosque is because Islamics believe all life begins and ends with God, as do l. However, unlike Catholics, the Islamic religion does non believe the Nazarene Christ to be the word of honor of God, nor that he was crucified on the cross. My goal was to gain a better brain of the beliefs Catholics and Muslims sh be, how they differ, and why. The experience was refreshing, and I flavour as though I left-hand(a) the mosque with solid answers to my questions , and a new outlook on my own faith. The mosque I visited, called the Mosque Foundation, is located in Bridgeview, Illinois.Although there argon mosques shorter in distance from my home, I was told the experience would prove to be better at this come aparticular mosque. When depression walking in, I observed many people gathered in the hallways visiting and conversing with one a nonher. After a short time, the women proceeded down stairs and the men stayed upstairs near the main entrance. One woman was tender enough to explain to me the events taking place. Men and women separate to take part in Salat, or prayer. Because the prayer ritual requires putting ones forehead to the ground, garment are emoved and placed on shelves.Every woman was dressed modestly and wore a veil/ scarf c everyplaceing their cop. While many people are aware that Muslim women wear this garment on their heads, perhaps what is not known is that this is a religious practice. Many Muslims believe God requir es the hair to be covered, as this is stated in the Quran (what Muslims believe to be His lowest book). I sat on a chair in the mainstay to watch 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 salah, one moldiness be in a state of ritual purity. The salat itself is of spectacular importance to Muslims because it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars of Islam are five elementary 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 times a day. . Sawm- abstinence and self- control during Ramadan. 4. Zakat- giving 2. 5% of ones saving s 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 varied parts of the Rakat consist of bowing low with the hands on the knees, bring down oneself to the ground with the forehead and sitting with the feet folded under the body.The actual prayer lasts for slight 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 a splurge Islam. He knew I was of the Catholic faith, thus the volume 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 wo rthy of worship except Him. Our entire invention in this life is to serve im.Muslims do love and venerate Jesus only 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 displace to the people of Israel to revive a ghostly connection with God. This is one very significant way Catholics differ from Muslims, because not only to we feel God gave the world Jesus as His son, provided 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 thrust birth to Jesus, though she was a virgin.The Imam was very adamant bout the fact that Muslims do not Judge others, nor impose their beliefs upon others. They do just feel that Imam is the right and only way one should live, and those that do not practice the right way will be sent to hell. Those who do not live as God wanted us to, especially those that have been shown the way and turned their back, will be punished. I asked how the Muslim faith feels about those that were never shown the way of God-perhaps a sept of some sort never connecting with the outside world- how does God palm them? I questioned how could they know if they were never taught?The answer I received was simple. The Muslims leave those pillowcase 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 defend a choice on how I serve God. I feel giving minimal attention and thanks to God is not adept 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 want 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 indifferent 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 original they will be rewarded. Perhaps we could all learn something from visiting a mosque once in our lives.