Mosque Visit
Friday, May 11, 2012
Religious Visit To A Mosque
This would be the second time I visited a mosque. The first time I had the chance to visit was with a government class I had taken in high school. The mosque were not alike, this mosque I visited this time was called Islamic Center of Des Moines located on 6201 Franklin Avenue in Des Moines. I had called the Mosque beforehand to find out the Muslim weekly service time is on Friday so I visited on Friday, May 6th at 1:30 p.m.
I had went with a friend who had little to no knowledge of this religion like myself. The mosque did not look like a mosque; it was just a building with minimal parking space. There were a ton of cars there, parked along the drive way and in the grass.
My friend and I weren’t very familiar with this religion except for the bits and pieces we know of the religion and what we learned in our previous religion classes. I remember being very nervous about what to wear, what to say, etc. I didn't know how conservative this mosque would be. It was a hot day outside, but as I was researching on the internet I saw that women were supposed to wear clothing that would cover everything but their feet and hands so I made we were both covered.
The service started at 1:45 PM. We arrived at 1:30 and got to speak a little bit with the some of the leaders there. The imam was there (or one of the mosque leaders, I can't remember), and there was a woman as well. They were extremely friendly, and I got hugs by both of them. The man was wearing an un-tucked, short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt. The woman was wearing a very colorful dress and hijab. They were very welcoming of us.
When we got inside we took off our shoes. There were bathrooms for men and women to perform ablutions (washing hands, etc.) I was expecting that I would also have to do ablutions or even wear a hat, but I did not. The service is divided into the men and women sections. I was directed inside and I got spot in the back of the room which I was
Religious Visit To A Mosque
This would be the second time I visited a mosque. The first time I had the chance to visit was with a government class I had taken in high school. The mosque were not alike, this mosque I visited this time was called Islamic Center of Des Moines located on 6201 Franklin Avenue in Des Moines. I had called the Mosque beforehand to find out the Muslim weekly service time is on Friday so I visited on Friday, May 6th at 1:30 p.m.
I had went with a friend who had little to no knowledge of this religion like myself. The mosque did not look like a mosque; it was just a building with minimal parking space. There were a ton of cars there, parked along the drive way and in the grass.
My friend and I weren’t very familiar with this religion except for the bits and pieces we know of the religion and what we learned in our previous religion classes. I remember being very nervous about what to wear, what to say, etc. I didn't know how conservative this mosque would be. It was a hot day outside, but as I was researching on the internet I saw that women were supposed to wear clothing that would cover everything but their feet and hands so I made we were both covered.
The service started at 1:45 PM. We arrived at 1:30 and got to speak a little bit with the some of the leaders there. The imam was there (or one of the mosque leaders, I can't remember), and there was a woman as well. They were extremely friendly, and I got hugs by both of them. The man was wearing an un-tucked, short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt. The woman was wearing a very colorful dress and hijab. They were very welcoming of us.
When we got inside we took off our shoes. There were bathrooms for men and women to perform ablutions (washing hands, etc.) I was expecting that I would also have to do ablutions or even wear a hat, but I did not. The service is divided into the men and women sections. I was directed inside and I got spot in the back of the room which I was