I never thought I would find myself anxious to enter into a space that I pass almost every week in my own hometown. Passing the ornate architecture and carefully drawn Arabic letters, I always imagined the Islamic Center to be some foreign place where a non-Muslim like myself would never be welcome. Like most things in life, my preconceived notions were not all what I experienced. As soon as I entered the green painted gates, I stepped into an open courtyard with various entrances. Everything was a light washed sandstone with very geometric designs carefully placed along the walls. The first person I met was librarian, Abassie. Sitting behind a desk in a little office inside one of the arched entrances, Abassie wore a long black robe (Thob) and a hat. I was still intimidated, afraid to upset some long upstanding Islamic tradition. But even past the cultural garb and gruff demeanor, I grew more accustomed to the feeling of being in someone else’s center of comfort and wisdom. So often as a Christian, I take for granted, the feeling of living in a society founded on principles that stem from the Christian tradition and here I was, a foreigner in my own country. It is somewhat difficult to explain the minute details of the masjid (mosque) and the people who shared in it because in some ways it is unlike anything I have ever been apart of but there was also an aspect of community that I witnessed that was not unlike my own experience.
One of the important things that Abassie said in his interview was that the Islamic Center was a transiet mosque, meaning that the people who come and pray usually don’t live around in the area and that the people who come and pray, are not necessarily “members” of that particular mosque. This adds tremendously to the diversity of the mosque and is apparent at any given time of the day in the masjid (mosque). The masjid is mainly designed to encourage and facilitate the worship of Allah, even though in Islam, the daily prayers can be conducted anywhere clean.
When I first stepped into the mosque, there was an incredible amount of reverance. The shelf of shoes indicated its emphasis on cleanliness while the silence in the masjid indicated its reverance. The inside was intricately desigend with Arabic letters, Turkish tiles, and an incredibly ornate rug with patterns that weaved along the entire floor. Because there are 6 prayers a day, each prayer has a designated time when the Imam gives the call to prayer. It was very close to the call to prayer and a man and his son walked in to be there in time for the prayer. His son, about 4 years old playfully ran about the mesjid and played on the beams that supported the roof of the mosque. His father, without paying any mind, assumed the prayer positions and began to pray.The child mimics his father with the same motions with the same reverance. Then like before, he jumps up and dances around the room. His prayer lasts 2 minutes while his father’s continues for 5 or 6 minutes.
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Salah
Salah is the Arabic word for prayer and is observed in most mosques 5 times a day. Each day there is call to prayer led by an Imam or whoever is well-versed in the Qur-an and is qualified to lead the prayer through a series of chants.
When I arrived the call to prayer was just begining. A man wearing a white Thob stood in the niche that indicated the direction of mecca. The call to prayer was a tonal chant that is very difficult to explain to someone who has never heard Arabic or a Norweigan yodel because it is a combination of the two. The fluctating sounds resonate throughout the entire masjid over a speaker system as people file in right on time. The mood is light as men stroll in laughing and patting each other on the back. And unlike some churches, there was no particular dress for prayer, since the majority of participants were coming straight from work. One man wears a full suit while another in khakis and an untucked shirt. In any other setting, the atmosphere right before prayer is like any other public meeting place. However, the mood is not shared by all as some walk in with purpose and assume the prayer position right away. What stood out to me the most was the transition between not praying and praying. In almost every church service that I have been to, there is a lead up to the prayer but here in the masjid, one could blink and the prayer would begin. In so few words, one might observe this if they were not expecting what was going on: walk-in, look around, talk with neighbor, find spot alone, cross arms, bow head, bend at waist, kneel with feet under butt, touch head to ground. This process happened so abruptly and casually that I could barely tell when people were praying or just standing around. Keep in mind this all takes place around the time for prayer call.
Once the call to prayer has been said for the last time, there is a great deal of urgency in every movement. Conversations wane and rows start to form with men all facing the niche. Utter silence. Only the rustle of pants and muted mutters can be heard in the room as masjid drastically transitions from a meeting area to a sacred space with one clear purpose: to worship Allah. Even after the reverant tone has been set by the final call to prayer, men still file in through the back and join in with the prayer motions, all in unison. The prayer leader chants in short intervals but each person’s lips move, some with whispers others just silence.
Where are the women?
Now its important to notice that the people that I have been talking about are strictly men. The prayer area for woman was designated by two large wooden panels and thin line of caution tape. Now being from such a politcally correct, flawless, progressive, Western, equality based society…I was suprised by the separation between male and female but even the women who quickly filed into the designated space did not seem phased by the segrgation.
Personal Commenatary: So often when I am exposed to a new cultural experience for the first time, I inevitably see it in terms of my own experience. And inevitably that narrow lens also separates things into right and wrong. i.e. I could see the sepration between man and women as inherently wrong because of the accepted norm that women should always be equal or seen as the same.
