First Impressions
Being a veteran of entering sacred Islamic centers, I was not as intimidated as I was when I first walked into the Dar Al Hijrah masjid in Falls Church. The exterior was not as complex and ornate as the Islamic Center on Mass. Ave. nor was it as looming as the Adams Center. The front was not decorative with Arabic writing but it still had a presence of reverence and importance.
The Imam who I met with, Imam Johari, was very welcoming and incredibly informative. He to, wore a Thob but also a bright orange blanket that made him seem king-like. However, he made sure to let me know that the blanket was for personal comfort and warmth rather than for some sacred tradition. As we walked around the mosque, Imam Johari pointed out some key details about the masjid; its name, its origin, its architecurtal strucure. He assumed that I knew nothing, which I did, and made sure to talk slow and point out things that as normal as they were for him, seemed foreign to me.
“Dar…Hijrah”
Dar means place which makes sense and is not difficult to understand but Hijrah is a very intersting concept. Not only is it the migration of the
prophet Muhammad to Medina, but it is the official establishment of Islam. What makes the name intersting is that in 1981, students founded the masjid because they had no place to worship and the “place of Hijrah” was where they were free practice their religion much like the prophet himself.
What was so intersting to me was how purposeful everything was in the masjid. There was meaning in every little detail from the rows on the carpet to the location of the niche (Meharajab). Before entering the masjid, there is an area off to the side that looks like a regular tile bathroom but even this sanitary space carried more meaning than a simple restroom area. Wudu is the 
cleansing process that Muslims undergo before entering the masjid or begining their prayers. There is a strict process of washing the feet, hands, ears, and face in order to be considered clean and acceptable to enter the masjid. Cleanliness is one thing that every masjid has emphasized. The carpets have lines from being recently vacuumed and there is always a shelf accesible for shoe removal.
The masjid had a sense of elegant simplicity: the domes, the arches, the way the sunlight filed in through the window, the geometric designs. The room for prayer was peaceful and welcoming rather than ominous and intimidating like the santuaries of large churches.
And we sat there, cross-legged in the middle of this beautiful but simple room and Imam Johari taught me some of the key aspects of Islam and what it means to live as a Muslim.
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