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ADAMS
Center by Kareva Shipman |
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I had the great opportunity to meet Rahima Ullah for prayer at the Masjid (Mosque) that she faithfully attends named the A.D.A.M.S center (All Dulles Area Muslim society.) This large Mosque sits in a private area in Sterling, VA. and resembles a private school from the outside of the building. As I walked inside I noticed that there wasn’t much decoration and besides the notices and personal ads on the bulletin board the walls appeared bare, but I still felt this strong since of warmth and peacefulness as I stood in the center of the lobby. While standing in the lobby I immediately noticed five clocks placed on the wall in front of me, each clock set with different times of the day. Muslims pray five times a day so each clock represented the five daily prayers, which are the Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha. As I received a tour of the building I began to notice that the A.D.A.M.S center is much like a school and has similarities such as offices, classrooms, library, break room and a gym. As I continued to walk around the building, observing the atmosphere I noticed that all males were not covered, but all females were dressed in loose fitted clothing, covered from head to toe only revealing their faces and hands. Muslim women cover up out of respect for the religion because they understand that wearing fitted clothing and showing off their bodies causes distractions, and covering up also helps to avoid jealousy between the women of the mosque because they all are dressed the same. For the first forty -five minutes Rahima explained the Quran and the five pillars of Islam. The five pillars is the foundation of the Islamic religion which are the testimony of faith, five daily prayers, Ramadan (mandatory fasting,) Hajj (required charity,) and pilgrimage. I also learned that Muslims always face towards the northeast when praying to Allah and that all people even children came participate in prayer, but women must always stay behind the men when praying. They do this because it is a Muslim requirement that men lead prayer. Women can lead prayer, but when there are only women present. I spent the last fifteen minutes observing prayer and before prayer begins there is a call to worship and shoes must be removed from the feet before entering the prayer room. The Imam (Muslim that has extensive knowledge of the religion) stands in front of a beautifully decorated pulpit that is shaped liked a ½ circular dome to lead the prayer, which is stated only in the Arabic language. The rest of the Muslims began praying by standing in silence and crossing their hands upon their chest. Each time the Imam says “Allahoo Akbar” which means “God is great!” the praying position is changed and the hands are then placed on the knees. The last position is kneeling on the floor with their foreheads touching the ground and their arms are stretched out in front of them. These different positions are repeated until the prayer has ended. The Muslim religion is very interesting to me because I come from a much simpler, Christian background. I believe that this religion consists of very serious, dedicated people and I say this because there are so many requirements and guidelines. There are restrictions on food, dress requirements, mandatory prayer and there is also a certain way to pray as explained previously. I do not feel that these restrictions are negative, but I feel that they can be overwhelming at times because my religion allows people to pray when desire, eat what you want and the dress code is come as you are. |
| Created by Laura Ellen Shulman |
Last updated: October 26, 2003
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