
Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Other Mosques Nearby
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Mosque - Types of Mosques
Mosque - The first Mosques
The first mosque in the world was the Masjid Al Haram around the Ka'bah in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The first mosque in Medina, a city north of Makkah, was the house of the Prophet Muhammad, Masjid al-Nabawi, to which the followers of Muhammad had withdrawn in 622. The reconstructions of Muhammad's house show a large courtyard containing a relatively small house. After many worshippers complained about the heat of the midday sun, Muhammad had a row of palm trunks erected on one side of the courtyard and a roof of palm fronds laid between the columns and the outer wall, creating a shaded prayer space. He himself stood at one end of this simple arcade to preach.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Mosque - Functions
are commanded to offer prayer (salah) five times a day: before sunrise (fajr), at midday (dhuhr), in the afternoon (asr), at sunset (maghrib), and in the evening (isha'a). Although Muslims are not required to offer prayer inside a mosque, it is considered seventy times better to offer prayer in congregation at a mosque than to offer it alone.
In addition to holding the five ordinary daily prayers, mosques hold Friday prayers (Arabic transliteration: jumu'ah). While the ordinary daily prayers can be performed at any location, it is required that all teenage and adult men attend Friday prayers at the mosque. During the month of Ramadan, tarawih prayers are usually offered in major Sunni mosques. These prayers, which can last for up to two hours each night, result in the entire Qur'an being recited within the holy month. However, these prayers are only recommended in Sunni Islam and non-existent in Shi'a Islam. Other special prayers offered at the mosque include the funeral prayers (Arabic transliteration:janazah) and Eid prayers offered in commemoration of the two Islamic festivals, Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Both the funeral prayers and Eid prayers are traditionally held outdoors in a large courtyard. Some mosques, especially those in less favorable climates, will offer Eid prayers indoors in the same location as the five daily prayers. However, funeral prayers may not be held in the same location as the daily prayers, and thus they are held outside or in another area regardless of the climate.
Before the five required daily prayers, a muezzin calls the worshippers to prayer from the minaret (Arabic transliteration:manara). Although, the call to prayer (adhan) is not required, nearly every mosque practices it as it is a recommended practice or sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad.
Mosque - Other functions
Mosques are not meant solely for the purpose of prayer. Mosques are also community centers, places where Muslims are able to gather for social activities. During Ramadan, mosques will host iftar dinners where Muslims can break their fasts. Large mosques will often host dinners and other events where politicians and important Islamic scholars are invited to speak. Many mosques will have offer classes for those interested in learning more about Islam; Arabic and Qur'anic recitation classes are commonplace at mosques outside Arabic-speaking countries. Full-time schools for students in elementary school, and sometimes in high school, can be found at some mosques in countries where Muslims are not the majority and students are unable to get an Islamic education in state-funded schools. Some mosques will even have recreational facilities, such as basketball courts, or medical facilities to help promote the mosque as a place where the community can come together.
Appearance of Mosques
Because prayer must be preceded by ritual purification, mosques often have ablution fountains or other facilities for washing in their entryways or courtyards. However, worshippers at very small mosques often have to use restrooms to perform their ablutions. In traditional mosques, this function is often elaborated into a freestanding building in the center of a courtyard.
Because cleanliness is very important inside the mosque, nearly all mosques prohibit worshippers from entering the carpeted prayer hall with shoes on. Thus, foyers with shelves to put shoes and racks to hold coats are commonplace among mosques. To add to this cleanliness and purity of the mosques, many mosques do not admit non-Muslims into the buildings. However, Western mosques in countries where Muslims are not the majority are more likely to allow non-Muslims to enter mosques and attend mosque functions in an attempt to show openness.
The actual mosque, the prayer hall, has no furniture. Unlike in most other places of worship, images of spiritual figures or other animals cannot be found in mosques as Islam prohibits the association of other figures with God. Instead, mosques will often have Arabic calligraphy and verses from the Qur'an on the walls. Mosques generally have at least one large dome over the center of the prayer area. Very large mosques will also have a forest of columns arranged in a grid pattern throughout the prayer area. Most mosques will have at least one minaret, or tall spire, from which the muezzin issues the call to prayer. Larger mosques will have two or more minarets simply for appearance.
Mosque - The qibla wall
Usually opposite the entrance, the qibla wall is the visually emphasized area inside the prayer hall. The qibla wall should, in a properly oriented mosque, be set perpendicular to a line leading to Mecca, the location of the Ka'bah. The faithful kneel in rows parallel to the qibla wall and thus have arrange themselves so they face Mecca. In the qibla wall, usually at its center, is the mihrab, a niche or depression indicating the qibla wall. Usually the mihrab is not occupied by furniture either, unlike with the altars of Christian churches. Sometimes, especially during Friday prayers, a raised minbar or pulpit is located to the side of the , or pulpit for Friday sermons (qutba), it is to the side of the mihrab. Regularly, the mihrab serves as the location where the imam leads the five daily prayers.
Pakistan Mosques



