Ritual Prayer (2)
The wording of the prayers follows established formulas of praise and obedience to God, such as this: “Glory be to Thee, O Allah, and blessed be Thy name and exalted Thy majesty. There is no deity to be worshipped but Thee. I seek the protection of Allah against the accursed Satan.” Another is this: “My Lord, forgive me. Bestow mercy upon me. Guide us right. Relieve me and absolve my sins.” Passages from the Koran, which many Muslims have memorized in its entirely, are also recited. The leader of the prayers is not a priest. His relationship with God is the same as that of the other worshipers and he has no special ritual or sacramental powers.
In large mosques, the leader may be an imam, an individual with religious training who is learned in the Koran and who, on Fridays, gives a sermon. The title Imam is the same as that used in Shiite Islam to mean the spiritual leader of the entire community. The level of knowledge, eloquence, and training of the leader varies according to the size and wealth of the mosque where the prayers are said. In a poor village, he may be no more than a local artisan who has had a few years of study at a religious school.
The Koran requires that the worshipers be clean in body as well as soul when praying. Ablution is prescribed, usually a symbolic sprinkling of water but always a full washing after sexual intercourse or a long illness. Most mosques have fountains or water taps where the worshipers may clean their hands and feet, again according to a prescribed ritual, before they enter the pray. The act of cleansing is traditionally performed with the left hand, leaving the right hand for eating and salutation. A mosque—masjid in Arabic—is not a church. God is no more present there than He is anywhere else. There is no altar, no tabernacle, no baptismal font, no statuary, no choir loft. A mosque is simply a building where the faithful gather to pray as a group. Because all men are equal before Allah, mosques have no reserved places or pews for dignitaries. As the worshipers arrive, they line up in rows behind the imam with no distinction by social class, wealth or race.
The first mosque was the courtyard of Muhammad’s house in Medina, the town to which he moved from Mecca when his prophetic message was rejected by his native city. According to Phillip Hitti, in Islam: A Way of Life, it was a quadrangular courtyard open to the sky, partially roofed with palm branches as protection from the sun. A palm stump served as a podium for Muhammad. Later it was replaced by an actual pulpit at the suggestion of a Muslim who had seen one in the Christian church. The quadrangular open area for the gathering of believers, and the pulpit, are still characteristic features of almost all mosques. In the early years of Islam, Muslims adapted places of worship from other religions for use as mosques. Zoroastrian temples in Persia and Christian churches in Syria were converted. The architectural variations increased in subsequent centuries as domes, porticoes, colonnades, and ornamentation were added to the basic configuration. The mosques of Islam are as diverse in style and elegance as the faith itself. In most mosques built by the Persians and the Turks, the main congregational area is roofed or domed. Other great mosques—Ibn Tulun in Cairo, the principal mosques in Mecca, Lahore, and Delhi—are open to the air, vast patios and devotion surrounded by enclosed porches where the faithful may rest or talk, seated on the rugs or mats that covers the floor. Traditionally the mosques have served the faithful as meeting hall, shelter, and library. Large mosques often contain space for religious school, madrasas, where the students are instructed in the Koran, religious law and Arabic.
Two features common to almost all mosques are the mihrab and the minaret. The mihrab is a niche or indentation in the wall indicating the direction of Mecca, toward which the believers face as they pray. The minaret, the tower from which faithful are called to prayer, is the universal architectural symbol of Islam. Minarets vary as greatly in material, height, and style as the mosques from which they rise. In the Arabian peninsula, a village mosque may have a single unadorned cylindrical tower. A great Turkish-style mosque, such as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul or the mosque of Muhammad Ali that dominates the skyline of Cairo, will have multiple pencil-shaped minarets. Whatever the style, the minaret is to the eye what the call of Allahu Akbar is to the ear: a universal link in the chain of faith and culture that binds all Muslims. The construction of mosques may be financed by governments, charitable organizations, or individuals. The person or group that finances the construction of a mosque often pays for its upkeep as well. In a poor country such as Egypt, where the government’s resources are limited and the mosques overcrowded, a certain shabbiness characterizes the state-run mosques, while those endowed by the wealthy are often spotless and handsomely landscaped. The arrangements for building and maintaining mosques and for paying the salaries of those who work at religious institutions vary from country to country. Frequently the degree of political docility of the imams and theologians is a function of their financial dependence on the state. (One source of the political power of the Iranian Mullahs who helped overthrow the Shah was their financial, and therefore political, independence of the government.)
Except for the Shiite mosque at Karbala in Iraq, a unique shrine where the mirror-glass interior walls seem to amplify the zealous frenzy of the pilgrims, most of the mosques were marked by a cool, restful atmosphere conducive to prayer and contemplation. At Cairo’s al-Azhar, at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, and at the great mosque in Delhi, the tranquility and peace offer physical and spiritual relief from the turmoil of the surrounding bazaars, and the Muslim can find the dignity and social equality that may not be his in the world outside. It is customary to doff the shoes upon entering a mosque, and the function of the mosque as social and economic leveler, a place where all are equal in the sight of God, can be seen in the racks of footwear outside any mosque in Cairo or Alexandria. Battered sandals, army boots, and polished pumps are aligned side by side as their owners—separated in daily life by a vast economic and social gulf—worship together as one congregation.
The wording of the prayers follows established formulas of praise and obedience to God, such as this: “Glory be to Thee, O Allah, and blessed be Thy name and exalted Thy majesty. There is no deity to be worshipped but Thee. I seek the protection of Allah against the accursed Satan.” Another is this: “My Lord, forgive me. Bestow mercy upon me. Guide us right. Relieve me and absolve my sins.” Passages from the Koran, which many Muslims have memorized in its entirely, are also recited. The leader of the prayers is not a priest. His relationship with God is the same as that of the other worshipers and he has no special ritual or sacramental powers.
In large mosques, the leader may be an imam, an individual with religious training who is learned in the Koran and who, on Fridays, gives a sermon. The title Imam is the same as that used in Shiite Islam to mean the spiritual leader of the entire community. The level of knowledge, eloquence, and training of the leader varies according to the size and wealth of the mosque where the prayers are said. In a poor village, he may be no more than a local artisan who has had a few years of study at a religious school.
The Koran requires that the worshipers be clean in body as well as soul when praying. Ablution is prescribed, usually a symbolic sprinkling of water but always a full washing after sexual intercourse or a long illness. Most mosques have fountains or water taps where the worshipers may clean their hands and feet, again according to a prescribed ritual, before they enter the pray. The act of cleansing is traditionally performed with the left hand, leaving the right hand for eating and salutation. A mosque—masjid in Arabic—is not a church. God is no more present there than He is anywhere else. There is no altar, no tabernacle, no baptismal font, no statuary, no choir loft. A mosque is simply a building where the faithful gather to pray as a group. Because all men are equal before Allah, mosques have no reserved places or pews for dignitaries. As the worshipers arrive, they line up in rows behind the imam with no distinction by social class, wealth or race.
The first mosque was the courtyard of Muhammad’s house in Medina, the town to which he moved from Mecca when his prophetic message was rejected by his native city. According to Phillip Hitti, in Islam: A Way of Life, it was a quadrangular courtyard open to the sky, partially roofed with palm branches as protection from the sun. A palm stump served as a podium for Muhammad. Later it was replaced by an actual pulpit at the suggestion of a Muslim who had seen one in the Christian church. The quadrangular open area for the gathering of believers, and the pulpit, are still characteristic features of almost all mosques. In the early years of Islam, Muslims adapted places of worship from other religions for use as mosques. Zoroastrian temples in Persia and Christian churches in Syria were converted. The architectural variations increased in subsequent centuries as domes, porticoes, colonnades, and ornamentation were added to the basic configuration. The mosques of Islam are as diverse in style and elegance as the faith itself. In most mosques built by the Persians and the Turks, the main congregational area is roofed or domed. Other great mosques—Ibn Tulun in Cairo, the principal mosques in Mecca, Lahore, and Delhi—are open to the air, vast patios and devotion surrounded by enclosed porches where the faithful may rest or talk, seated on the rugs or mats that covers the floor. Traditionally the mosques have served the faithful as meeting hall, shelter, and library. Large mosques often contain space for religious school, madrasas, where the students are instructed in the Koran, religious law and Arabic.
Two features common to almost all mosques are the mihrab and the minaret. The mihrab is a niche or indentation in the wall indicating the direction of Mecca, toward which the believers face as they pray. The minaret, the tower from which faithful are called to prayer, is the universal architectural symbol of Islam. Minarets vary as greatly in material, height, and style as the mosques from which they rise. In the Arabian peninsula, a village mosque may have a single unadorned cylindrical tower. A great Turkish-style mosque, such as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul or the mosque of Muhammad Ali that dominates the skyline of Cairo, will have multiple pencil-shaped minarets. Whatever the style, the minaret is to the eye what the call of Allahu Akbar is to the ear: a universal link in the chain of faith and culture that binds all Muslims. The construction of mosques may be financed by governments, charitable organizations, or individuals. The person or group that finances the construction of a mosque often pays for its upkeep as well. In a poor country such as Egypt, where the government’s resources are limited and the mosques overcrowded, a certain shabbiness characterizes the state-run mosques, while those endowed by the wealthy are often spotless and handsomely landscaped. The arrangements for building and maintaining mosques and for paying the salaries of those who work at religious institutions vary from country to country. Frequently the degree of political docility of the imams and theologians is a function of their financial dependence on the state. (One source of the political power of the Iranian Mullahs who helped overthrow the Shah was their financial, and therefore political, independence of the government.)
Except for the Shiite mosque at Karbala in Iraq, a unique shrine where the mirror-glass interior walls seem to amplify the zealous frenzy of the pilgrims, most of the mosques were marked by a cool, restful atmosphere conducive to prayer and contemplation. At Cairo’s al-Azhar, at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, and at the great mosque in Delhi, the tranquility and peace offer physical and spiritual relief from the turmoil of the surrounding bazaars, and the Muslim can find the dignity and social equality that may not be his in the world outside. It is customary to doff the shoes upon entering a mosque, and the function of the mosque as social and economic leveler, a place where all are equal in the sight of God, can be seen in the racks of footwear outside any mosque in Cairo or Alexandria. Battered sandals, army boots, and polished pumps are aligned side by side as their owners—separated in daily life by a vast economic and social gulf—worship together as one congregation.
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I found one website wherein five pillars of islam information is updated - fivepillarsofislam I think you should add it in your website as well
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