Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome.
Note: Anyone who wants to share prayer requests or joys and concerns is welcome to. It is not necessary to discuss the diary topic. I recently ran across the above chart "How To Respect Other Religions." I noticed #8 on the chart was "Experience How Others Worship." I had never attended a non-Christian worship service, but I had always wanted to. So I did an internet search, found a local Mosque, and I attended their Friday prayer service.
I didn't know and still don't know a lot about Islam. I had no idea what to expect. I did email the Mosque ahead of time to ask when their prayer services were and explain I'd never been to a Muslim worship service before. I got back one of the nicest replies I've ever received from a place of worship. I was told they would love to have me worship with them. They informed me the service consisted of a 30 minute sermon followed by a 5 minute group prayer. I was welcome to participate in the group prayer or I could sit and observe. I had a very positive experience. The people were very kind and peaceful. The worship was as follows. When you entered, you took off your shoes. People sat on the carpet (I assume facing Mecca). Also, men and women sat in different rows. Women wore a scarf over their head. The sermon topic was how Allah is the most compassionate, most merciful, and forgiving God ever. There were parables given about people who had done terrible deeds, but Allah would forgive them. It doesn't matter what you have done - you can be forgiven. There was a focus on how much parents love and forgive their children, and if parents are this loving how much more so is Allah. The sermon also focused on the importance of doing your prayers and showing kindness and charity to others. If you replaced Allah with Jesus or God, that sermon could have been given in many Christian churches. If you substituted God for Allah, I assume that sermon could have been given in most Synagogues. The sermon message was simple atonement theology and the importance of prayer and good works. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet and they hold Jesus in very high regard. If Jesus is mentioned during a prayer service, they always follow it with "and may his name be praised." They just don't believe in the deity of Christ. They believe Muhammad was the last and greatest of the prophets and try to emulate the life Muhammad lived. The first pillar of Islam is the testimony of faith "there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger (Prophet) of God." After the sermon, there was a 5-10 minute prayer. The prayer was in Arabic so I didn't understand a word. During the prayer, people sometimes knelt forward, sometimes put their head on the ground, and other times stood up. I had no idea what to do when, but they did so I simply followed what everyone else did. After the prayers, there were announcements and the service concluded. They didn't pass an offering basket. There was an offering basket on the table, but they didn't advertise it or mention it during the announcements. I had planned to give a small donation on the way out, but unfortunately I forgot. There doesn't appear to be any clergy in Islam. Anyone who is considered knowledgeable enough is welcome to give the sermon and lead the prayers. Also, it was obvious nobody is going to try and proselytize you. There was no visitor card, no attempt to get visitors contact information. I reflected afterward. As I said, that sermon could have been given in many churches and synagogues. I wondered why there was so much misunderstanding and war? In her book Islam Karen Armstrong says no religion is as misunderstood and feared as Islam. In her book, she shows Islam is actually a very peaceful and non-violent religion but expounding on that is beyond the scope of this diary.