The Grand Mosque

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Today was our last day of the Eid break. I am feeling a bit conflicted: I would love a few more days of vacation, but time goes so much faster when school is in session. I do know that after the things we did this week, there really isn’t any need to stay in Kuwait over any future breaks. Hello travel!

This morning we went to the Grand Mosque. It is the 7^th largest Mosque in the world. Our tour guide was an English woman who converted to Muslim and has lived here for 22 years. There must be something wrong with her, because I don’t think you could pay me enough to live here for that long. Today was the day that many of you have been waiting for: I wore a burka.

The family :)-

The wives. With attitude!

It was a very odd experience. On the one hand I felt like I was exactly like everyone else and that drove me nuts. On the other, I actually felt like I fit in here and that I could easily go out and about in public without being stared at, which was a complicated and comforting thought for me. A few people have been posting a cartoon that has a blonde woman in a bikini and a Muslim woman in an abaya (burka). They both have thought bubbles that comment on how the men in the other culture are so repressive of women. It’s all about your perspective. Don’t worry, I have no thoughts on converting.

The Grand Mosque

I have no idea what this says. It's on the outside of the building.

The courtyard. During busy times, such as Eid, this will be filled with rugs and prayer mats. Those wires you see in the picture are actually a sprinkler system. It is in place to keep them cool. There is also a parking garage below the Mosque. During Eid that is also filled with rugs and mats to help accommodate the people that come to pray.

Another area of the courtyard.

Those brown things on the left are for your shoes. We took our shoes off before we went in.

A door leading into the Mosque. The writing is in Arabic and are verses from the Koran.

As we toured the Mosque, we asked questions about various aspects of Islam and the set-up of the Mosque. For instance, the grand prayer hall holds about 10,000 people. Men only.

My view upon entering the grand prayer hall. The large tvs were bought for a lecture that was given with a powerpoint. The people decided to leave them where they were because they were so large. I think I counted 8. Also, the kibla is up in the front in that doorway - the arched area is the kibla.

The dome. Inside it are the 9 names of Allah. Maybe it was 99...drat. We weren't allowed to walk into the actual prayer area "due to construction." The construction was off to the far-right side of the room, where that white curtain is. Apparently we were not to be trusted to go inside the hall.

A closer look at one of many chandeliers.

Off to the left when we were looking in.

There is a separate, smaller, women’s prayer hall. The reason apparently has nothing to do with separating the sexes (or so she said). The people stand shoulder to shoulder, and at certain points they literally bow down on their knees. The guide said that the point of the prayer is to focus on it, and that men wouldn’t be able to focus properly if a woman’s bum was in their face while praying. Well duh!

In the women's prayer hall.

Details of the carvings on the ceiling. All of the carving was done by hand. There are a lot of stars and circles.

Mosaic tiles in the women's prayer hall.

The reason the women’s hall is smaller is because they spend much of their time as care-givers to their families. They aren’t as able as men to make it to a Mosque to pray. They are able to pray at home, facing Mecca. In the Mosques, there is an area that is concave (the kibla – I think) and that is in the direction of Mecca. It’s another way to focus your prayers.

I don't remember where this chandelier was. I think it was in the men's prayer hall. No matter, it was pretty!

Outside the entrance to the room where the Emir will meet with people. (Maybe it's the religious leader...I should really do this the day I go to these things...)

Details outside the entrance to the room.

Again, still outside the room.

Ceiling details inside the room.

Inside the room. I love this!

Another ceiling shot. The carvings are lovely and detailed and absolutely amazing.

The Muslim people pray 5 times a day. I was under the impression that when the call to prayer sounded, you were supposed to drop everything to go and pray. While that is true to a certain extent, you have until the next one to get the previous prayer in. The call times vary according to the sun (a bit paganish…). There is one before dawn, one around noon, one around 3, one at sunset, and another one once it’s dark. One of the teachers said the first time she went to the mall she heard the call to prayer and panicked. She wasn't sure if everyone would drop what they were doing and head off to their respective prayer rooms (yes, there are prayer rooms in the malls here). She was a little shocked to see that everyone just continued on about their business. The more devout to tend to drop everything, but many don't.

There are five pillars of Islam:

1. Accepting that Allah is the one true God.

2. Ramadan – the month of fasting from sunrise to sunset. There is also no smoking or sex during the daytime.

3. The prayers 5 times a day.

4. The zatak. This is basically a tithe they give to the poor. It can be given to the Mosque and distributed (it is labeled as zatak, so it has different rules of distribution) or you can give it directly to the poor yourself. Abdul, our cab driver, sends his home to India to his father. His father then shares it with their neighbors.

5. The haj. This is a pilgrimage to Mecca that a believer makes. This is a complicated idea. If you are responsible for others, you must ensure that those who are not going have enough money to live on while you are away. I asked Abdul (our cab driver) if he had ever been. He said no, because he has his wife and son to care for, plus his brother, father and their neighbors back in India. I don’t think that he feels that he will ever go, but he is okay with that because it is more important to care for others than it is to make the pilgrimage. He pretty much said that it is for rich people.

According to our guide, the major differences between Islam and Christianity are that in Islam they believe that Jesus was a prophet, not Allah himself. They also believe that he did not die on the cross, but that he ascended into heaven alive and sits there to this day. He will be there until the day of judgment, and that is when he will die. Now, I am not a hard-core Christian by any means, but hearing these differences honestly through me for a loop. I have a harder time accepting the Islamic beliefs than the Christian ones, so my mother can rest easy :)

To end our little Eid staycation we grilled out. Rick, Maddy, Lindsay and I all pitched in. Steaks, grilled vegetables, sweet potatoes, leftover pastas and some fresh avocado made it a delicious way to end the week.

Why yes, those are tomato boats on the grill! I was SO excited!

Sorry it's blurry, it's hard to hold your plate and take a picture. That, and I think I messed up the setting on my camera somehow and I left the booklet at home. It is somewhere...