In every religion, prayer services are the times when a person can communicate to God his or her gratitude, worries, or concerns in hope that through various means God will send the answer. Prayer services, like most religious services, are conducted at a designated place, and at a designated time and is the time when the person has to be emotionally and spiritually pure to be closer to God. In this respect, Islam and its religious services are no exception.
Usually, Muslims pray five times a day at specific times. In the past, it was also required for the Christians to pray several times a day, before starting or after finishing errands or business. Now, however, most people pray in the evening, and sometimes before meals.
Many Mosques have a tower on their premises which is called Minaret. A special person called muezzin climbs on the top of it before every prayer time and calls the Muslims to pray at the times when the prayers are due reciting “salat” – a prayer invitation to the service. This is done at traditional Mosques, mostly in Muslim countries, and in a few Mosques in the areas with large Muslim communities, although not every Mosque these days has a Minaret (Ruthven, 2000).
If a non-Muslim wants to attend a service, he can be invited by a Muslim friend or simply observe the public service, as Muslims are generally known for their hospitality, anyone would be welcome at the service and treated with due respect. The tradition of peaceful co-existence between Islamic and non-Islamic communities has always existed in Muslim countries and continues to exist where Muslims reside as minority groups.
Like in any other religion, there are special requirements as to what is allowed to wear to a prayer service. These requirements are very much similar to the Christian religion: one’s clothes must be clean and modest, women should wear long skirts and long-sleeved shirts or blouses. The head of any participant must be covered (like it is also done in the Orthodox Church) a hat or scarf may be used for these purposes; the important part is to keep one’s hair covered so it does not distract the person who prays and those around him or her from the significance of the moment.
When people are gathered for the service, they take off their shoes before the prayer service commences at the front of the Mosque by the door. Traditionally, the sole or the sole of the shoe are considered to be the dirtiest parts in Arabic nations (Smith, 1999). This is probably why the shoes are taken off, and the feet are washed before the service. As a rule, everybody arrives about 20 minutes in advance to wash their hands, mouth, and face. Traditionally, the right side is washed before the left side as the right side is believed to be dominant in a human body. If there is no water supply at the Mosque, sand or stones are used for cleaning.
After that, the participants follow to a large room with a lot of open space. The Muslims line up for the prayer, but guests who are non-Muslims are not allowed to pray, and so they have to take seats on the sides of the room by the walls. There is hardly any furniture in the prayer room. In addition to that, in comparison to other religions, there are no pictures, icons, or statues in the Mosque. Muslims believe that since Allah is a holy spirit, and so no image of him is allowed either at the Mosque or elsewhere (Smith, 1999).
It should be noted that men and women do not pray together at the Mosque. Usually, they take up different sides of the prayer room, although, in some Mosques, men stay in front while women are at the back, at some places women will have to leave the prayer room, and pray at a different location. It is also common for women to pray at home. Although women in this country fought for their rights like elsewhere in the world, and now can be treated equally with men, they give up their rights easily submitting to the ancient religious tradition and historical supremacy of the men.
During the prayer, everyone sits on the floor, and any place in Mosque bears equal status to the others, there is no discrimination against other religions, nationalities, or social position as it is believed that praying is a process of communication with God, not a means to acquire or display one’s status among other believers.
At the beginning of the prayer, Muslims must glorify God, they pronounce “Allahu Akbar” which means “God is great” at the same time raising their hands to the level of years or shoulders. The person who leads the service – Imam – usually begins the prayer. Except for regular prayers, there are also songs and some chanting. The Imam recites all the prayers or songs while the rest of the Muslims silently repeat after him.
The prayers that make up the service are a series of learned prayers. Services in Mosques are as a rule quite active: some of the prayers must be pronounced in the standing position, some while bowing, or performing other bodily movements, all repeated after the Imam the moment he does them. After the prayer comes to the sermon which usually contains abstracts from the Qur’an – the sacred book in Islam.
During their prayers, Muslims must face the side where a sacred place for all Muslims in Mecca is located. In every Mosque, there is a mark or niche on the wall called mihrab that indicates the direction in which the prayers should be said. Alternatively, special marks on the floor can be placed to indicate the order and direction in which those who pray must sit to face Mecca (Ruthven, 2000).
Usually, the prayer service does not take more than an hour, but on special occasions, such as during the month of Ramadan when it is not allowed to eat or drink from dawn to dusk, the food is also served after the evening prayers (Smith, 1999).
Obviously, Islamic traditions of prayer are in many ways different from those of the Christian traditions. A lot of them evolved through the traditions of the Muslim countries, and the conservative lifestyle led by their residents. It should be said, however, that there are some similar features in Islam and any other religion, including Christianity, which, perhaps, proves their universally fundamental nature. These similarities include clothes, having a leader at the service, the nature of the prayers, etc. which helps us to realize that we are not as different as we are similar, and through understanding it, we can ultimately achieve peaceful co-existence with other religions of the world.
References
Ruthven, Malise. Islam in the World. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Smith, Jane I. Islam in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.