English translation copy of the Quran, gifted to me from the Hidayah Center Foundation
There were lots of sources of information that I used to learn more about Islam while in Malaysia. At first, it was mostly just reading a book by the religious historian Reza Aslan, called No god but God, and snapping photos of mosques from the outside. However, the last few days in Malaysia I actually went inside two mosques (Kapitan Keling in George Town, Penang, and the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur), I visited the Islamic Arts Museum, and I serendipitously found myself in a private Q&A session with four Islam educators at the Hidayah Center Foundation who were happy to answer my questions (after mentioning to my Uber driver, Mohammad, that I was interested in learning more about Islam, he offered me a Quran and one thing led to another). I got the feeling they were trying to convert me, but I didn't mind at all, because it was too great an educational opportunity to pass up. Imagine if you were doing a report on Mormonism and then a few of those suited-up evangelists showed up at your door, asking if they could tell you all about Mormonism. "Why yes -- yes, you absolutely can. Do you mind if I audio record our conversation for future reference? Yes, I'd love a copy of the Book of Mormon, and yes, leave all those pamphlets on the table. This is perfect, thank you!"
To organize my thoughts and what I've learned from all this, I'm just going to address different aspects of Islam separately: fundamental beliefs and practices, common perceptions that lead to anti-Muslim attitudes, women's rights and the veil/hijab, and mosque architecture from around the world. I'll do my best to cite sources, but honestly, a lot of this info is straight-up plagiarized from the museum or Aslan's book. So there's my disclaimer.
One significant aspect of Islam that I did not learn anything about is the difference between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims. It just didn't come up, oddly enough. Maybe it's less of an issue in SE Asia than it is in the Middle East? In any case, you'll have to google your own info on that if you're interested.
Okay -- here is pretty much everything I know about Islam.
Fundamental Practices & Beliefs
5 Pillars of Islam (Muslim-defining actions/practices):
Salat, Ritual Prayer, five times a day, facing Mecca (at sunrise, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening). For men, Friday noon prayer must be done in congregation at the mosque (this is optional for women), but any of the other prayers are encouraged to be done in the mosque as well. Arif, one of the Islam educators I met with, told me that prayer at the mosque was believed to yield 27x the spiritual benefit of prayer from home or somewhere else, due to the power of praying as a community. Why 27 times as much benefit? Who knows. Maybe 3 is an important number and it's a 3-to-the-3rd power thing.
Zakat, giving alms to charity. Zakat is an obligatory tithe, and literally means "purification." It is a reminder to all Muslims of their social and economic responsibilities to the Ummah (community of Muslims). Zakat is paid only by those who can afford to do so; otherwise, one would receive the zakat. Zakat is only the obligatory minimum; voluntary alms to charity are very much encouraged.
Ramadan, the month-long fast. During the month of Ramadan, no one may eat, drink, or have sexual intercourse between sunup and sundown. The chief purpose is to bind the community as one, and to remind them of the suffering and poverty of those among them who go without food throughout the year. The old and the sick, the pregnant and nursing, travelers, and those who perform heavy labor and not obliged to fast, but are instead required to feed the hungry during Ramadan. The final night of Ramadan, Eid, is the most widely celebrated holiday in the whole of the Islamic world.
Pilgrimage to Mecca, if physically, financially, and mentally able. This pilgrimage is called Hajj, and involves more than just going to Mecca and praying at the Sacred Mosque; there are several other rituals, but I won't get into it here.
The shahadah, profession of faith: "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is God's Messenger." The shahadah signifies official recognition of a complex theological doctrine known as tawhid, which asserts not only that there is one god, but that God is Oneness. God is Unity, wholly indivisible, entirely unique, and utterly indefinable. God resembles nothing in either essence or attributes. Shahadah is when you SAY this; believing it is the first pillar of Islamic faith.
6 Pillars of Iman (Faith/Beliefs):
Belief in Allah, in one and only God. In Islam, the biggest and only unforgivable sin is shirk, which means to have other gods (Quran 2:116). For this reason, Muslims really don't like the Catholic belief in the Trinity; any attempt to anthropomorphize God by endowing the Divine with human attributes, thereby limiting or restricting God's dominion, could be shirk.
Belief in the angels of Allah. There are a few angels in particular who caught my attention: The angel Gabriel -- I assume the same one as the one as from the "prequels" (I like to view Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as volumes I, II, and III of The Monotheism Trilogy) -- was the one to provide God's revelations to Muhammad. The Islam educators told me that Muslims believe that everyone has two angels with them on their shoulders, one recording every good deed you do, one recording every bad deed you do. I don't know if that's true, of course, but it does seem like a belief that could actually change one's behavior, particularly if it came to mind right as a temptation toward a bad deed presented itself...
Belief in the Prophets. Islam asserts that there have been thousands of prophets throughout human history who have been messengers of God. However, only 25 are mentioned in Qur’an, and there are five 5 super-duper important ones: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. I asked the Islam educators (a bit cheekily, because I have my own theories about this), "Why aren't any of these five prophets female?" Arif responded, “Prophet needs to be strong and men are stronger than women.” You can imagine I did NOT let that one slide.
Belief in The Books as the Word of God
The Torah (the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), sent with the Prophet Moses
The Psalms, sent with the Prophet David
The Gospel (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), sent with the Prophet Jesus
The Qur’an, sent with the Prophet Muhammad
Belief in the Last Day and accountability for the hereafter, which includes believe in personal free choice and responsibility in our worldly life, life after death, end of the world, Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Paradise & Hell-fire. (Arif also mentioned something about the belief that Jesus will come again, arriving in Demascus, and will govern the world, but I didn’t find that in other resources about the 6 fundamental beliefs in Islam. To be clear, Jesus' birth from a virgin mother, ability to perform miracles, rising from the dead and eventual return to earth do NOT indicate that he is divine -- only that God has chosen to do some awesome things with him and his life)
Belief in Divine Destiny, that God knows absolutely everything and is aware of everything, and that nothing, good or bad, happens without God’s permission. Keep in mind that permission is different than will; God may not will or want bad things but the ones that do happen have been allowed to happen for whatever divine and mysterious reason.
Why do Muslims pray five times a day?
This is a great story. I asked my new friend Mohammad why Muslims pray five times a day (as opposed to 10 or 3 or 1 or any other number of times) and he pulled up a website on his phone that had the explanation. Apparently, what happened is that God originally told Muhammad that people should pray 50 times a day. Muhammad went back and told a co-leader buddy of his (like what Aaron was to Moses), and his buddy was like “Dude, hell no. That’s way too much. You gotta go back and ask God to take it down a few notches.” So Muhammad went back and asked God if they could pray less often than 50 times a day, and God said, “All right fine – just 45, then.” So Muhammed went back and his buddy said, “DUDE, NO! Still too much! You have to ask God to be more reasonable about this.” So Muhammed goes back and forth like this, and God brings the required prayers-per-day number down by five each time, until finally, God says five times a day is acceptable, at which point Muhammad is way too embarrassed to ask him to bring it down any further. And compared to the original 50 times a day, he and his buddy are more than happy to accept the new terms. I can’t help but think God just wanted them to pray five times a day the whole time, but wanted them to do it gratefully, knowing it could be WAY more. Classic negotiation strategy. Well played, Allah, well played.
Azan: the call to prayer
The time of prayer is announced by a call, azan. As the times of the five daily prayers vary from day to day, and from place to place, there is not a single moment on earth when the azan is not called somewhere, making it the world’s only non-stop call to prayer. It is traditionally called from high minarets of mosques. And no matter where the mosque is, no matter where Muslims are praying, the azan is always in Arabic. (Kinda like how Catholicism used to use Latin for everything, prior to Vatican II). Personally, I found these calls to prayer beautiful and comforting -- to me, the sung Arab words sound ancient and spiritual, like they come from the cradle of humanity. They remind me of the Peruvian shaman's icaras in that respect, actually. However, not everyone feels that way. Others, such as a few non-Muslim Malaysians I spoke to, find the azan to be intrusive, and don't understand why Muslims get to "impose" their faith on everyone in the city through their huge loudspeakers five times a day. I sympathize with that perspective also.
Friday prayer: A Pretty Big Deal
In one of the LGBT short films from the screening in Bali, there were two transgender women riding in the back of a truck together. The first one says, "What time is it? I need to find a mosque to do my Friday prayers." The other responds, "People like us don't need to do that." I wasn't sure what she meant at first, but now I realize that maybe what she was referring to is the fact that only men are obligated to go to the mosque for Friday noon prayer. Nevertheless, the first woman was so dedicated -- or perhaps it was sheer force of habit from the days she had presented as a man -- that she jumped off a truck and got lost in a rural town trying to find a sarong to wear and a mosque to pray in. A few days later, when I was staying at the Mulu National Park headquarters hostel, there was a guest there who was Muslim. On Friday, he wrapped a sarong around himself, laid out a prayer mat, and did prayers by his bed. I hadn't realized before that Friday was such a significant day for prayer for Muslims, and it was cool to see the movie connect to real life in that way.
As important as these prayer rituals are, the Quran reminds believers that piety lies ‘not in turning your face East or West in prayer…but in distributing your wealth out of love for God to your needy kin; to the orphans, to the vagrants, and to the mendicants; it lies in freeing the slaves, in observing your devotions, and in giving alms to the poor" (2:177).
Anti-Muslim Attitudes: What's going on?
I was at a cafe in Penang, Malaysia, sitting with Suneel (who is a Sikh), and the owner of the cafe (religious affiliation unknown), when the topic of Muslims came up. To my surprise, they both expressed some anti-Muslim sentiment related to three things:
The violence perpetrated by "Islamic terrorists" such as groups like Al-Qaeda and Isis, and any Muslim refugees that cause trouble in new countries (the cafe owner even said he supported Trump's efforts to keep them out), and the "problem of jihad"
The preferential treatment that Muslims receive in Malaysia. Apparently, there are certain loans or certain loan interest rates that only Muslims are eligible for, which give them financial advantages over other citizens (?)
The perception that Muslims are unwilling to assimilate to the cultures where they migrate or flee to (as immigrants or as refugees), that they just try to maintain their own culture wherever they go.
I'm not really well-equipped to respond fully to any of those complaints. (I don't know anything about the financial advantages thing, but it was interesting to learn that there were some economic dynamics at play that contributed to their anti-Muslim sentiments. As far as not being able to assimilate, it seems to me that wanting to maintain your religious practices in a new country is fine, so long as that country protects religious freedom and you adhere to the new country's civil laws.)
However, I have learned a bit about the violence and jihad issue that I hope will be helpful information for you to have in case this topic gets brought up in your own lives.
Violent "Islamic Extremists" and the True Meaning of Jihad
People often assume that jihad means 'holy war.' However, the term ‘holy war’ originates not with Islam but with the Christian Crusaders who first used it to give theological legitimacy to what was in reality a battle for land and trade routes. ‘Holy war’ was not a term used by Muslim conquerors, and it is in no way a proper definition of the word jihad. There are a host of words in Arabic that can be definitely translated as “war”; jihad is not one of them.
The word jihad literally means “a struggle,” “a striving,” or “a great effort.” In its primary religious connotation, it means the struggle of the soul to overcome the sinful obstacles that keep a person from God. This is why the word jihad is nearly always followed in the Quran by the phrase “in the way of God.” However, because Islam considers this inward struggle for holiness and submission to be inseparable from the outward struggle for the welfare of humanity, jihad has more often been associated with its secondary connotation (“the lesser jihad”): that is, any exertion – military or otherwise – against oppression and tyranny. And while this definition of jihad has occasionally been manipulated by militants and extremists to give religious sanction to what are in actuality social and political agendas, that is not at all how Muhammad understood the term. War, according to the Quran, is either just or unjust; it is never ‘holy.’
The Quran commands Muslims to not kill innocent people. The doctrine of jihad, as it slowly developed in the Quran, was specifically meant to differentiate between pre-Islamic and Islamic notions of warfare, which meant introducing a distinction between combatant and noncombatant. The killing of women, children, monks, rabbis, the elderly, or any other noncombatant was absolutely forbidden under any circumstances. Muslim law eventually expanded on these prohibitions to outlaw the torture of prisoners of war (YAY!!); the mutilation of the dead; rape, molestation, or any kind of sexual violence during combat; the killing of diplomats; the wanton destruction of property; and the demolition of religious or medical institutions – regulations that, many centuries later, would be incorporated into the modern international laws of war.
The Quran says war is only okay when used defensively: “Permission to fight is given only to those who have been oppressed… who have been driven from their homes for saying ‘God is our Lord’ (22:39)”
The idea of killing nonbelievers who refused to convert to Islam – the foundation of the classical doctrine of jihad – not only defied the example of Muhammad but also violated one of the most important principles in the Quran: hat ‘there can be no compulsion in religion’ (2:256). On this point the Quran is quite adamant. ‘The truth is from your Lord…believe it if you like, or do not’ (18:29)… The Quran also asks rhetorically, ‘Can you compel people to believe against their will?’ (10:100). Obviously not; the Quran therefore commands believers to say to those who do not believe, "To you your religion; to me mine" (109:6).
So it's pretty clear that Muhammad and the Quran are both against the use of violence for the sake of conversion, or for any reason other than defense. The behavior of ISIS and Al-Qaeda and other terrorists groups and those who affiliate themselves with their destructive anti-West ideas are NOT acting in an Islamic way.
As our current National Security Advisor, Lt. Gen H.R. McMaster, pointed out during a meeting with the staff of the National Security Council... the label "radical Islamic terrorism" is not helpful because terrorists are "un-Islamic."
But of course all this now begs the question, what the hell happened? If the religion of Islam itself (its founder, its holy book, etc.) doesn't promote this behavior, then why do we have a bunch of terrorists doing awful things in the name of Islam?
I asked about this a couple times, but never really got a satisfactory answer. One person's explanation amounted to a conspiracy theory that groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda were led by non-Muslims to make Islam look bad and justify intervention in the Middle East, trained by countries like the U.S.A., who wanted to be there for oil or some other financial incentive. The theory suggests that 9/11 was an inside job ("Buildings that are hit by planes don't collapse like that, so there must have been bombs inside the twin towers as well..."), and claims that Osama bin Laden was once part of the C.I.A. and isn't really dead, etc. I just have no idea what to do with theories like that; I hate going down that rabbit hole, because it completely messes with my ability to trust ANYTHING that I hear or read in the media. But who knows. Maybe the darkness and corruption and deceit really do run that deep.
Fortunately, Reza Aslan has an alternate explanation for what happened that aligns better with the world as I see it:
“In Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini (1902-89) relied on a militant interpretation of jihad, first to energize the anti-imperialist revolution of 1979 and then to fuel his destructive eight-year war with Iraq. It was Khomeini’s vision of jihad as a weapon of war that helped found the Islamic militant group Hizbullah, whose radical use of the suicide bomber launched an appalling new era of international terrorism.
"In Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941-89), professor of Islamic philosophy at King Abdulaziz University, used his influence among the country’s disaffected youth to promote an uncompromisingly belligerent interpretation of jihad that, he argued, was imcumbent on all Muslims. ‘Jihad and the rifle alone,’ Dr. Azzam proclaimed to his students. ‘No negotiations, no conferences, and no dialogues.’ … His teachings had an exceptional impact on one student in particular: Osama bin Laden, who eventually put into practice his mentor’s ideology by calling for a worldwide Muslim campaign of jihad against the West [al-Qaeda], thus launching a horrifying wave of terrorism that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
“[Al-Qaeda] is but one manifestation of a much larger movement of militant Islamic puritanism commonly called Jihadism. What makes jihadism unique—indeed, what gives the movement its name—is its radical reinterpretation of the concept of jihad. What has for centuries been defined as a collective duty that can be waged solely in defense of life, faith, and property, has, in Jihadism, been transformed into a radically individualistic obligation, totally divorced from any institutional power…jihad has become an offensive weapon, one that can be wielded against all “enemies” of Islam, whether Muslim or not…Women, children, the elderly, the sick, the lame—these are all legitimate targets according to Jihadism, regardless of the Quran’s clear prohibition against harming noncombatants. That is why, despite common perception in the West, the actions of Jihadist groups like al-Qaeda have been so roundly condemned not only by the vast majority of the world’s Muslims, but even by other militant groups like the Palestinian Hamas or Lebanon’s Hizbullah.”
So basically the idea of jihad was co-opted by people with violent tendencies or ideologies to justify their methods; terrorism runs completely counter to the teachings of Islam, but unfortunately, this very small percentage of self-identified "Muslims" have made it so that people throughout the world associate Islam with terrorism. This is pretty unfair and upsetting, because it means that you can do anything in the name of "whatever" and then all of a sudden the "whatever" gets associated with your bad behavior, even if it had nothing to do with it. For example, the existence of "Bernie bros" (male supporters of Bernie Sanders who attacked Hillary Clinton in sexist and misogynist ways) shouldn't make anyone think less of Bernie Sanders himself, because Bernie never promoted that kind of behavior. However, if enough people tweet nasty and politically irrelevant things about Hillary Clinton with the hashtag #Bernie2016, people will start to associate Bernie with the negative behavior of SOME of his supporters. Anyway, it's important to distinguish the thing itself (in this case, Islam) from the people who claim to support it or believe in it while doing awful things.
Kapitan Keling Mosque in George Town, Penang
Muhammad the Prophe...minist?
(Women & Islam)
People often assume that Islam is an inherently sexist religion, because of things like the scarves that women wear to cover their hair, or the full head-to-toe covering some of them wear with just eyes showing. It can also be difficult for girls to get an education in some countries in the Middle east, and I'm sure there are other gender-related grievances as well. However, those are more issues that have originated from certain geographical areas, and not inequalities or oppression supported by Islam. In fact, the Quran goes to great lengths to emphasize the equality of the sexes in the eyes of Allah/God:
God offers forgiveness and a great reward,
For men who surrender to Him, and women who surrender to Him
For men who beliee, and women who elive,
For men who obey, and women who obey,
For men who speak truth, and women who speak truth,
For men who persevere, and women who persevere,
For men who are humble, and women who are humble,
For men who give alms, and women who give alms,
For men who fast, and women who fast,
For men who are modest, and women who are modest,
For men who remember God, and women who remember God
(33:35)
However, the Quran acknowledges that men and women have distinct and separate roles in society; according to Reza Aslan, it would have been preposterous to claim otherwise in seventh-century Arabia. Thus, ‘men are to take care of women, because God has given them greater strength, and because men use their wealth to provide for them.’
Interestingly, over the last few years, the Islamic world has produced more female presidents and prime ministers than both Europe and North America combined. (For example, Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia, and Nurul Izzah Anwar in Malaysia.) Certainly, there are more Muslim-majority states where women still do not have the same legal rights as men; the same can be said about most developing countries in all parts of the world – Muslim or not. And no doubt the plight of women in places like Iran, Afghanistan, the Sudan, and Somalia is appalling and must be urgently addressed. But to use the experience of women in these countries to make broad generalizations about Islam’s treatment of women would be grossly simplistic.
Muhammad himself was very conscious of the way women were treated, and did his best to promote equal rights between genders. He had benefitted greatly from the wealth and stability provided by Khadja, his wife, who was 15 years his senior and a successful trades woman, with whom he was monogamous until her death. He strove to give women the opportunity to attain some level of equality and independence in society by amending Arabia’s traditional marriage and inheritance laws in order to remove the obstacles that prohibited women from inheriting and maintaining their own wealth. Women in the Ummah (Muslim community) were, for the first time, given the right both to inherit the property of their husbands an to keep their dowries as their own personal property throughout their marriage. A pretty big deal.
However, the interpretation of the Quran sometimes gets skewed in ways that justify poor treatment of women. For fourteen centuries, the science of Quranic commentary has been the exclusive domain of Muslim men, and certain verses have most often been read in their most misogynist interpretation. Consider, for example, how the following verse (4:34) regarding the obligations of men toward women has been rendered into English by two different but widely read contemporary translators of the Quran. The first is from the Princeton edition, translated by Ahmed Ali; the second is from Majid Fakhry’s translation, published by New York University:
[Translation 1] ‘Men are the support of women as God gives some more means than others, and because they spend of their wealth (to provide for them)…As for women you feel are averse, talk to them suasively; then leave them alone in bed (without molesting them) and go to bed with them (when they are willing).’
[Translation 2] ‘Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made some of them excel the others, and because they spend some of their wealth…And for those [women] that you fear might rebel, admonish them and abandon them in their beds and beats them.’
Because of the variability of the Arabic language, both of these translations are grammatically, syntactically, and definitionally correct. The phrase qawwamuna ‘ala an-nisa can be understood as “watch over,” “protect,” “support,” “attend to” “look after,” or “be in charge of,” women. The final word in the verse, adribuhunna, which Fakhry has rendered as “beat them,” can equally mean “turn away from them,” “go along with them,” and remarkably, even “have consensual intercourse with them.” If religion is indeed interpretation, then which meaning one chooses to accept and follow depends on what one is trying to extract from the text: if one views the Quran as empowering women, then Ali’s; if one looks to the Quran to justify violence against women, then Fakhry’s.
ISLAM AND “THE VEIL”
As i turns out, the "veils" that Muslim women wear were around long before Muhammad and Islam existed. The tradition of veiling and seclusion (known together as hijab) was introduced into Arabia long before Muhammad, primarily through Arab contacts with Syria and Iran, where the hijab was a sign of social status. After all, only a woman who need not work in the fields could afford to remain secluded and veiled.
In the Ummah, there was no tradition of veiling until around 627 c.e., when the so-called ‘verse of hijab’ suddenly descended upon the community. That verse, however, was addressed not to women in general, but exclusively to Muhammad’s wives [after his first wife died, he married several other women]: “Believers, do not enter the Prophet’s house…unless asked. And if you are invited…do not linger. And when you ask something from the Prophet’s wives, do so from behind a hijab. This will assure the purity of your hearts as well as theirs” (33:53)… by the year 627, when he had become the supremely powerful leader of an increasingly expanding community, some kind of segregation had to be enforced to maintain the inviolability of his wives. Thus the tradition, borrowed from the upper classes of Iranian and Syrian women, of veiling and secluding the most important women in society from the peering eyes of everyone else. During the Prophet’s lifetime, no other women in the Ummah observed hijab. Muslim women probably began wearing the veil as a way to emulate the Prophet’s wives, who were revered as “the Mothers of the Ummah.” But the veil was neither compulsory nor, for that matter, widely adopted until generations after Muhammad’s death, when a large body of male scriptural and legal scholars began using their religious and political authority to regain the dominance they had lost in society as a result of the Prophet’s egalitarian reforms.
Basically, the veil was meant initially as a way to honor and respect the high-society women in Iran and Syria, and the idea was borrowed by Muhammad's wives, who wore them since people were hanging around their place all the time and they needed to assert some boundaries. It only became mandatory after some scriptural scholars decided they could use it to regain some of the power they had lost after Muhammad had made new rules to promote greater gender equality.
For some male political philosophers like Ali Shariati, “the veil is not a symbol of female oppression but rather a sign of empowered defiance against the Western image of womanhood." But Reza Aslan points out that, enlightened as this perspective may be, it is still tragically flawed by the fact that Shariati is describing something of which he has had no experience. Amen to that. You simply cannot tell another person what choices liberates or oppresses them; that is for them, and them alone, to decide.
Here's a handy guide to the different kinds of Islamic veils.
Mosque Design & Architecture
My favorite part of the Islamic Arts Museum by FAR was the architecture gallery. I had been under the impression that all mosques followed the same basic plan and were identifiable primarily by a big dome, but it turns out that there is tremendous variation in mosque style around the world. However, there are some key elements that they all share since Muhammad built the first mosque as an annex to his home in Medina:
Courtyard: a space for the congregational prayer
Minbar: a raised stepped chair where the khatib (?) addresses the congregation and delivers the sermon (the khutbah) during Friday prayers
Qibla: a wall accentuated by a Mihrab (an intricately carved wall) or niche, which faces the Ka’ba in Mecca
Minaret: a raised tower-like structure from which the mu’azin broadcasts the rhythmic call to prayer known as the ‘azan
Dome: a hemispherical enclosure created to provide shelter and a spiritual sense of unity
Over time, other elements were added in:
Dikka: a platform raised on slender columns
Kursi: a raised chair with a book for the recitation of the Quran
Maidha’h: a water source (e.g. a shallow pool) for the ritual ablution (washing) prior to prayers
Prayer hall of the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, qibla on the far wall underneath the clock surrounded by blue glass
The minaret of the Penang State Mosque
The Maidha’h, fountains for ablution (washing/cleansing) at the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur
Some mosques also feature portieres, which are heavy, decorative curtains hung across a large doorway. Using portieres to decorate mosque interiors was especially popular during the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire and Iran. Bearing calligraphic cartouches, with inscriptions of prayers and benedictions, mosque portieres mark the threshold between the divine and secular realms.
A portiere displayed in the Islamic Arts Museum
In this "mosque architecture" area of the museum, there was a series of models of famous mosques from all over the world, which I found really interesting because I could see what the Sacred Mosque of Mecca looked like, compared to the Taj Mahal, compared to mosques in other countries. Here's a sampling of these models, which accompanying descriptions below each photo, from oldest to most recent.
The Great Umayyad Mosque (Demascus, Syria), 661 AD/40 AH
Built by Caliph al Walid in 706-715 AD/87-96 AH, the mosque was constructed on the site of a Roman temple and over the ruins of the Church of St. John the Baptist. The layout of the mosque was based on the hypostyle form, with aisles parallel to the qibla wall and a raised transept leading to the mihrab niche. The mosque suffered from a great fire in 1174 AD and restored. The most attractive feature is the Bait el Mal (Dome of the Treasure) and the glass mosaics that allude to paradise.
Sacred Mosque (Mecca, Saudi Arabia), 7th century AD/1st century AH
The Sacred Mosque (i.e. Al Masjid Al Haram) is the holiest site in Islam. Situated in the Holy City of Mecca, Al Masjid Al Haram is the direction towards which Muslims face to perform their daily prayers. It is also the site where millions of pilgrims gather to circumambulate around the Holy Ka’ba during the Hajj season. It is also the only mosque in the world that has neither a qibla wall nor mihrab. Architecturally, it was during the reign of the second righteous caliph, Omar ibn al Kattab, that the Ka’ba was enclosed with a wall, providing a confined space for pilgrims. Since then, the mosque has been constantly reconstructed and enlarged. Among the major reconstruction stages was that of the Ottoman Sultan Selim II, who commissioned chief architect Mimar Sinan to renovate and refurbish the mosque. Under the Saudi Kings, state-of-the-art technologies were employed to provie the utmost comfort to pilgrims. This model reflects the mosque’s architecture from the year 1998.
The Ka'ba (i.e. that black cube in the middle): The Ka'ba was a pilgrimage destination for pagans long before it became an Islamic icon. But unlike its status as a pagan sanctuary before, the Muslim Ka'ba is not a repository of the gods. Rather, it is a symbol for the living presence of the one and only God. The Ka'ba, it must be understood, has no architectural significance. It is a cube--the simplest form a building can take--veiled in black (which is no color) and rimmed with the word of GodIt is not a temple in the traditional sense. It no longer has any intrinsic sanctity; it has been torn down and rebuilt a number of times. Though dubbed "the House of God," the Ka'ba houses nothing, save for a few Qurans and some ancient relics. Yet in its utter simplicity, the Ka'ba and the rites associated with it function as a communal meditation on the Oneness and Unity of God.
Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem, Palestine), 7th century AD/1st century AH
The Dome of the Rock is the oldest Islamic structure to have survived its original form. It was constructed under the auspices of the Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik bin Marwan, utilizing the expertise of non-Muslim craftsmen. The interior and exterior are decorated with glass mosaics reflecting geometric, vegetal and calligraphic designs echoing the Quranic verses describing paradise. The octagonal ground plan of the shrine was modeled after Byzantine architecture and was a jewel amongst the Christian buildings that surrounded it. A portion of the shrine’s interior and exterior is lavishly decorated with coloured tiles fitted by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in 1552. In 1993, 80 kilograms of gold was donated by King Hussein of Jordan towards the refurbishment of the dome covering.
Ibn Tulun Mosque (Cairo), 9th century AD/3rd century AH
The Ibn Tulun Mosque is the oldest intact and functioning mosque in Cairo. It was built by Ahmad ibn Tulun, the Abbasid governor who later established the Tulunid dynasty in Egypt. The mosque, built in 876-79, is the only surviving edifice of the new royal city al-Qata’i. Following the tradition of the hypostyle mosque, it pioneered the use of brick pillars as an alternative to columns to support the arcades and decorated them in stucco. Its minaret is modeled after the spiral minaret of Samara. The domed ablution foundation at its centre was an addition by Sultan Lagin in 1296.
Imam Mosque (Isfahan, Iran), 17th century AD/11th century AH
The Imam Mosque, also known historically as the Shah Mosque, is part of a public square (maidan) built by Sultan Shah Abbas I as part of the new extension to the city of Isfahan. The construction started in the spring of 1611 but was not finished until 1630. The façade of the Shah Mosque is aligned to the maidan, while the mosque itself is turned approximately 45 degrees to face Mecca through the use of a bent entrance. Its entrance portal and double-shell dome are decorated in the cuerda seca tile technique, employing seven colors and are modeled after Safavid prototypes; with light blue background and beige arabesque scrolls. The maidan houses the entrance portal to the square, the Imam Mosque the Lutfallah Mosque and the Ali Qapu palace complex.
Taj Mahal (Agra, India), 17th century AD/11th century AH
The imperial Mughal tomb, the Taj Mahal, was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631 AD, in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. A synthesis of Indian, Persian, Turkish and Italian architects, craftsmen and designers contributed to this vast compex, comprising a main gateway, and elaborate garden, mosque, guesthouse and several palatial buildings. It is strongly suggested that the chief architect for the Taj Mahal was Ustead Ahmed Lahauri. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to construct with a labour force of 20,000 workers. Structurally composed entirely of white marble, it was Shah Jahan’s preferred building material. The decoration is of carved and inlaid floral motif, in a technique called pietra dura. Precious and semi-precious gemstones such as agate and jasper adorn the walls. Illuminating the façade entrance is calligraphy written in the Thuluth script by the renowned master calligrapher Abd al-Haq.
Qubba Mosque (Medina), 20th century AD/15th century AH
The Qubba Mosque is located on the site of the first mosque ever built in Islam by the Prophet Muhammad, following his hijrah (migration) from Mecca to Medina. The current structure is a 20th century reconstruction designed by architect Dr. Abdel Wahed El-Wakil, in which he highlights the importance of open space and preserves the character of the old mosque. He also employs sophisticated technology which regulates temperature, ventilation and a retractable tent shading the courtyard. This large congregational mosque is part of a complex comprising a library, offices, and shops. It can embrace up to 10,000 worshippers, which is five times the size of the mosque that dates back 150 years.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Complex (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), 2007 AD/1430 AH
In its design and construction, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque unites the world, using artisans and materials from many countries, including Italy, Germany, Austria, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China, the UK, New Zeland, Greece, and the United Arab Emirates. Construction began in November 1996; the internal prayer halls were opened for worship at Eid Al Adha 2007 and have remained so since then. The maximum capacity is approximately 41,000 people and the overall structure is 22,412 square metres. As one of the most visited buildings in the UAE, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre was established in 2008 to manage the day-to-day operations, not only as a place of worship and Friday gathering, but also as a place of learning and discovery through its unique library, education and visitor programmes.
There's a story from No god but God that didn't quite fit in any of the sections above, but I think it is a good story to wrap things up: When Muhammad died, the Ummah were devastated, and some were in total denial. One of these, Umar, was so distraught, that he ran into the mosque where the community had gathered and threatened to pummel anyone who dared say that Muhammad was dead. After seeing Muhammad's corpse with his own eyes, a man named Abu Bakr also went to the mosque. There, he saw Umar rambling incoherently about the Prophet still being alive... Umar warned those who had accepted Muhammad's death that they would have their hands and feet cut off for their disloyalty when the Prophet returned from heaven. Finally, Abu Bakr could take no more. He raised his hands over the congregation and shouted over Umar, "O men, if anyone worships Muhammad, Muhammad is dead; if anyone worships God, God is alive, immortal!" When Umar heard these words, he crumpled to the ground and wept.
We latch on so hard to our "prophets," because we can relate to them as fellow humans. Whatever strength, compassion, integrity, and hope they are capable of, we feel we may be capable of too. When they die, it feels like the truth and principles that they stood for died as well. This may seem like a silly comparison, but as a modern day example, it reminds me of Bernie Sanders. I worry that when he dies, so many people will give up and lose hope in everything that they fought for under his leadership.
Speaking of leadership, that Abu Bakr guy ended up succeeding Muhammad as leader of the Ummah. The title of Prophet died with Muhammad of course, but the Ummah still needed a leader, and Abu Bakr seems like he was the right guy for the job, based on his acceptance speech:
"Behold me, charged with the cares of the government.
I am not the best among you. I need all your advice and help.
If I do well, support me; if I make a mistake, counsel me...
As long as I obey God and the Prophet, obey me;
if I neglect the laws of God and the Prophet, I have no right to your obedience."
If only all political leaders had this attitude.
(Substituting "God and the Prophet" for "the Constitution," or something, of course. Gotta respect that church and state separation.)
My name written in Arabic calligraphy on a bookmark, a gift from Arif (one of the guys from the Hidayah Center Foundation).
-- May Allah bless you --