Jack Wardale

Dr Fran Leap
SRT 335 75
14th April 2014
Field Trip Visit Reflection
First of all, I would like to thank you for the experience. It was truly wonderful to both
witness another religion, but also another culture at the same time.
We turned up to the Islamic center and as soon as we walked in we were required
to take our shoes off. We all complied, and followed the ladies quickly as we were just in
time to see one of the salat prayers. I was part of the male group and we sat in a circle and
talked momentarily before the Imam took to the front of the center and called for prayer.
The room was lovely and spacious, and the carpet was a deep red. It had a beautiful
pattern on it, and the room had been converted into a beautiful space for worship. The
language in which the Imam spoke in, which I presume was Arabic, was beautiful, and it
did not sound like words at all, more like a harmonious hum. The men then congregated
at the front, while the women congregated at the back. This was so the women did not
distract the men during prayer.
The Imam conducted the service and led the prayer. All the men lined up at the
front of the main room. As the Imam led the prayer, the men would pray. After the Imam
spoke each time, the men would stand, bow, kneel and bow, rise still kneeling, and then
return back to bowing down on their knees. This was repeated a few times. Some men,
who did not make it for the start of the service and came slightly late integrated
seamlessly into the worship. The children also took part in prayer, however there were a
few younger children running around.
Once the prayer had finished, the men and women remained knelt on the carpet,
as the Imam told a story, which was about an old lady who threw her garbage over a man
to try and make him angry. Despite this, the man, every day, put the garbage away
without reacting. One day, the lady did not throw the garbage at him, and then the next.
This surprised the man, so he went and checked on her, as she was his neighbor. The
Imam then revealed that this man was the prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). The lady was
sick, but Muhammad insisted that he should come in and help her. It made her guilty that

she was mean to him. Muhammad, (P.B.U.H) did not care about the rubbish she threw
over him and went and cooked, cleaned and prayed for her. The lesson the Imam wanted
to stress here was that we should love our neighbors, regardless of who they are. The
Imam acknowledged that plenty of the congregation did not have Muslim neighbors, but
that should not mean that the congregation should not help their neighbors. What would
happen next would involve the Imam enquiring if anyone had anything to say about the
story. To my surprise, it was the children who took control of this part of the service. One
little girl spoke and said, I wish everyone was treated equally. Another boy spoke and
said, You should treat your neighbor how you wish to be treated. The Imam said that
even if we commit bad deeds, we can erase them by good deeds, such as helping ones
neighbor, concluding this forum.
A boy no older than twelve years old however conducted the next part of the
service. With no notes and no prompts, the boy stood at the front of the service and told a
story. This one was concerning a murderer, who was facing trial for killing the father of
two brothers. The judge gave the man a few days before he would be killed. The judge
said that he trusted the murderer to come back for his sentence. Then, one man
volunteered to take his place if he did not return. On the day of the trial, there was no sign
of the murderer, so the judge gave him until sunset. Just as they thought he would not
return, the man came back for his sentence. The judge asked why the man came back, to
which he replied, A Muslim always fulfills his promise. The judge then turned to the
volunteer and asked why he did so. His response was that he wanted to help a Muslim
when nobody else would. The two brothers then forgave the murderer. At the end of this
story, the Imam told the children that they could return to their classes and this concluded
the service.
We then turned our attention back to the group. We first talked about what was
Islam? We discussed that the Quran was intended to be recited not only word for word
but also sound by sound, and that fellow Muslims could tell if even a sound was said
wrong. The speaker, Muhammad Mudassir Nazar, also explained how it was not
uncommon for the whole of the Quran to be recited by Muslims and how he deemed this
to be a miracle in itself. We then proceeded to talk about the topic of prophets, and how
Islam intertwines with both Christianity and Judaism. In particular, we talked about Jesus

and how he was not deemed as the Son of God but one of a chain of important prophets
mentioned in the Quran. This then led to the talk about Marys role in Islam and how
Muslims also believe in the virgin birth of Jesus.
We then took a short break to have some lovely food. This is where we
experienced a taste of Islam culture. We had pitta bread with some hummus, which was
Great! We then returned to our group once more to continue our talk. This time we talked
about Muslims duties in terms of ritual worship and non-ritual worship. These worship
methods that were discussed all related to the five Pillars of Islam.
Overall, it was such a spiritually lifting experience. Although it was not my own
religion, it was certainly interesting to see how other religions congregate in worship. I
found it interesting how the Muslims did not sit on chairs like you would in a church. It
intrigued me how casual the service was too, as children were seeing playing throughout
the duration. Was this just the Islamic Center, or were all Mosque environments like this?
Another great part about this trip was the childrens part in the service. It was nothing
short of incredible with regards to these childrens insights about their faith. The child
who recited the story had no help, and it was simply amazing to see how enthusiastic he
was to have spread the word of Allah. All the childrens responses showed that they were
engaged and had listened intently to what the Imam had said. The morals taught during
the service, to love your neighbor for example, was very similar to the teachings in
Christianity, which to me highlighted the similarities between the two religions. The one
phrase I remember the Imam saying was, Whoever believes God on his last day, should
honor his neighbor. This summarized the first story and that we should honor our
neighbors because we are followers of God.
As far as outstanding questions are concerned, although I have mentioned one
brief question, I do have a couple other questions. First of all, I was just wondering why
we took our shoes off and not our socks? I was under the impression we would have to
take off both. Did this just add to the casual nature of the center? Or is this just the
practice? Since we were on the topic this week, I was also just interested to know what
your personal stance was regarding Muslim women wearing headscarves. Do you believe
they are necessary, or should be optional for female Muslims?

On a concluding note, I just wanted to reiterate my gratitude for being able to

experience both Muslim culture and religion under one roof! It was great to converse
with Mr Nazar, listening to his opinions on my own religion as we were experiencing his.