Visiting a mosque

Yesterday I went to visit a mosque in Kingston with a bunch of other people. We were given a tour of the mosque by Rashid, met Yusuf Islam's (ie Cat Stevens) father-in-law - the president of the mosque, had an impromptu lecture from the Imam (who first came to Kingston from Morocco as an acrobat for the circus!), were fed lunch, and then joined in with their Friday prayers.

It has been a few years since I have been to a mosque and last time I went I didn't have much opportunity to meet the people worshiping there. In Kingston everyone was very friendly and welcoming and I found it all interesting. There was a man in the group who posed a few cringe-worthy questions but otherwise we were also on our best behaviour! Obviously for the prayers I went upstairs with the other women. We listened to what was going on via some tinny loudspeakers (ideal for the sung parts, but not so much for the spoken sermon/teaching bit) while we sat facing Mecca.

The women's hall had Qur'ans but also prayer beads and some spare long kaftan like garments for women to borrow. There were also signs telling us we should not talk during one part of the 'service'... Some things seem to be ubiquitous regardless of place of worship: namely asking people to give money and the notices! I felt quite comfortable being in the women's hall as there is definately something very interesting in being in a women's only space, which is not something I have done very much of in the religious context so I was quite up for the experience.

My favourite part was upstairs watching a small girl (4-5 yrs) interact with her mother. Her mother was praying but while she was bowing and prostrating her daughter clambered all over her and while she stood up the little girl squirmed through her legs. It says a lot when your religious experience is large enough to include a small child using you as a climbing frame... The beautiful part was the complete acceptance of the situation by everyone there.