A Mosque For Everyone

While in the UAE I saw, and heard, Mosques everywhere. The Koran requires that there is a Mosque within walking distance for every Muslim. Five times a day you can hear the Call To Prayer. This is a chanted prayer that is sent out from a loudspeaker located high in the spire of every Mosque. It is quite an honor to be the man who gets to do this chanting. Every time it is the same and it is a time for Muslims to go to the closest Mosque and pray. Many Muslims do not actually close up their businesses and leave, but instead lay their prayer cloth on the floor and kneal in prayer. And they always face Mecca. On my flight to and from the Muslim country I noticed that the movie monitors directed fliers to where Mecca was so they could pray. This first one below is the Mosque that is on the University Campus where my sister is employed. It is located in the center of the campus. The architecture of these buildings is magnificent. They are very ornate and each one has that tall spire. I wish I had seen the inside of one, but maybe on my next trip. Here are some photos of some of the other Mosques I saw in my travels.







I found it interesting how Muslims went to Mosque when the Call To Pray began. All of a sudden the streets were filled with people. Men walked on the medians between lanes of traffic and women emerged from homes and businesses and all were headed in the same direction. This is even more obvious on Friday, the Muslim Holy Day. On Fridays, there is a service 5 times a day instead of merely a time for prayer. So the Mosques are even busier on Fridays. I like to compare it to Easter and Christmas in many of our churches where people who don't take the time to come to church every Sunday make the effort to attend services on these Holidays. On Friday Lavina and I were on our way to the beach when we drove past a Mosque that was located very near the desert. I had to take a photo when I saw that parked among the newer vehicles in the shade of a big tree were some camels that had been ridden to Mosque. Now that's not something you see in the USA.