



Although I've been a Muslim for two years now,

In fact,

when it comes to mosques I might as well be a complete newbie.

I get myself all in a nervous muddle not knowing where to go, what to do or when to do it.









I hadn't been going to any of the small repurposed buildings used as mosques in Bologna because there were either too far away, had no spaces for women or you got the feeling that a huge hoo-hah would be made (with a lot of be-grudging huffing and puffing) as the space was provided for you.

I'd only been to a sports hall in the suburbs for Eid prayer and that was about it.





Then huzzah! and Alhamdulillah we discovered a mosque not too far away which is lovely, shiny and new. The main selling point was that the women's section has a huge plasma screen TV so you could see the imam speaking (in Arabic and Italian) and the women wouldn't miss out on anything. I was so excited when I heard the news that I contacted my new friend Nameera and organised to meet there.

The Comfort of Carpets





After waving my husband goodbye, I was ushered into the women's section and knelt down

next to my friend who (thank goodness) was able to show me the ropes.

I was delighted

to find myself a clean white space with a deep burgundy carpet.

The design on the carpet allocated each person a space to pray on so there isn't any bumping or jostling.





Nameera informed me with a Cheshire cat grin on her face that the carpets smelled amazing. I looked at her rather quizzically to which she responded, 'it's not always the case. This mosque might give you a ridiculously high expectation of all carpets.'

Indeed, I'd h

eard horror stories of people coming up from bowing only to find things stuck to their forehead ranging from leaves to other items which I'd rather not care to mention.













The Practicality of Segregation





I'd always had issues with segregation in Islam before I converted.

My mum being a Christian minister meant that I'd grown up in an environment where women have an active role in religious life and part of the joy of being in church was the feeling of community that everyone was together sitting side by side. Of course, sexism rears its ugly head in all communities but at least in this area, gender wasn't an issue.

Therefore the very idea of separation

tends to raise an conflict inside me.





I'd never fully understood the logic behind segregation until I was actually in a mosque and I saw the practical reasons why you'd pray separately.

If they didn't all belong to the same gender, you'd be very distracted by the sea of bottoms bobbing up and down!





Prayer is a very intimate act, and the Islamic way even more so, if you consider that you're prostrating yourself physically in front of many people. So just as I'd always use a women's bathroom facility, I'm very thankful for that separation of the sexes as far as prayer is concerned.









The Vulnerability of Praying in Public





Prayer in Islam is not just a spiritual act, it's also highly physical. I like to imagine that old Muslim men and women must have very limber joints in comparison to the relatively sedentary christian way of praying!





Getting into the 5 daily routine was (and continues to be) quite a challenge for me because u

nless I was saying a prayer aloud in congregation, my prayers were usually silent and spontaneous in my head as thoughts occurred

to me.





Shyness when it comes to praying in front of others is quite a significant challenge for me to overcome. It even

took me a long time to feel comfortable praying in front of my husband without feeling self-conscious.

There's a significant element of trust involved because you're incredibly vulnerable when you pray and at a mosque you're surrounded by people you don't necessarily know and that makes me rather apprehensive.





When I arrived at the mosque not knowing what to do, Nameera helpfully advised me to pray two rakat (or in my simplified way of thinking 'two down, two up').

I dilly-dallied around hesitantly for a while watching what everyone else was doing but then eventually I got down to doing it and I felt so much better once I'd prayed.

I think it'll take a while to feel completely at ease with just arriving and praying straight away even though you don't know everyone in the room.





If I'm honest, probably my main fear is that I'll do something wrong. T

o be fair, I could see in the corner of my eye that a little old lady, who had been watching me with great curiosity ever since I'd walked in, was continuing to glance over as I prayed and so my fears of being watched were not completely unfounded. Luckily the lady was adorable despite the fact that we didn't speak a common language.









The Solidarity of Being Shoulder to Shoulder





As it was Jummah (the prayers on Friday afternoon which are obligatory for men to attend) the prayers take a slightly longer fancier form. The ladies all stood up and moved to the front of the room where they formed a line standing shoulder to

shoulder. T

he little old ladies fussed as they organised us younger muslims and it wasn't until my friend Nameera leant over and explained, 'you need to be touching so that there's no space for Shaytan (Satan) to get in between you' that I understood why.





I tried my best to stay focused but I have to admit that I was rather distracted as I was observing what was going on and trying to work out where I was in the rakat because my normal rhythm was thrown off kilter.

When it was all over I felt so exhilarated to have been to Friday prayer and so chuffed that I couldn't think of anything better than a kebab to commemorate the event!



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I'd love to hear responses from you.

Have you ever been to a mosque?

Have you had similar experiences?



I'd also like to tag Nye Armstrong ( Iloveelhassan ) and Heather

Delusional Mom ) to hear their first experiences in mosques.





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Related Links:

Karima's Crafts Tutorial for a Felt Muslim Doll Praying

My Dad's Mosque Visit in Derby