I used to live right across the street from a mosque and rarely missed the early morning call to prayer being sung out. Back then, the muezzin climbed the minaret and called out so it could be heard near and far. It seems that a decade or so ago, many mosques began using loudspeakers, which have spared many from making the early-morning climb.Often visitors ask me whether they are allowed to go inside a mosque. It’s good to take the opportunity to learn and observe different worship services and the architecture of worship places. Dropping in and observing mosque interiors and visiting with the people there provides cultural insights. Many Westerners are curious about how mosques function in the community and their purpose. Even more so since Osama bin Laden and his cohorts came on to the scene and have tried to hijack a great world religion for evil.
Here are a few helpful points for visitors to bear in mind:
Non-Muslims are allowed into a mosque, but you may be asked to enter through a separate doorway.
Usually non-Muslim visitors are not allowed to visit the mosque during the five daily prayer times.
Men must not go into the section reserved for women to pray.
To show respect, it is recommended to keep your knees and shoulders covered. Mosques frequented by tourists provide large pieces of material that can be wrapped around ladies with too-short skirts or men with shorts. In other words, no shorts, tank tops or short skirts. Women wearing sleeveless tops can get around this rule by wearing a shawl or scarf around their shoulders
Women are required to cover their heads. Women must wear headscarves that keep their hair covered. If you don’t have a scarf, you can often borrow one from the attendant at the mosque’s main entrance.
Everyone is expected to take off their shoes outside. You should remove your shoes before entering. You can put them in a plastic bag (which you then carry), leave them on the pavement outside the mosque or put them on shelves just inside the entrance.
You should stay behind the section of the mosque (usually in the front by the mihrab, the decorative niche in the wall that shows the direction of Mecca) where men actively pray.
If you want to take photos, it is best not to use flash and out of respect to avoid taking photos or videos of people praying.
While you are inside, you should be quiet.
You should also be considerate and turn off your mobile phone.
The mosque courtyard is a more public area, but still an area to show respect. The Friday noon prayer is the best-attended service, at which time a sermon is givenfrom the pulpit.
One of my favorite mosques to show visitors, dating back to the mid-1550s, was built by the Ottomans -- the Süleymaniye Mosque. It is a large and imposing architectural structure with all the necessary facilities to offer a wide variety of services.
You will notice in any mosque courtyard a Muslim performing his ritual washing before going inside. Depending upon the size of the mosque and its importance, its courtyard will have a complex that may incorporate some or all of the following amenities: a religious school known as the “madrassah,” a hospital, a kitchen, a hospice, a caravanserai, a hamam, a library and a graveyard.
You can’t help but want to explore the mosques you come across when you are walking around İstanbul. They are some of the most beautiful buildings in the city. Although you will not see any pictures of people or animals in a mosque, the décor is ornate patterns on tiles. Beautiful calligraphic inscriptions often depict the names of Allah or Muhammad in Arabic.
Any mosque I have visited seemed to be full of individuals there to worship and pray.“All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.” -- Philip Johnson
Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey, 2005.” Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
