Marvin Smith Religion 115D Professor Cooper April 30, 2012

Islamic Mos !e Reflection Paper "or as long as I can remem#er, m$ mother has #een a professor of %orl& religion' I(ve %atche& her p!t together n!mero!s tests an& loo)e& thro!gh man$ religio!s #oo)s in her li#rar$' I have even trie& ta)ing a fe% of her e*ams' Islam, %as one religion that I never tho!ght I %o!l& #e e*pose& to other than thro!gh her #oo)s an& e*am !estions' +o%ever, that %as not the case #eca!se going to a mos !e %as a re !irement for m$ African American religio!s e*perience co!rse' ,his %as the first time I %as going to #e in a religio!s setting that the man I call -o& %as not calle& that, instea& Allah' ,his e*perience %as the most !ni !e o!t of an$ other religio!s e*perience' I ha& no i&ea %hat to e*pect or thin) other than %hat I see Islam portra$e& in the me&ia ' I %as hoping that going to the Mas.i& /ilal, first han&, %o!l& give me a gen!ine !n&erstan&ing of %hat the religion is all a#o!t' 0speciall$ since the Islamic religion is not vie%e& #rightl$ in the general p!#lic #eca!se of %hat %e see in the me&ia' ,he first thing I notice& %hen I got there, that reall$ #affle& me, %as %here the entrance %as1 I finall$ reali2e& I ha& to go aro!n& the si&e of the #!il&ing an& ring a #ell an& #e #!22e& in' After a fe% min!tes of %aiting a man came to the &oor an& %as shoc)e& to see me an& I(m ass!ming it %as #eca!se he ha& never seen me #efore'3hen %e %ere insi&e , I informe& him that I %as there #eca!se of a class visit an& I %as intereste& in seeing ho% the$ &i& things' 4nfort!natel$, there %as not an act!al service #!t I %as ta)en &o%n into the #asement %here there %ere aro!n& t%ent$ people in a class' 3hich seeme& more so li)e a /i#le st!&$ class in m$ home ch!rch' ,he lea&er or person spea)ing %as tal)ing a#o!t the lang!age of Ara#ic' +e reall$ emphasi2e& that !n&erstan&ing their lang!age of Ara#ic %o!l& #ring them closer to Allah, #eca!se thats %hat lang!age the 5!r(an %as originall$ %ritten in' After it

%as over, people came !p to me an& tal)e& to me a#o!t the faith an& if I %as intereste& in .oining an& one man even trie& to convert me to Islam on the spot1 I %as shoc)e& that he %as rea&$ to .!st accept me in so !ic)' After I &enie& the re !est, the$ remaine& nice an& invite& me to sta$ for &inner, %hich I &i& not sta$ for' All in all, I am happ$ I can sa$ I %ent to a mos !e an& sa% something ver$ far a%a$ from m$ !s!al ch!rch e*perience' -oing to the Mas.i& /ilal, reall$ gave me an insi&e vie% of ho% people of Islamic faith %orship an& r!n their operations' Since m$ mother is a pastor of an African Metho&ist 0piscopal 6ion ch!rch an& I atten& an African Metho&ist 0piscopal ch!rch, it %as goo& to see ho% another gro!p &oes things an& it %as an e*perience that I %ill never forget'