Culture Classroom visits mosque, text by Jonah

Op 13 July culture class Janny has gone to the mosque in Roosendaal. We went there to end the period faith and religion. It was quite a nice getaway. Initially we would just look around but we got a real tour of the Imam (The "priest" in the Islamic faith). Most people were a little excited: no one had ever been in a mosque. The Imam, however, put us at ease we just relaxed and to lead a fine way into the mosque.

First we took off our shoes in the hall. The idea is that you take off your shoes when entering a mosque. The carpet would eventually become quite dirty because of a service is standing, sitting and kneeling polite.

We were guided through the hall where the services are held, and were told how to go to the mosque is experienced. There are six services per day. around 3and, around sunrise, in the afternoon, around six and two in the evening. There are no set times for the prayers.

The imam started to talk about Islam and everyone in the group felt good about. It was clear that Islam is not a religion or something scary. What he said, went straight to our heart and we were glad of. He hung no strict doctrine of, Islam is just focused that you are a good person. You are just encouraged to be a good man, to be there for others and to be fair (yourself and others). The Imam also answered questions we had about Islam and everyone was satisfied with the explanation.

After we heard how there was a service together and had heard a little summary of Islam, we continued the tour. We zijn nog gaan kijken bij klas lokalen die ook in de moskee staan (for faith and Arabic). We hebben geluisterd naar wat er vanuit de moskee wordt georganiseerd en na afloop kregen we heerlijke Marokkaanse thee met koekjes.

Afterwards we celebrated Judith's birthday. It was a beautiful day.