A True Place of Worship

A True Place of Worship

1990 3 March 5-6 A True Place of Worship (435) Simplicity of the mosque and the natural form of worship which takes place in it, have made it into a living call to Islam, serving a missionary purpose in the way that it impresses people. The very sight of it has a strong appealing force. The mosque, by its very existence, is a form of propagation of Islam.

Dr. Ralph R Sisson, a professor of communication at the New York State University, had occasion to visit our Islamic Centre on January 27, 1989. At this meeting, I introduced to him the Islamic, concepts of monotheism, prophethood and the life hereafter. In, the course of the conversation I asked him, “Having been born into a Christian family, do you go to church?” He said that formerly he had been a regular attender, but that now he had stopped going altogether. He explained that the atmosphere in the church was strangely incongruous. Ornamentation, music, different voices and rituals made it seem more like a club than a place of worship.

What this American professor had to say about the church holds true of all other places of worship, with the exception of the mosque. The distortions in the religions of today have made their churches, synagogues, etc. seem more like places for social gatherings than places of solemn worship. The Islamic mosque, on the other hand, is extremely simple. It looks genuinely like a place of worship, whereas other places of worship have all kinds of distracting elements in their external appearance. This simplicity of the mosque and the natural form of worship which takes place in it, have made it into a living call to Islam, serving a missionary purpose in the way that it impresses people. The very sight of it has a strong appealing force. The mosque, by its very existence, is a form of propagation of Islam.

If present-day Muslims have closed the doors of the mosque to non-Muslims, it is because they themselves are deplorably lacking in da’wah consciousness. Even in those mosques which are considered historical monuments to which non-Muslims may freely gain admission, at the time of prayers all non-Muslims are asked to leave. In what way is this supposed to be consistent with the spirit of da’wah?

It is only when Muslims freely and gladly throw open the doors of their mosques to non-Muslims that they will be able to bring to them all the hope and enlightenment of Islam. You cannot warm the hearts of your potential mad’us by making them stand outside your mosques. This is no better than telling them to stand apart from your community.