KS3 Religious Studies

The Mosque

The Mosque
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Learning objectives

What are the key features of a mosque?

What is the significance of the particular
features of a mosque?
What do mosques, and what happens inside
them, reveal about Islamic beliefs?
How should people behave when they visit a
mosque?
How is the mosque important to Muslims,
and to the community?

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What is a mosque?
The Islamic Center of America: a newly built
mosque in Dearborn, Michigan, USA

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What is a mosque?

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The first mosques

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What is the main purpose of a mosque?

I pray at home and at work, but at
the mosque we pray together.
Muslims believe that offering salah
(prayer) with other people has much
more value than praying alone.
While salah can be performed
anywhere, it is considered most
pleasing to God when performed
with the other members of the
Muslim community in the mosque.
The Sunna states that salah in the
mosque is 27 times more valuable
than when offered in the home.
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The shape of a mosque

Mosques are usually square-shaped with a large dome. The
minaret is the tower in the corner
used for the call to prayer.
The minaret
The dome

What similarities and differences can you see

between mosques and other religious buildings?
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Mosques in Britain
Some mosques are purpose-built, while others are converted
houses or existing buildings.

This mosque used to be

a working mens club.
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Special mosques

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What happens in the mosque?

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Inside the mosque

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What is an imam?
The word imam means someone who stands in front. The
imam leads the prayers and preaches the Friday sermon, in
which he explains a passage from the Quran or
a story about the prophet Muhammed.
An imam is not a priest.
He is an educated person.
He knows a lot about Islam.
Each mosque has an imam.
There are no ordained
priests in Islam.
Why do you think this is?
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What is a muezzin?
The muezzin calls Muslims to prayer from the minaret.
He recites the adhan, or call to prayer, at set times.
Come to prayer,
Come to security,
God is the greatest,
There is no God but Allah.

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Arriving at the mosque

When we enter the mosque we

go in with our right foot first,
while pronouncing blessings
upon Muhammed and his family.
Once inside the mosque we have
to speak softly so as not to
disturb the people praying.
Prayer is a duty for all of us.

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Arriving at the mosque

Before we pray we go to a special
washroom and we take off our
shoes. All the time we are trying to
show our respect for God. We also
like to wear loose clothes. Mum
says this shows modesty, and it
makes it easier to pray too.

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Wudu
Muslims wash in a special sequence called wudu. They
believe this makes them physically and spiritually clean before
Allah. Men and women wash separately.
Wash hands.
Rinse mouth and
nostrils.
Wash arms up to
elbows.
Wipe forehead,
ears and neck.
Wash legs up to
ankles.
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Can you work out how this

washroom is used?
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The prayer room

The mosque contains a prayer room
where we pray in rows. I sit with Dad in
one area, and Aisha sits with Mum in a
separate area. Being separated helps us
to concentrate better on our prayers.
Images are forbidden in
worship, so our mosque is
simply decorated so that we
dont get distracted. But some
mosques are decorated with
beautiful Arabic script from
the Quran.

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Inside the prayer room

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Finding the direction of Mecca

Wherever they may be, Muslims face towards the holy city
of Mecca when they pray.

Mecca

A special compass is
used to find the qiblah.

What compass direction is

Mecca from Britain?
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Salah and rakah

Salah is ritual prayer practised five times
a day as one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Every adult Muslim should perform salah,
either at home or in a mosque.
Salah for the five prayer times is made up
of different numbers of rakat. A rakah is
a special sequence of movements and
verses from the Quran, and involves
standing, bowing and kneeling with your
forehead touching the floor, while reciting
the appropriate verse for each position.

Early morning
rakah 2
Early afternoon
rakah 4
Late afternoon
rakah 4
After sunset
rakah 3
Night
rakah 4

Muhammed said that prayer is like a stream you dip

into five times a day. What do you think he meant?
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Recap: What happens in a mosque?

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The local mosque and Friday prayer

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Aids to prayer
Do you know what these are?

They are prayer

mats used during
the five daily
times of prayer.
Prayer mats often
have pictures of
the Kaaba or
other Islamic holy
sites on them to
help focus the
worshippers
attention on holy
things.

Can you see any other designs on the mats that

may be there for reasons other than decoration?
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Aids to prayer
Do you know what these
things are used for?

The compass is used to find the

qiblah the direction of Mecca so
that we can pray facing the right way.
The green things a prayer cap my
Dad wears one when he prays, as a
sign of modesty and humility. And
the prayer beads are used to help us
recite all the names of Allah.
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Aids to prayer prayer beads

Prayer beads are made up
of three sets of thirty-three
beads and one large one to
make a hundred. They are
usually made of wood or
plastic, although sometimes
they can be made of olive
pits, ivory, amber or pearls.
Some strings of prayer
beads have an Arabic letter
printed on each bead.

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The ninety-nine small beads

are used to say the ninety-nine
names for Allah during prayer.
Repeating Allahs name in this
way (titles such as the Wise,
the Compassionate, the
Merciful, the Good or the
Eternal) draws Muslims closer
to him. Sometimes they recite
the same few favoured names
over and over.
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Arabic, the sacred language of Islam

The Quran is written in Arabic, which is also the language of
the prayers. There are copies of the Quran kept in the
mosque, and words from the Quran are used for decoration.
Calligraphy on
the Taj Mahal

Calligraphy on the ceiling of

the Blue Mosque in Istanbul
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The madrassa
When I was a boy growing up in Pakistan
and then Turkey, my father encouraged me
to attend a madrassa, or mosque school,
every evening. It was here that I learned
large sections of the Quran in Arabic. The
madrassa taught me the difference
between right and wrong, and I encourage
my own son, Yusuf, to attend, as it assists
him in his studies. The mosque is more
than a place of worship, it helps shape who
we are as Muslims and we have made lifelong friends there.

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Wordsearch

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Planning to visit a mosque

If you visit a mosque, think about
When to go
Midday on Friday will be busy.
What to wear
Wear clothes that cover
you to the ankles and
wrists. Remove your
shoes and cover your
head when you enter.

Where to stand
Remember that men and
women go to separate
areas in the mosque. Be
polite and give way to
worshippers at all times.

Who to speak to
Speak to the imam if you can.

What questions to ask

Write down the questions youd like to ask, and
remember to ask before taking any photos.
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Why are mosques important to Muslims?

If you build a mosque for Allahs sake,
He will build for you a house in paradise.
A persons prayer mat is his mosque.

What do these sayings tell you about the

importance of mosques for Muslims? Are they
saying the same thing, or something different?
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Mosques and the Muslim community

Our family always tries to pray

together. A mosque is a house of
prayer, but it is also much more
than this. Our mosque holds
evening classes that teach us
more about our faith, and I enjoy
helping out with the events and
dinners that our mosque hosts.

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Mosques and the Muslim community

One of the happiest moments

of my life was when I stepped
into the mosque for our
wedding! We were living in
America at the time. In all the
places weve stayed, weve
always found good friends and
lots of support at the mosque.

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Mosques and the Muslim community

Design a leaflet advertising the
facilities at the local mosque:
a youth club
a place to hold funerals
a library with a reading room
a community centre with a
kitchen
a madrassa (school to learn
Arabic)
a place to celebrate births and
marriages.
On the way to Friday prayer
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Over to you

Answer the following questions in full paragraphs,

explaining your answers.
What makes the mosque special for Muslims, and how
is this similar to or different from how other religions
view their places of worship?
What is your response to the beliefs and ideas Muslims
hold about their places of worship?
Should places of worship be the focus of the community?
Are there places where you feel a particular sense of
respect, or places of local or community significance in
your life? Why are they significant to you?

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