Field/Background Information
On a chill Friday afternoon at around 1pm, I set out on a religious tour to an Islamic center. Bilal Islamic Center, 4016 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA – 90011 was my chosen destination of worship as I sought to find out exactly what happens here every Friday afternoon. The first thing that I sought to know was why Muslims chose Friday as their preferred day to gather for prayer. I was informed that the idea about the Friday gathering was derived from the fact that Friday was a known market day in many regions. It was hence realized the need for Muslims also to have a specific day of worship just like other religions. Friday became a preferred day as it found many people gathered to gather and hence making it convenient for them to meet after their businesses. There was however no other sanctity about Friday that was related to the day (Bilal Islamic center).
The service was a regular Friday prayer meeting where the Muslims have a ritual birth called ghusl. Basically, on Fridays, Muslims are required to take a birth, beautify themselves with perfumes before they go to the prayer meeting. This is meant to make them appear pure before Allah as well as pay allegiance to him. During the prayer meeting, a chapter is read, kahf among other chapters. They also send other special prayers to Allah. There is also a session when the imam makes a speech before they enter into other two Raka's Jumu'ah prayer. On each Friday, they usually have designated prayers that they recite before going back to their homes. The Friday gathering is never accompanied by songs, it is only prayer and speech.
Site Description/Sociological Placing
The bilala Islamic center is situated in a serene environment with a big mosque as well as a park. The place is spacious enough and allows more room for meditation and other lessons that are usually carried out on a daily basis. The buildings had the traditional doom architect with cream and brown buildings. There is also a pool with some water where people can wash themselves before going to the temple. I was only privileged to enter the room where prayers are carried out. Even though the center welcomes people of all ages and gender, there is an exception to the gender that enters a certain prayer room. I learnt that there are separate prayer rooms for males and females. Children above age of five and who understood what was happening and maintained their discipline were also allowed into the room. The room was quite with no music except the movements of people and the prayers that were made.
I sought to find out why there was a separation of gender during prayer. Contrary to what I have thought to be an Islamic traditional culture for men and women not to mix during prayer, I realized that it was more of concentration and the posture adopted during prayer. Muslims pray with their forehead on the floor and a protruded buttock (Curtis, 343). If men and women were allowed to be in such a posture in the same room, the men would definitely be destructed and hence not being to concentrate in prayer. This is hence for maintaining morality and discipline in the temple. For the younger children separation, it is all about their distraction and noise during prayer.
Description of ritual/activity
I was at the temple premise early enough so that I get a glimpse of what happens and so avoid making mistakes. The session began with a special birth, which is a symbol of cleansing oneself from the pollutions of the day. Just outside the temple, everybody was expected to wash their legs up to the knee. There is a place where the shoes are kept as nobody is allowed to enter wearing shoes in the temple. This is for holiness purposes. After washing the feet, they are not wiped to avoid any contamination. Since people enter the temple at different times, they begin their personal prayers as they wait for more people to come as well as more directions. The prayers are silent or alternatively, one may just be meditating, either taking a sitting position or bending on the forehead.
After the room was adequately filled, a specific chapter from the Quran was read. There were also prayers made which I learnt that were being directed to Allah. They were prayers of peace and protection. After the prayers were done, the imam gave a speech, which was basically a teaching of faith. The imam encouraged the worshipers to keep the teachings of Allah and ensure that they dedicated themselves to a lifestyle of prayer. He also encouraged them to ensure that they kept attending the Friday prayer as well as other rituals in the center as this will strengthen their spiritual life. After finishing his speech, he led the congregation through a prayer that was referred to us Raka's Jumu'ah prayer. This prayer engaged the whole congregation who had to be bend on their forehead. During the speech, they were all seated with their legs folded.
Analysis
After attending the prayer services, I made several observation which included the dress code, the mode that was displayed by the worshipers as week as the different roles that were played by the gender. Males were required to be in kanzus and the capes. The preferred color was white though I saw some with other colors (Curtis, 345). The women were in chador, which is a dress covering their head and the entire body. They were only to live their eyes exposed, the preferred color was black. I was told that female Muslims are supposed to cover their entire body and not expose their other features except to their husbands. Interaction between males and females was minimal and almost nil. This was because of the sanctity of the place and the fact that the religious ritual required them to concentrate only on spiritual issues.
There were specific areas where they were to respond during prayer and they did this in unison. The imam who was leading the prayers would do so and there after the congregation responded. Everything was done in unison even when it came to the part where they all had to bend on their forehead. They would listen to the instructions and take the necessary action. The bended position was only taken when carrying out communal prayers or during meditation. The other sessions required them to sit with folded legs. There were no chairs in the room and everyone was required to sit on a carpet that was spread.
Works cited
Bilal Islamic center. <http://www.masjidbilalonline.com/history.html>Curtis, Edward. Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2010.
