On the last day of our Intensive Learning program we went to the GCLEA in Cherry Hill. We had a tour in the mosque. The mosque was big, with two prayer rooms, a children’s room, a library, a kitchen, and more.
When we entered, we met Imam John Starling, who hosted us for our visit. We took our shoes off to show respect to the mosque. Even though we had to take our shoes off, there were carpets everywhere to keep our feet warm. We went into the multipurpose library, where we were shown a presentation about Islam. The presentation was about 30 minutes long and showed us a lot of very interesting information about Islam and Muslims. We learned about Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and how it is the holiest city in Islam. It is required of all financially and physically able adult Muslims to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives.
We also learned about the six pillars of faith, the five pillars of Islam, Ramadan, where most Muslims are located/population, and that they use the lunar calendar to determine the dates of religious observances. After our 30-minute presentation we were given a gift of the Qur’an in the translation of English from its original Arabic.
In the presentation we learned about the six pillars of faith which are:
- Belief in Allah (God)
- Belief in Angels
- Belief in Revealed Scripture
- Belief in Messengers/Prophets
- Belief in The Divine Decree
- Belief in The Last Day
We also learned about 5 pillars of Islam, which are:
- Belief
- Prayer
- Zakat (donations for those in need)
- Fasting
- Hajj (pilgrimage)
These are called pillars because these beliefs support their religion.
We learned a lot about fasting. When people are fasting during the month of Ramadan, they abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. People begin fasting when they are ready, usually after they have reached puberty. But people are not forced to fast; it depends upon one’s health. When women are in their monthly cycle, or if they are pregnant, or if individuals are not healthy, or if they are too old, they have the option not to fast.
The Imam also talked about how long prayers vigils are held every night during Ramadan, and then after their prayers they gather together to eat. He told us how technology has been helpful during this period because now there are apps that tell people when they need to pray and also when they need to fast.
In addition, we also learned about the population and location of Muslims. The population of Muslims world-wide is 1.8 billion, which is about 24% of the world’s population, and also, 64% of them live in Asia. In the US, there are 3.45 million Muslims, which is 1.1% of the US population.
And we closed the program by creating beautiful thank you notes to all who help this week.
