Taipei Grand Mosque
This course in Central Asia will inevitably contain a lot of content related to Islam.
After all, when we are introducing countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan,
which are based on religion, it is impossible to talk about religion without talking about religion…
But because it is often negative, for example,the Taliban in Afghanistan -> stifling the right of girls to study;
After the religious revolution in Iran, girls had to wear full-body clothing…etc.
All of these are actually caused by complicated antecedents and consequences.
However, due to the age of the children and the time limit of the class, they can only focus on the key points.
I am afraid that this will lead to the wrong impression of Islam = a religion that deprives human rights.
Therefore, I hope to have a good opportunity to give a positive introduction.
In December last year, I went to the Islamic market in Daan Forest Park,
and stopped by the mosque to have a look.
At that time, I met Novi, an Indonesian girl who came to Taipei University of Technology for a doctoral program.
She was very curious about many things at that time,
and she was very enthusiastic and explained many Islamic teachings and customs to me.
I made an appointment with her at the moment,
I want to bring my students to visit and understand, and then I will ask her to help arrange.
She was very happy and immediately agreed!
2018.12.30 Taipei
Finally, after almost a year, we have successfully made the trip~~
While waiting outside, I saw women wearing full-body smocks Abaya one after another…
1:00 pm should be the time for them to finish their prayers and have lunch.
After the entrance, you will see the five principles of Islam.
In addition to the sincerity of the heart, “speaking out” is a very important thing.
Whether it is washing or praying, it needs to be said! “Zakat” – is all Muslims spontaneously,
when they have spare capacity, they provide 2.5% of their annual income to help others.
No Muslim will check or criticize others for meritorious deeds.
All this should be Your own relationship with the Creator, rather than any third party making irresponsible remarks.
The teacher from the Taipei Mosque explained it to us very seriously,
and also clarified many common secular people’s wrong impressions of Islam:
Myth 1: Does Allah mean the only God? First question from a mother,
the text on the wall (yellow circle) is the name of Allah, right?
The teacher said: This is the most common misunderstanding.
． Jesus, Mazu, God, etc., these are all “God” in the vernacular to us.
When we encounter problems, we usually can’t help begging “God” for help…
But who is this god? What does it look like? In fact, no one has actually seen it.
There are different names in different religions, in Islam, he is the invisible {creator}.
That’s why there is absolutely no figurative figure (idol) in the mosque.
This is the reason. Therefore, the correct translation of the Arabic characters on the wall should be {the only creator}
The teacher also mentioned the pronunciation of Arabic,
so in fact, “Allah” cannot be completely transliterated, “Allah” is closer ….but..this is unavoidable…
A true devout Muslim must know Arabic, because the Koran and all the liturgy are presented in Arabic.
Myth 2: Is Muhammad a descendant of Allah? To us non-Muslims,
the Prophet Muhammad seems to be an object of worship that must be followed.
In fact, it is not! Allah (the Creator) versus Muhammad (the Prophet) is the difference between God and man,
and there is a very clear line between the two.
And there needs to be a bridge between man and God to deliver the message.
In addition, the prophets of Islam, in addition to the Muhammad we know,
in the Old Testament Moses, Abraham, Ishmael (the son of Abraham), Jesus, etc. are also prophets followed by Islam.
It is only mentioned more because the time of Muhammad is closer to us.
Myth 3: Christianity is not my race and does not agree with me?
I did put a bit of weight on this title…
Let me explain slowly. According to the teacher’s explanation,
different religions or sects are like the students taught by the teacher in a class,
and each responds differently according to their own understanding and state.
To use a proverb, maybe it means “one kind of rice raises a hundred kinds of people” ~
If you look back at Jesus 2,000 years ago, when he finally said goodbye to his disciples,
he bowed his head with all five bodies on the ground, which is what Muslims do when they worship.
Action; in those days Jesus would fast for 40 days a year,
and now only a few Christian denominations still maintain the habit of fasting.
So the teacher believes that the teachings of the Muslims are closer to the strict Old Testament content.
As far as I understand it, it can be said that it is related to the same family,and individual branches have developed.
Myth 4: Don’t eat pork, because pigs are omnivores and food sources are too messy?
The teacher from the Taipei Mosque gave us a lot of explanations.
In fact, this issue has been discussed for a long time. However,
the teacher is a bit laid out, and I only understand the main point later. XD !
In the Old Testament, it is clearly stated not to eat pork, and then many religions also do not eat pork
(back to the concept of being from the same family…)
For example, Tai’an Hospital is the only halal-certified hospital in Taiwan,
and it does not provide pork ==> Meaning some Catholics don’t eat pork either.
The abstract concept was passed on to the adults,
and then the children had more practical observations! Why are there so many clocks on the wall?
Everyone has speculated, how many times a day does a devout Muslim pray?
The clocks from the right to the left are:
morning (morning), ringing (noon), morning (afternoon), dusk (evening), and night (evening)
==> These are the five rituals of worship every day (meaning to Five times is right!)
A little girl who went to Dubai for a summer vacation thought it was very interesting.
Why did she listen to music so many times a day? It turned out to be to remind everyone that the time for worship is up~
What is the purpose of the “Zhuma” on the far left? This is the time of day instead of Hibiki (noon) every Friday.
There is a special time every Friday when the presiding imam walks up the wooden steps to preach (see the first two pictures).
The entrance of the Taipei Mosque is facing the xxx road (I also forgot), in short, it is where the sun rises…
The chapel is facing away from the entrance, so the direction of worship is… west…?
“Fucking” our process… XD The direction of worship in mosques all over the world is towards the Holy City [Mecca]
(Where is Mecca, please check the map)
So of course we are facing west in Taiwan, if it is in the UK Probably facing southeast
There are three holy places in Islam, Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia
(I admit that I never thought about where Mecca is…..)
one is Jerusalem. Speaking of the word Jerusalem, Jeru –> foundation, city means; salem –> peace (so say hello to Salem)
==> city of peace. But this city has been unsafe for three thousand years…
The location of the Three Holy Lands of Islam
men’s bathroom
Before praying, the body must be clean! So before entering the prayer room,
everyone has to go to the bathroom to wash their hands, face, hair and feet. When we came in,
we happened to have a ready-made “model” (I think they should feel very inexplicable,
being stared at by a bunch of people and washing their faces XD )
There is a set of SOPs for washing, which must be in order and times, not sloppy.
And also women can’t come to worship during their menstrual period.
“Wash SOP” hanging on the wall
Many people now have washlet toilets in their homes.
We all think this is a beautiful invention of the Japanese.
Who knows, more than a thousand years ago, it has become basic equipment.
Not only to wash the butt, but also to wash the pee with water!
To be honest, when Lara saw this in the toilet of a five-star hotel,
she thought it was a European habit, but today she found out that it was a Muslim relationship.
Writing here, I couldn’t help but insert a photo shared by the speaker when I went to a lecture last time.
What does it mean when you see the pattern of the first quarter moon at the airport in Dubai?
Many people have answered: Where Muslims worship…
The correct answer is: First Ad! People will make judgments based on their own cognition and experience.
It is precisely because we are unfamiliar with Islamic culture,
so how can we think that the “cross” representing the Christian world can appear in the Islamic world?
Not to mention becoming a sign of life-saving….(Don’t forget the history of the Crusades…. )
When I was in the shower room, I found a room that said “Beauty Room”…Is this a place to make face…?
Of course not~ Maybe because an elder in Lara’s family passed away last year,
she also went to Japan to attend a funeral , participated in more details (including washing the general…)
so I naturally thought that this is the place… washing the general. Sure enough,
the teacher said, the concept of Muslims is that life does not bring death and does not bring it with them.
After death, people must be kept clean as they are in the world.
All cleaning procedures are the same, and each part must be washed three times.
The only difference is that when you are alive, you wash yourself,
and after you die, your family or church members help you wash it. According to Islamic customs,
people need to be buried within 72 hours after death, and if it is too late,
they will be buried at sea. There is no coffin in the ground,
so the general box on the storage hall has been reused for 15 years, which is very environmentally friendly~
The tour has come to an end here. Just before everyone went out to take a group photo,
I heard a few Indonesian sisters start calling the children’s names~
They are very considerate to help everyone write their English names in Arabic Come out and make a memorial. In addition,
I also prepared a package of snacks for one person, which is really sweet~
A quote from Madame Curie:：
” Nothing in life is to be feared, it’s only to be understood. ” — Marie Curi
I’m not a follower of any religion, and I’m still looking for the way in the future~
but I hope that children can understand the world from a more objective perspective.
The world is not very peaceful, because there are too many misunderstandings, misunderstandings, and excessive insistence…
I have no excessive liking for any religion.
Even when terrorist attacks were frequent in the past few years,
I did not think it was a problem with Islam. Because of what the teacher said in a general education course at Zhengda University,
the Koran, he said, Islam has been misunderstood, and the Koran actually advocates peace!
The teacher’s gentle and refined attitude vaguely appeared in front of me.
Although it was only for the credits at the time, and I didn’t really want to know the Koran,
his words allowed me to maintain a more objective attitude.
As a teacher, in fact, you don’t know how much your words can affect other students and children.
I hope that what I can do, at least within my limited scope, make the world more likely to have peace…
