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Mosque |
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Mosque; a Muslim house of worship. Literally means "place of prostration" (in prayer).
Pronunciation: mas-jid • (noun)
Examples: During Ramadan, Muslims spend a lot of time at the masjed for special prayers and community events.
Alternate Spellings: masjid |
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Holy Places Of Islam... |
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The Kaaba is the "cubic" shrine in Mecca, the center of Islamic worship and the holiest place in Islam. ("Kaaba" means "cube" in Arabic.) It was originally a shrine built by Abraham devoted to the one God, about 2000 B.C.
Muslims pray five times a day facing the Kaaba in Mecca, and if they are able, they will make a Pilgrimage, or "hajj", there at least once in their lives.
At the time before Islam, the Kaaba was used to house about 360 idols for the various tribes of Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad was against idol worship and preached that there was one God (Allah). This started the hostilities (attacks, fighting) against him and his followers. After leaving Mecca and going to Medina, the Prophet Muhammad and his followers finally returned triumphantly (in triumph, victoriously) into Mecca. There the Muslims destroyed the idols and rededicated the Kaaba to the one God. |
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The Dome of the Rock - Jerusalem
This beautiful structure was built by the Caliph Abd al-Malik and completed in 691 A.D. The building encloses a huge rock located at its center from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended (went up) to heaven at the end of his Night Journey. |
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Demak Mosque, Indonesia. Built in 1477 AD
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Royal Mosque, Isfahan, Iran. 17th century [Image from Anglia, U.K. "Welcome to Isfahan"] |
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Great Mosque, Xian, China.
Originally built in 742 AD during the Tang dynasty. |
Bougoni, Mali, West Africa. Built around 1890. [Image from Baobab Narratives
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Learn more about the mosques of the world:
>> http://isfahan.anglia.ac.uk:8200/
>> http://info.uah.edu/msa/mosques.html
>> http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~du_bois/
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House of prayer in Islam. |
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A mosque is symbolically very important to Muslims, and is a humble way for man to recreate pure divine presence on earth. |
MOSQUE - masjid |
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Masjid (Mescit) is a word meaning 'place for prostration', and were used by the early Muslims for houses of worship |
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