By Jacob Schmedeke
Lamp Writer
“Ten years from now, 20 years from now, you’ll probably remember going here,” said Tim McKenzie, outside a Springfield mosque. “ Having a little uncomfortable feeling, having to watch people bend over, doing it yourself, you know praying, taking off your shoes, the whole entire thing, you’ll remember that for years.”
McKenzie, assistant professor of journalism and humanities; and adjunct instructor Ken Berryman have been taking their students to the Islamic Society of Greater Springfield’s Mosque each semester when possible, for their world religions courses. They do it to give students a firsthand experience with how Muslims pray, as well as a chance to talk to members of the faiths.
“I guess I’m just here for the experience of it and just very interested in seeing what will happen,” said Nathan Janusweski, a sophomore at Lincoln Land.
He and other students were arriving early to meet with a member of the mosque and learn about what the prayer service would entail.
“I’m actually writing my term paper on Islam. I think it’s a beautiful language, and I’m very intrigued to see what happens,” said Sean Maher, a freshman at Lincoln Land.
All of the student out front spoke of many of the same things, curiosity of another religion, to have the experience and to gain some knowledge.
“I’m curious about the religion, so I decided to come,” said Leanne Herring, a freshman at LLCC.
The structure of the mosque at 3000 Staunton St. in Springfield is different than most churches. The mosque has a plain exterior, with one key feature: a golden looking dome right in the middle of the building. No steeples, no points, no stained-glass windows, it almost looked like a state capital with the dome. The only way you knew what it was for sure was by a sign out front of the building near Kiwanis Park.
Inside is nice but not ornate. One difference hard not to notice was the small bathing areas in the bathrooms. Before prayer, one is supposed to clean oneself, so if you do not have a chance to, they provide it for you. Just imagine your local YMCA but a lot nicer.
The room where the men and children pray was very simple as well. Carpeted with a partition separating the room between where the men assembled to pray and the women assembled to pray. The men gathered up front, children in the back, and they had seats at the very back for the elderly who could not go up and down repeatedly. The one extravagant item was a huge chandelier.
They had double-sided glass windows on the partition, so the women could see in but the men could not see the women. I was told the women’s prayer room was basically a blank room with a speaker so they could hear the service. Women in the mosque wear a hijab over their head and covering themselves from ankle to neck. Men also have a dress code, of not wearing shorts to prayer.
They had a small side room for special services or celebrations. Students went there after service to eat and have a discussion with the guest speaker that day Ahmed Rehab, executive director for CAIR Chicago, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group.
CAIR is an acronym for the Council on American and Islamic Relations.
Ahmed gave the noon sermon. He spoke with passion about the religion’s many values. People continued to arrive for prayers, from the first word at 1:15 p.m. to almost his last at 1:45 p.m.
The attendees sat in rows on the floor, shoulder to shoulder. When you think there is no way anyone else can fit, another person comes in and they all make room with smiles on their faces. Everyone is focused and intently listening.
When they stand to start the four poses of prayer it was like watching synchronized swimming. Everyone at once without a word was doing it. From the smallest 2 year olds, to the oldest man with Hulk Hogan hair. It was impressive to say the least.
After the sermon, Lincoln Land students gathered in the side room for a meal and a discussion with Rehab.
Many questions were asked, some serious and some more playful. For example, one might find it insane to not eat bacon, so Rehab was asked about that. He, in fact, had never actually slipped up just once and had a piece. That answer was a very strict, “No!”
While others asked more poignant questions, like Leanne Herring who asked, what is the Muslim stance on homosexuality?
To which Rehab smiled and said, “Not good.”
Rehab said it is not allowed and is forbidden, but that finally, the topic is coming up for discussions after all these years.
“You have them living with you in your society, so why act like they are not there and mistreat them,” Rehab said.
He himself admitted to being on the more liberal side of being a Muslim and said he supports the LGBTQ community. Stating that as a civil rights activist, he must fight for all people’s rights. He also stated that many imams or Muslim scholars are nowhere close to being OK with homosexuality.
Another question came from a girl about women wearing the hijab: Was it obligatory, could women choose to not wear it in prayer or out of prayer?
A quick yes, it is obligated for women to wear it at prayer, but no it is not obligated for a woman to wear it outside of prayer.
He then explained the hijab in a unique manner. Rehab said, as Americans you understand the concept but not the extent. You understand that there are body parts that must be covered, but you don’t get why we choose the head. You know there are certain parts of your body that your culture deems necessary to cover up. What you don’t understand is the extent to which we do it.
Both Rehab and the imam spoke of many of the same things in their service. They are God-fearing people who get up every day and try their best. In fact, their religion requires them to do their best.
Rehab pointed out that there are always extremists to any religion, some of which are more extreme than others. But don’t let the outliers deter you from the 1.6 billion people in this world who are Muslim.
The student’s reactions were somewhat mixed as they left that day. Both men seemed to think their prayer session and sermon was beautiful. While Herring, who had to go to the women’s room to pray and had asked the question about homosexuality, was a little put off.
“The women’s room wasn’t very big,” Herring said. “It was just white with a speaker in it, so we could hear the sermon. There were a lot of carefree kids. It felt a little less equal to the men’s room. I still enjoyed the experience though.”
While Maher had a totally different experience. “I thought the call to prayer was amazing. I really enjoyed and admire the people and how together they all were. What stood out to me was the amount of flexibility Ahmed talked about with the Quran,”
Maher went on to say that we would love to learn the Arabic language one day.
Janusweski echoed some of the same sentiments as Mahler: “I was really impressed with the unity and togetherness of the people. Especially the children, they were unbelievably well behaved. I thought the speaker spoke about wonderful values.”
Jacob Schmedeke can be reached at [email protected].
