Wednesday’s field trip was to Washington’s Islamic Center. Unfortunately for us, the hour or the only two hours that it rained hard this week encompassed our seven block walk from the metro stop to the center. By the time we reached the gates, you wouldn’t have been able to tell whether or not I had taken the time to try my laundry. And with proper irony, the clouds decided to stop raining about 10 minutes after we got there.
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With our shoes off and the women’s heads wrapped, we entered the mosque. I sat watching intently the four guys intently praying in a rhythm and pattern wholly unknown to me.
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After a few minutes of observing, the mosque’s teacher came to speak with the group. He gave us a brief history of this particular mosque, where different parts of the building came from, and then he opened up for discussion. People asked questions, such as: what are Muslims’ perceptions of Christians; how is the Quran to be interpreted, contextually or literally; how does Jesus fit into Islam’s perspective; how have things changed for Muslims in D.C. following 9-11; and is a hijab required of Muslim women? His answers to each of these provided an interesting, much more moderated response than the media or “common knowledge” would lead one to believe.
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