Oh man, does time ever fly. Last time I wrote was June 1. So much has happened since then. For now I’ll fill you in on my recent experience visiting a mosque for the first time.

KATARA MOSQUE TOUR IN A SANDSTORM

I should explain that as I understand it, whether or not mosques are open to women is variable. Here in Qatar, women may enter a mosque (as long as they are properly dressed, i.e., in an abaya), but they are completely segregated from the men, who pray in the large, common area. The same sort of variability applies to whether or not mosques allow non-muslims. In Qatar, (again, as I understand it) all but two mosques are closed to non-muslims. On 3-June, I went to one of them. I participated in the mosque tour arranged by the Fanar Islamic Cultural Centre. The centre is right near the souqs and we were asked to arrive at 14h30. When I came out of my apartment building – I couldn’t believe my eyes – it was foggy! Or so I thought. Actually, it was disgustingly humid and sandy. Aw! Joanna’s first sandstorm. Talk about strange – like pea soup fog, only gritty and bad tasting and very damaging to cameras. And when I say humid, I mean like nothing I’ve ever seen before. People’s glasses fogged up the instant they stepped outside. Wonderfully weird. 

Anyway, the Fanar centre has a small exhibit and literature on Islam and Islamic views on various topics, as well as major contributions made to the betterment of the world by muslims. Very interesting. Here are some things I learned there:

MENSTRUATION AND ISLAM

When a woman has her period, she must not pray, she must not fast (for Ramadan). The idea behind it seems to be that she needs her rest. God knows there are times my period makes me feel so crappy, I wish I could just crawl up into a ball and not do anything. Same rules apply to pregnant women.

ISLAM AND WATER

Water is a bounty from Allah. It must not be wasted or used except when absolutely necessary. Another example of the unbelievable hypocrisy I see living in a muslim country. For a country ruled by Islamic law, you’d think that having a huge, lush green lawn or washing the pavement for no apparent reason would be outlawed, but nope.

ISLAM AND ANIMAL WELFARE

Allah forbade the mistreatment of animals or the killing of animals except when absolutely necessary to feed one’s self. Animals must be treated humanely. Hmmm. How humane is it to dye chicks and bunnies all kinds of colours (a toxic product which usually ends up causing their death within weeks) and then stuff them into a cage barely bigger than themselves to be sold in the souqs? Amazingly, I was told that there is a vet, who has his practice right near those very same animals. I just want to add that last weekend I was there again and saw a rainbow lorikeet who had been given sunflower seed mix for food. Lorikeets are nectar feeders – they are incapable of surviving on this kind of diet.

THE ACTUAL MOSQUE TOUR

The Fanar Centre lends women an abaya. Putting the shayla (head covering) on and getting it to stay on was nearly impossible. It has to completely cover your hair, ears and throat and there’s nothing to pin it together. I must’ve spent more energy continually pulling it back up over my hair than doing anything else that day! Oh, and for someone with super pale skin and nearly no makeup, this getup is not a great look (see photo). Hmmm, I wonder if that’s why the Qatari women make themselves up so heavily.

So we got on a bus to Katara, which is a cultural village. They brought us into a large room where they have a diorama of the eventual completion of Katara, scheduled for 2016. This place is going to be UNBELIEVABLE. Like a total paradise. Hundreds of unique villas, two apartment complexes (all gorgeous), shops, restaurants (there already are a number of restaurants), entertainment, basically a fully enclosed miniature city. Too bad about the weather because taking photos outside would have been great. But no big deal, I actually went back this morning at 5h30, and had the whole place to myself and took some of the most awesome photos of my life (which I will post on facebook once I finish editing them). However, I will attach some below from that day. The one directly below is Friday mosque, and the one below that is ceiling detail in the building with the diorama. 

Then inside Friday mosque (shoes off). I have to admit, it did occur to me to wonder when was the last time they cleaned the carpet because I was sitting on it and touched it with my hands and I mean living in this heat, let’s just say even my feet aren’t the best-smelling they’ve ever been, and these are mainly boy feet that have stepped on this carpet and those of you who know me best know my disdain for boy feet. We had a guide with us, originally from England. He was excellent. We also got to meet an imam who spoke English (by his appearance, my guess is he’s Ethiopian or perhaps Sudanese). Also excellent. And then there was the main imam, a Nepalese man. We received  a very near overload of information about mosques, about islam, about how to pray, about the islam views on the sexes, some of which I’ll detail below, if you’re interested. I will say that it was one of the most interesting and eye-opening experiences of my life. In the photo below, the Nepalese imam is on the right, further back and the Brit is the other guy.

THE MOSQUE

Ever wondered why the mosque has a dome shape? It’s because that shape provides the most architectural strength to the roof, reducing or eliminating the need for supporting columns, which would interfere with worshippers ability to stand shoulder to shoulder, which they are supposed to do. It also allows you fit more people into the same space. The mosque always has a mirhab, a recessed area in the wall, indicating the direction of Mecca, where you must face when you pray. The other essential element is the minaret. That’s where the call to prayer is emitted by the mullah, which is sometimes also the imam. In fact, the sight of minarets poking up everywhere with their loudspeakers and the sound of the call to prayer will be one of my most cherished memories of Qatar. Other elements, like the pulpit are not essential elements of the mosque. There are thousands of mosques in Qatar. Every little neighbourhood has a mosque so that people can get to a mosque quickly when the call to prayer sounds. However, most of these are very small. There are way fewer large mosques, that hold hundreds or thousands of people. Friday Mosque is one of the larger ones. It is beautiful.

HOW TO PRAY

Well, first the imam performed the call to prayer, which is hauntingly beautiful. Unfortunately, the video won't upload. He faces the mihrab and covers his face and sings the call, which basically starts with Allah akbar (Allah is great) and then basically goes on telling people “come to the mosque”. Ten minutes later, another sung call is used to indicate that now it’s time to pray. There are VERY specific positions, some of them extremely uncomfortable that you must adopt while praying. First, you hold up your hands, then cross them in a certain way over your chest. Then hold them back out. Then bend over double. Then crouch down in one smooth move (sucks if you have knee problems), with your feet in a certain position. Then on your hands and knees, in a certain position for the feet. Then on hands and knees. Then touch your forehead to the floor. Then back up, then crouch, then sit back on your right heel, with the foot pointed toward your left foot, and the ball of your left foot squarely on the ground. OMG so painful. Then a series of repeated movements. You don’t say much, you are reflecting. And these moves are supposed to take a certain amount of time. Below is a shot of the imam (centre) teaching two willing participants how to do the moves.

WHERE TO PRAY

The world is your mosque. Meaning, when it’s time to pray (5 times a day, never at the moment when the sun is touching the horizon) you may do so anywhere, with or without prayer mat. But if you can get to a mosque, you must do so. Men must pray in a mosque. Women may pray in a mosque but are not obliged to do so. Why? Because basically, they have to take care of the children, so it would be too much of a hassle to pack up the kids and go to the mosque 5 times a day and make sure they don’t misbehave while you’re praying. However, women pray up on a 2^nd floor, and can only see the imam through a kind of screen.

A FEW THINGS ABOUT ISLAM

1.       SPIRITUAL LEADER: Unlike Christians but like Jews, Muslims do not need a man to be an intermediary between them and Allah. The imam is simply there to lead the congregation in prayer. There is no such thing as a holy man, no such thing as a son of god, father, holy ghost. The imam, unlike a catholic priest, but like a rabbi, can marry, have kids, etc. In fact, he is supposed to do so, because Allah says all men (and women) should do so.

2.       BURYING THE DEAD: Unlike Christians but like Jews, Muslims do not cremate the dead. The dead are buried, and they are never buried in a cemetery beside the mosque, i.e., unlike many Christian cemeteries beside the church.

3.       TATTOOS: Unlike Christians but like Jews, Muslims are forbidden from permanently marking the body. I still don’t understand why you can get piercings.

4.       IMAGES/ARTWORK: Islam forbids the worship of idols, just like Judaism, unlike Christianity. Therefore, there are no stained glass windows with images of Mohammed, of animals, etc. Moreover, Islam does not allow images of animals in artwork, so artwork typically consists of incredibly intricate uses of Arabic calligraphy and is exquisite.

5.       CHILDREN: Allah says you should have children. You should not worry about providing for your children, but instead have faith that Allah will do so if necessary. Therefore, if you have a child and you can’t afford to feed and clothe and shelter it, have another child. If you can’t afford to feed and clothe and shelter that 2^nd child, have a third child. And so on and so on.

6.       Islam IS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH TERRORISM. I shouldn’t have to say this, but unfortunately, too many people believe that to be true. Islam is peaceful. It seeks to provide guidance, clarity and comfort to its practitioners. Yes, much of the terrorism being perpetuated in the world today is being perpetuated by arabs. But if you think that terrorists are doing Allah’s bidding, you are wrong. Like in all major religions, Islam does not condone the killing of innocent people.

7.       POLYGAMY: A Muslim man is allowed a total of four wives, with the condition that he be able to maintain all four of them in exactly the same standard of living. That’s why most of them only have one wife. Also, depending where you live, and it certainly is the case in Qatar, the first wife has to agree that her husband take a second wife. Many women refuse.

8.       STATUS OF WOMEN: Islam accords the woman higher status than the man. Interestingly, women don’t seem to be treated this way. To my eyes, they seem to be treated kind of like children and there’s a lot of subservience and my impression is that the man is cock of the rock.

9.       RAMADAN: During Ramadan, you must fast from sunrise until sundown. This is a time of careful reflection. It is illegal in Qatar to eat in public during those hours, for example, for westerners, pregnant women, menstruating women, diabetics and other people who don’t fast. Elsewhere in the arab world, it’s just considered very rude.