Muslim Sunni Mosque Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Muslim Sunni Mosque - Essay Example I had been told by my Sunni acquaintances that this was the oldest and the grandest Muslim Sunni Mosque in California. It had been built in 1984 through a trust fund which a Saudi Arabian woman had set up in 1977 for this specific purpose. When visiting her children who were studying in LA, she discovered that there was no mosque in the area, where Sunnis could pray and congregate. Therefore, she decided to donate the money required to establish a mosque which would act as a place of prayer, a center for religious instruction and advise and a social and cultural community center for Sunnis. As I approached the mosque, one of the very first things which struck me was its grandness. Surrounded by iron gates and located in the center of a rather large piece of land, the mosque was quite imposing. Nevertheless, it did not attract my attention because it was, in any way, different from Shia architecture or more impressive than Shia mosques but because this was LA. Upon entering the mosque, I felt a sense of familiarity, meaning that I felt that I was entering a Muslim place of worship and not a Sunni one which was foreign to me as a Shi'ite. As it was just half an hour before the call for the Friday noon prayers, most of the Muslims were in the washrooms performing the ritual cleansing, woodu. Here I noticed a difference.