A Christians Experience In A Mosque Religion Essay

A Christians Experience In A Mosque Religion Essay I am a Christian by personal faith, genetics and through circumstance of being raised in the church. I have been a Christian so long that any other religion to me is of little concern to me personally. But, I do not say this to be mean because I have many friends of different religions, beliefs and races. Whatever they believe in is fine with me and vice versa. I decided to go to a mosque with my best friend since fourth grade since she is a Muslim. I learned a lot more than I originally thought and this is my journey. Humama and I have been best friends since fourth grade. My family and hers are close despite one being Christian and the other Muslim. To each other we are people, friends, and religion does not define our relationship. I asked Humama to come with me to the mosque downtown on King Street because I would feel more comfortable being with someone who knew what was going on. We decided to go on a Friday, which is their holy day. Before leaving her house in Goose Creek, we performed ritual called a Wudu. It is washing of body parts important to performing formal prayers, called Salah. She said that there is a station at the mosque for it, or they use a sink for it but it would be easier to do it before we left home. She gave me a blue outfit to wear with a matching veil to cover everything from our wrists to our ankles for modesty and respect. On the drive downtown, bundled up in a beautiful outfit completely out of my normal form of dressing, I wondered how I would be greeted and how I would be changed by this. I have walked and drove past the mosque on King Street many times. After living downtown for almost a year, you would have to be blind not to notice it. It sits there on the corner of King and Romney street, quiet and not architecturally designed like the mosques I have seen in pictures. It is simplistic in its design for its purpose. We parked and walked to the mosque and I noticed people of different races entering the mosque which surprised me. There were Blacks, Whites, and many people of Middle Eastern descent. There were young people, old people and all seemed unified in their beliefs of Allah. We entered the mosque and entered a quick prayer to bless the mosque. The prayer had not started yet, so Humama introduced me to other Muslims in the hallway. My anxiety was easing somewhat speaking to others that did not seem to mind I was there, despite being a Christian. Before entering the actual mosque, Humama and I took off our shoes to show another form of respect. Humama and I sat facing Mecca, after speaking for a few minutes to the others, she said we could offer other quick prayers while waiting for the sermon to start. I realized for the first time that the men and women were separated in the mosque. The men were in the front and the women in the back, though we could still see everything. I noticed that there were two rows of chairs and I saw that the handicapped or men of importance sat there. I sat beside Humama thinking, this is kind of unfair having to sit all the way in back and not among the men. In my church you sit anywhere, but I pulled the thought back, to not judge but participate in her faith. To get my mind off it, I thought to myself that I really enjoyed not having my shoes on since I am somewhat bohemian. Humama informed me we were waiting for the Imam, the preacher and leader of the mosque, to come out and preach which is called the Pre-Prayer. She informed that the Imam would usually come out and give a sermon on whatever he wished to or tell a religious story. He would later in the sermon connect the meaning of it to his sermon. I became a little impatient waiting for the Imam to come out, but she reassured me that he would be out shortly. After five more minutes he walked out and reality finally set in that I was completely out of my depth. The Imam, whose actual name is Mohamed Melhem did not look like a preacher to me. He seemed like a regular man yet easy to talk to. He began the sermon by welcoming everyone to the mosque and praising Allah. He was easy to listen to and to understand. He gave a sermon on serving Allah and fasting. That by fasting you gain a closer relationship with Allah. Allah is there for us and there is only one. Prayer should be consistent (they pray five times per day) and that the Quran is there to guide us. He spoke of being a Muslim in the world, that all aspects of being a Muslim should be retained once leaving the mosque. As a Muslim, your ethics and how you stick to them in the world shows how Allah is working through you. I noticed that everyone seemed in awe and took in every word he said. They seemed completely devoted to listening to the Imam speak about this, because by looking at them you could tell some found themselves again by being among peers like themselves. After finishing the sermon, the Adhan or Azan, did a call to prayer. Everyone listened and moved forward face down listening to the Azan pray. After the prayer was finished, some people continued to pray and others got up to socialize. The mosque offered food to us to raise money for the mosque. The food was similar to what I had eaten before at Humamas house and it was delicious. I do not remember the names of the food, but it did not matter at the time. Everyone socialized for about an hour and a half and some continued to speak about Allah, others about school and work. Some people were coming in late having just got off work to come in at the right time to pray. Leaving the mosque, I felt a little different. The peace of praying with others who get along despite your race. The sacredness of leaving the world outside and finding yourself again when entering the mosque. Facing Mecca and everyone praying in one direction and at one time. They all believe the same way and it shows why they have such a strong community. No one is trying to pull away and do their own thing. It made me feel closer to my own God, and that it makes life easier knowing that essentially we all have the same belief in one God, despite the different ways we worship. I gained a closer relationship with my best friend and with my God and that really changed me.

College Admissions Essay: What I Want from College :: College Admissions Essays

What I Want from College    My high school is completely project-based. We've designed restaurants, traveled to Mars, redone the trials of Exxon-Valdez and Bhopal, and had our own Olympics. All of our academic subjects integrate into the projects. In 11th grade, second trimester, the assignment was to build and maintain a utopian society on Mars. As part of the project, I was asked to define the value system of my group's utopia by ranking the importance of ten qualities that make a successful city, including health care, pollution, transportation, education, housing, entertainment, and others. I wondered how I would even begin.    I looked at my classmates, some of whom were talking, sleeping, or simply bored. Suddenly, I realized what my utopia would contain. Of course, my class's lapse in attention was only temporary. But what of those consistently apathetic students and tedious classes? What would happen if every student in the classroom were involved, inquisitive, and motivated?    And so, Edutopia, my utopia, solidified in my mind. Its first and foremost priority was that of an education, and not merely of a high school or undergraduate level. Students of Edutopia would have every opportunity to follow whatever educational pursuits they desired, on Mars. I set out to build a society that respected intellect. And throughout the next trimester, I did.    After my completion of the project, I re-examined my career and life goals. Before I discovered that Edutopia was my idea of paradise, I had never realized that education was so important to me. When I did, though, I decided to pursue a career in education.    Cornell University has all the resources I need to further develop my intellectual interests.

Careers is Purposeful

In my opinion, this course should sway from promoting improving learning skills to actually researching careers and options. As a student, I have felt inclined to only research careers that are somewhat related to my learning skills. Not to mention, this course encourages everyone to become the â€Å"model citizen†. It directs my attention from planning my career pathway to become an all-around person based on improving my weaknesses. I also believe that the assignments are too much alike each other.It would have been reasonable if learning skills and working habits were Just in the first unit. However, since It has carried all the way to the culminating, I have often found myself going back to my previous assignments and repeating parts of my answers. For instance, I liked the idea of having a Doctor Issues revisited but the results were far from promising. I understand that it's an online course, but how much are you going to change your perspectives about what you think Is a â€Å"good path† In about a week?To Improve this course, I would suggest focusing on more post-secondary options that are available to us. I found the concept of co-pop programs and apprenticeship programs very confusing. The websites I found did not clearly explain how to apply to them and what you can do after that. Although I thought It was beneficial to compare the pros ND cons of college and university, I felt that the Information pertaining to degrees and other Information was missed. Specifically, telling students to research a career of Interest Is not as helpful as telling us what we can do with each degree.Whilst we will be choosing our university In the upcoming years, It would have been beneficial to give us tips on what to look for when choosing a university. For the purpose of self-regulation, the Careers course has done a good Job. However, In terms of assisting me with my career options and pathway, It has not been as purposeful as It could have been. Assign ments Like Planning All Possible Pathways are excellent assignments to assist students with the career planning. I think that If this course Implements some of my Ideas Like this, then It can be more purposeful and beneficial.Careers is Purposeful By armillary learning skills and working habits were Just in the first unit. However, since it has perspectives about what you think is a â€Å"good path† in about a week? To improve this what you can do after that. Although I thought it was beneficial to compare the pros and cons of college and university, I felt that the information pertaining to degrees and other information was missed. Specifically, telling students to research a career of interest is not as helpful as telling us what we can do with each degree.Whilst we will be choosing our university in the upcoming years, it would have been beneficial self-regulation, the Careers course has done a good Job. However, in terms of assisting me with my career options and pathway, it has not been as purposeful as it could have been. Assignments like Planning All Possible Pathways are excellent assignments to assist students with the career planning. I think that if this course implements some of my ideas like this, then it can be more purposeful and

Core Vs. Sociological Theory - 918 Words

Midterm Essay: Core Figures in Sociological Theory What is the meaning of life? Ah, a question that has pondered the mind of an individual for eons and eons. In a feudal society, it was common to turn to faith and religion to answer such question. Eventually, man became hungry for evidence and truth, thus the Enlightenment was born. The Enlightenment was a period of remarkable intellectual development that occurred in Europe during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The Enlightenment criticized the feudal ideologies of faith and tradition by fusing rationalism and empiricism. The goal or premise of the Enlightenment was the idea that humans are infinitely perfectible and the way society is structured is what keeps us†¦show more content†¦This revolution lead people to migrate from their farms to the city and from agricultural work to factory work to produce a mass production of manufactured goods. The Enlightenment was for progress and advancement which is why industrialization took place but Karl Marx, one of sociology’s core figures, was concerned with this economic and social change. Karl Marx was a German philosopher and sociologist; who was known for his work with Friedrich Engels in The German Ideology (1845-1846). In this writing, Marx teaches us his theory of materialist conception of history which shows that the world by its exact nature is built by matter. Additionally, materialism states that matter is primary and thought is secondary and derived from the material world. Marx deems that ideas or interests have no existence independent of physically reality. Unlike George Hegel, a German philosopher who became a great influence to Marx, Marx believes that experiences determine ideas. He asserts â€Å"Consciousness can never be anything else than conscious existence, and the existence of men is their actual life-process† and he also states â€Å"Life is not determined by consciousness but consciousness by life.† Therefore, everything mental say, consciousness, politics, law, morality, religion, philosophy, etc., is actually a result of our mat erial world. Marx