London Central Mosque

On January 28, 2009 we visited the Central Mosque in London. Our tour guide’s name was Omar. He gave us a very interesting and informative tour.
The mosque itself was beautiful. The outside was decorated with gold. Inside it had lovely carpets in the actual worshipping area. The ceiling in was painted spectacularly. In the middle of the ceiling there was a grand chandelier. The room was large and beautiful.
While we were in the actual area for worshipping it was time for one of their five daily prayers. We were able to watch the men perform their prayer ritual. We were unable to see the women though because they are up in a balcony. This is a mandatory part of the Muslim religion, the separation of men and women during prayer within the mosque.
Before entering the mosque women are required to put on a headscarf. Omar explained that this is a ritual, but it is not meant to make women any lesser than men. He said it was actually a form of respect. It is not required of women to wear these headscarves in their everyday life, but many do because they believe it makes them more respectable. In France though girls are not allowed to wear headscarves to public schools because it is a religious symbol and all religious symbols have been banned from public schools.
Omar also discussed the issue of racism against the Muslim people. He explained that there definitely is racism today in Britain, but it has improved since the Tube bombings. London is better than many European cities for Muslims though because there is so much diversity here. He told us a story about a particular experience he had while riding the Tube. Omar got on the Tube dressed in his traditional Muslim attire and at the same time a woman also boarded. She started looking at him suspiciously, starting from his feet up. When she got to his face he had a huge, friendly smile plastered on his face. She awkwardly smiled back. Omar explained when in a situation as this he usually ignores the racism and acts friendly and kind in order to change that person’s view of his people.