My Visit to a Mosque

MY VISIT TO A MUSLIM MOSQUE

        I t was Friday. July 16, 2010, I finally decided to visit a Muslim mosque, which is located at 2542 Franklin Drive in Ft Lauderdale.   Muslims major service is held every Friday at exactly 1:30 pm. The building is situated by itself on the corner of a residential neighborhood.
Upon entering the mosque, I saw about two hundred Muslims of many different ethnic backgrounds arrived there to worship.
      Being of a Christian faith, I felt mortified to go into the mosque to observe these people of a totally different religion. I would not   have felt this way if I   was assigned to go   to   observe   another   church , which is   under my religion because I would   have   felt   more welcome there. I was standing   beside my car   puzzled what   to do next ,but   when one of   the Muslim lady approached me   and introduced herself   to me   as Rasheeda Salem . She   asked   me why I was   there , so I told her   I had a World religion assignment   to do.   She told me it would be ok to observe their worship, but I am not allowed to take pictures.
        I had wrapped my head and put on a long sleeved shirt at home. I felt I looked appropriate enough to enter their place of worship, but to my surprise, my new acquaintance told me to wait outside, so she can   get me a wrap to cover my body more , because my fitted clothes can cause the   brothers to   sin. Rasheedah accompanied   me inside the mosque. When we arrived at the door, she put her right foot in first. She took off her shoes and I also did likewise. Standing at the entrance   of the door , I notice something very   strange , women   and   men walked   through different doors to enter and exit the mosque,   and   what was even stranger , they did not sat in the same room to worship.   I turned, and asked Rasheedah, what is the significance for the separation between the genders?   She told me it is a practice put in place to eradicate distractions, for humans can be easily caught off   guard when the...