Trip with Politics and Terrorism Class to a MOSQUE in Alicante, Spain

Last week our class took a trip to a Mosque in Alicante (who knew there would be one?!). At first, we walked in and were shown around the few classrooms that they have where they teach about Islam and they also have classes of Arabic for non-native speakers and classes of Spanish as well. We met the Imam (which is their version of a priest) who was dressed up in his normal attire – an all white robe with white pants to match and a head scarf that was white as well. He was a very soft spoken, but intense person. He spoke a little bit of English and a little bit of Spanish, mixing the two together the majority of the time. We listened to him talk in Arabic while an interpreter would translate into Spanish. It was really cool to listen to what he had to tell us about the history of their mosque, how prayers normally work, and how they all worship together. He has a wife, and sons and daughters, just like any normal person.

The praying area of the mosque is broken up into two parts: one for the men, and one for the women. It is not really a superior/inferior thing, but rather, so that the women can undress a bit if they are uncomfortable, feed their babies, etc. and not have to worry about being completely properly dressed while they are in the mosque. The Imam’s wife had made us lunch which was rice with chicken, and it was honestly the best thing I have ever had! I told him I wanted the recipe and he just laughed at me. We also had soup and a sort of salad thing.

During lunch we got to ask the Imam questions and here him talk about his daily routine, and what he thought about radical Islam. Islam, he said, is a peaceful religion, and you are only allowed to fight against another when they fight against you first. The overall atmosphere in the mosque and when he was talking were mesmerizing. He would call each one of us “hermano/hermana” (which means brother/sister), and explained to us that anyone who feels like it can enter into the mosque with no questions asked and come pray with them, or come to the Imam and tell about a problem they are having in their life, and it is the duty of the Imam to freely give advice and help whoever seeks his advice.

It was so interesting to actually see the reality of what is Islam rather than just try to imagine what it must be like, while trying to forget the stereotypes and all the images of terrorism that we are used to associating with it. I think I might take up Arabic. It looks so pretty and sounds so beautiful, I think. We’ll see what’s in store for the future….