Mosque visit

On Tuesday we visited two mosques to learn more about Islam.

The first mosque we visited was called “Mosque de la divintée.” The mosque is situated by the ocean. It is one of five mosques in the world that is said to have come from a dream. An imam had a dream to build a mosque by the sea and brought it to realization.

The builders and the materials were all voluntary. The first floor of the mosque is where the men pray and the second and third floors are for the women. The mosque is only open during the 5 prayer calls, but our guide opened the windows for us to see inside. It is basically an open, carpeted room.

Friday is the Holy day in Islam, so that is when the mosque is full. On Fridays, to enter this mosque you must wear white. The mosque welcomes all brotherhoods but is most closely linked to the Layenes. The Layenes are a brotherhood that always wears white. They are also known for not having any castes or connection to ethnicity. In Senegal, ethnicity (last names) and castes are very important, but the Layenes prefer to welcome everyone equally.

The mausoleum of the imam who had the vision to build the mosque.

The second mosque we visited was called the Great Mosque Murid Massalikul Jeenan of Dakar.

It is pretty new and huge. Situated and the intersection of several neighborhoods historically known to be more violent, so it serves as a symbol. The first phase of construction was the mosque, and the second phase is to construct a school.

The entire mosque was very beautiful. The welcome room had birds chirping (I’m sure by accident as the doors are left open) but it totally added to the atmosphere.

To the left was the room for women to pray on Fridays

Straight ahead was the large room for men to prayer Fridays. The room was so ornate. It took 4 years to complete the interior. They hired Moroccans to do the artwork, and each Moroccan had 2 Senegalese apprentices to learn and replicate the art in other mosques.

I think our guide said the chandelier was one of the biggest in West Africa, fabricated in China.

The number 28 has special significance in Islam so there are 28 windows in this room. The two big rooms are only used on Fridays. On the other side of the mosque are rooms for weekday prayers.

The mosque also houses offices for security and administration. The imam has his own office as well. He lives in an apartment nearby but comes to the mosque for each prayer. The mosque is so big it even has its own television network. During Ramadan, the mosque serves a meal to break the fast.

So yeah, that about sums up the visit