What I Learned from My Visit to the Albanian American Islamic Center in Queens

Throughout the history of human life, from the first human ever born, to now, religion has always played a huge role in our everyday lives. Religion has provided a lot of people with a set of standards to follow, while also guiding the lost and finding them a purpose in life. It often gives people reason to do more good in the world and makes them feel the urge to help those in need. This makes it very important to have a great understanding of all the religions around the world. It allows you to see other peoples perspectives and how their actions very influenced by their practices and beliefs.

For this particular site visit, I attended a Friday prayer at the Albanian American Islamic Center in Queens. As a Christian, who is not religious at all and has never been to a religious event besides the mandatory Masses in high school, I was prepared to see things I have never seen before. In A Beginner’s Guide to the Study of Religion by Bradley Herling, he identifies self-consciousness, comparison, defamiliarization, and empathy as the four crucial elements in the study of religion. I made sure to use all these elements during my time at the Islamic Center. It helped me put myself in the perspectives of the other people at the Mosque and see how they practice their beliefs.

I practiced self-consciousness at first by informing myself about the Muslim religion and finding out what goes on during a Friday prayer. I didn’t want to look foolish so I made sure I was ready. I learned online what to wear, so I wore a long sleeved dress shirt and khakis. When I first entered the Islamic Center, I knew to remove my shoes at the door. Then, I waited another five minutes for the actual prayer to start. Since I wasn’t going to participate in the prayer, I was told to stand in the back and observe. Once I saw the Imam walk up the Minbar, I knew the prayer was starting. The prayer started with the Imam praising Allah in Arabic saying things along the lines of, “Allah is the greatest, glory be to my lord, the most great. Allah hears those who praise him, praise is due to the lord.” After around two minutes, everyone practicing the prayer went on their knees with their forehead touching the floor, repeating, “Glory to be my lord, the most high. Allah is the greatest.”

They repeated these motions around four times, and ended on their two knees sitting up straight, repeating, “O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad. Peace and blessings from Allah be upon you.” As they said the last line, “Peace and blessings from Allah be upon you,” the worshippers opened their eyes and began to shake hands with the people around them. After the prayer was over, some people left right away, and others stayed and socialized. Those that left right away seemed to be in a rush. I was able to strike a conversation with one of the people who stayed behind to socialize. His name was Aqib, and he said people who leave right away typically are rushing to work. They try their best to squeeze in a prayer before heading off to work.

Having self-consciousness throughout the prayer allowed me to know what was going on during the prayer. Most importantly, it allowed me to put myself in the perspectives of those involved and see their point of view. As Bradley Herling explained on page 17, after giving examples of self- consciousness, he states “Obviously these examples are selective and simplified, but we can use them to imagine just how much a person’s background might affect the way he or she views the data…Acknowledge your biases and preconceptions at the beginning of any attempt to understand the beliefs and practices of others.” I made sure to confirm any questions or beliefs that I had before I went to the Islamic Center to make sure I had all the right information.

After attending the Friday Prayer, I was able to use comparison in many different ways. Herling states on page 20, “Comparison is an indispensable tool for identifying, clarifying, and ultimately understanding any given object of inquiry.” At first, I compared the masses I attended during high school to the prayer I attended at the Islamic Center. Some differences were that the mass was in English, while the Muslim prayer was in Arabic. Another difference was that the mass lasted around 45 minutes to an hour, while the Muslim prayer lasted around 20-25 minutes total. A similarity between the two was that during both services, someone was being worshipped during the prayers. Whether it is Christ or Allah, they are both being worshipped the whole time. Another similarity I learned was that both religions preach moral living and helping those in need.

Defamiliarization is described by Bradley Herling as “making the familiar seem strange in order to enhance our perception of the familiar.” In my case, I went through defamiliarization at the Mosque when I was listening during the Friday Prayer. I was expecting the prayer to be spoken in Albanian, since it is an Albanian Islamic Center, but it was still spoken in Arabic. I was expecting to be able to translate it since I am Albanian, but since it was in Arabic, I had to listen to a translation online after visiting. I was familiar with the prayer before I heard it at the Mosque, but once I heard it in Arabic, I had no idea what the Imam was saying and was clueless. This is where Herling’s saying of “making the familiar seem strange in order to enhance our perception of the familiar” comes into play. After thinking I was familiar with the prayer, hearing it in Arabic made it seem very strange and it changed my perception of the prayer. It showed me that even though prayers can be spoken in different languages, they all have the same meaning behind it.