Alex Dieringer

CPSY 4443
Jenilee Sneed
Muslim Midterm Paper
Growing up in a catholic church there I realized how different a Muslim temple conducts
a service. When attending a Muslim service my group and I interviewed a close friend from our
wrestling team and an active member of the Al Siddiq Mosque. We asked him many questions
about the Muslim tradition and culture.
A Muslim temple is also known as a Mosque. For a Catholic the holy day is Sunday, to
whereas for a Muslim its Friday. Muslims have a very strict praying schedule. They are supposed
to pray five times split throughout the day. Friday is the only day all the Muslims come together
and have service at the Mosque. The Muslim religion is a very clean religion so they have to
attend the Mosque clean and in comfortable clothing. The women pray in a separate and private
room. The men stay in the main hall to do their prayers, but on Fridays the men and women pray
together on the holy day. When I went to the bathroom in the Mosque there was foot sinks to
clean and keep physical purification. A Friday mass would consist of a short sermon followed by
a prayer at the mosque in congregation is substituted for the normal prayer they usually do at
noon. A typical service starts with a call to prayer, followed by that days lecture. When the
lecture is done there is another call to prayer and the congregation stands to follow the Imam in
the prayer. An Imam to a catholic is a priest. If there were people late to the service they would
just join it with the lecture and stay after and finish their prayers.

We interviewed a close friend Alan Gelageav who was part of the Mosque and Muslim
culture. Alan is from Moscow Russia and has been Muslim his entire life. We asked him a couple
questions after attending the Mosque
1)

HOW IS IT BEING A MUSLIM IN OKLAHOMA COMPARED TO BEING

MUSLIM IN RUSSIA?
IT WAS DIFFICULT AT FIRST, BECAUSE STILLWATER DID NOT HAVE THAT
MANY RESOURCES FOR ME TO EXPRESS MY RELIGION. WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS
I DID NOT KNOW WHERE TO GO FOR MOSQUE AND SHARE MY RELIGION WITH
ANOTHER MUSLIM. ALSO, I DID NOT KNOW ANYONE ON A PERSONAL LEVEL TO
EXPRESS MY RELIGION WITH.
2)

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A FAITHFUL MUSLIM?

BEING A MUSLIM IT CAN BE VERY HARD TO BE 100% FAITHFUL BECAUSE

MY RELIGION HAS A LOT OF RITUALS THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED, BUT I DO THINK
I AM PRETTY FAITHFUL. I HAVE BROKEN SOME RITUALS IN MY PAST BUT, NO
ONES PERFECT AND EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES. I REALLY RESPECT MY
RELIGION AND LOOK TO BE AS FAITHFUL AS I CAN IN THE FUTURE.
3) NOW THAT YOU LIVE IN AMERICA DO YOU PLAN ON LETTING YOUR
CHILDREN CHOOSE A RELIGION OR MAKING THEM FOLLOW YOUR FOOTSTEPS?
I PERSONALLY WANT MY KIDS TO FOLLOW MY FOOTSTEPS AND BE A
MUSLIM BUT, ULTIMATELY I WANT THEM TO HAPPY, SO THEY CAN BE IN

WHATEVER RELIGION THEY FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH. I WILL DEFINITELY PUSH

THEM TOWARDS MUSLIM THOUGH.
4) WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT BEING MUSLIM?
I REALLY ENJOY BEING MUSLIM, BECAUSE IT IS A PEACEFUL RELIGION
AND PRAYING BRINGS ME CLOSER TO GOD AND ME. I WOULD RECOMMEND
EVERYONE TO COME TO MOSQUE AND SEE HOW RELAXING IT IS AND SEE HOW
WE PRAY TO OUR GOD. EVEN THOUGH IT IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THE PEOPLE
HERE ARE USED TO, IT WOULD BE NICE TO SHOW EVERYONE HOW WE TRULY
ARE.