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Masjid Al
Har'am
The Mosque of Har'am where the pilgrimage
(Hajj) takes place each year in the Muslim lunar calendar month of
Dul-Hajjaj. Millions of pilgrims come from all over the world and unite.
It is located in Saudi Arabia in the city of Mekkah. This is where the
Kab'ah is housed, you can see it in the middle of the mosque in this ariel
view of the mosque.You can also see the minarets from where in the old
days the prayer call was made (before invention of loudspeakers) Though in
this picture the mosque looks very small however in close-up it is very
large and can accommodate a huge number of worshippers
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The Holy
Kab'ah
Also know as the House of God on Earth. Now before you go
off thinking that Muslims believe God lives in there, let me clarify. The
Holy Kab'ah is a building which is empty from the inside and is a marker
which marks the point towards which all Muslims bow down in unity no
matter where they are in the world. This signifies oneness and unity in
belief and worship of One God. So God doesn't live in the Kab'ah but in
fact it is the marker towards which all Muslims bow to show unity. One
more thing to note is, God has referred to all mosques as his Houses in
the Qur'an.
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Kab'ah Ariel
View
Another thing of interest about the Kab'ah is that there
is another Kab'ah but it is located in the heavens parallel to the Kab'ah
on Earth, it is the Kab'ah where the Angels go to pray and worship God. It
has been told to us by the Prophet Mohammed (saw) that the Kab'ah in the
Heavens is visited by 70,000 angels each day which never return to it but
new angels arrive there each day (same in number). So just imagine how
many angels exist!!
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The Holy Kab'ah
at night time
In this picture one can see the actual building of the
Holy Kab'ah since part of the cover is raised. You may be wondering, "Why
cover the Holy Kab'ah?". Well its just out of respect so that it looks
nice and stays clean since the original building of the Kab'ah is very
simple and plain without any decoration or paint. The cover of the Kab'ah
is changed periodically and the old cover is cut into pieces and sold to
people and the money collected goes to the poor.
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Hajra-e-Aswat(left) & Door of the
Kab'ah(right)
Hajra-e-aswat is a black stone located in one of the
corners of the Kab'ah. It was a gift from Allah for the believers - it is
believed to be part of the Kab'ah located in the Heavens.
In the picture to the right you can see the door that
leads into the Kab'ah. It is partially covered by the cover of the Kab'ah
in this picture.
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Muqam-e-Ibrahim
This is part of the Kabah is located outside the actual
building of the Kab'ah but is considered part of the inside (the Kab'ah
building extends to this point) It was a practice of the Prophet Mohammed
(saw) to say Nafl (voluntary) prayers inside the Kab'ah for extra
reward. So the worshippers visiting the Kab'an can say prayers at this
point and it is the same as saying the prayers inside the Kabah.
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Masjid-Al-Har'am
A night time view of the Mosque where the Kab'ah is
housed. You can see the huge number of worshippers outside the mosque as
well since it must be full to capacity.
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Masjid-e-Nawbi
The Prophet Mohammed's (saw) mosque. This is located in
Saudi Arabia in the city of Medina. In this picture one can see the domes,
minarets and the roof of the mosque. In the far back you will notice a
green dome, that is the dome of the Original Mosque from the time of the
Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).
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Night time Ariel
view of Masjid-e-Nawbi
The tall minaret's from which
the prayer call is made can be heard all over the city. The
smaller domes can be automatically slid open to allow the
sun to shine inside the mosque and also for ventilation
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The Rozah of the
Prophet Mohammed (saw)
This is where the prophet Mohammed (saw) is buried. Behind
these golden doors is the grave of our beloved prophet Mohammed (saw).
Many people visit the grave and say Fatiha (a small prayer) over the
grave. However this is just reciting some Quranic Ayahs and not like a
normal prayer. Muslims bow to or worship no one or thing wether dead or
alive, we bow only to God and worship only One God, The God.
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Inside the
Masjid-e-Nawbi
These huge umbrellas facilitate the worshippers by
allowing the compound to be covered during the day time when it is very
hot and sunny or during rain.
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Inside the
Masjid-e-Nawbi
Inside the Prophets
Mosque the beautiful domes and the intricately decorated pillars and
wall all resonate with the rich Islamic culture and teachings
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Inside the
Masjid-e-Nawbi
The entire mosque is air
conditioned and can house hundreds of thousands of worshippers at one
time
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Inside the
Masjid-e-Nawbi
Along the walls are shelves
stacked with copies of the Qurans' for worshippers to read. There are
water coolers placed all around the mosque to quench the thirst of the
people.
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Inside the
Masjid-e-Nawbi
The floor of the mosque even
in the hot desert sun always stays cool because of an intricate water
cooling system running under the floors in the cortyards
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Masjid Al
Aqsa
Here is the Mosque of Aqsa. You may note that it is in a
very bad state, this is mainly due to the negligence of the Israeli
authorities in renovating it. It may be the practice of some religions not
to respect other religions however in Islam we are told to respect and
tolerate all other religions and also allow them to build their places of
worship with full freedom to practice their religions as long as the
practices don't start going against the Islamic law.
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Masjid Al Aqsa -
The Dome Rock
Well here it is the famous Dome rock we get to see so many
of the times on our TV on CNN and other channels. This was a mosque built
by Muslims now a temple where
Prophet Abraham is buried. However the Masjid-Al-Aqsa (mosque of Aqsa) is
behind this and is shown in the previous picture.
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