According to Young (1997), the second-largest religion in the world after Christianity is Islam, with an estimated 1.4 billion supporters called Muslims. The name Islam comes from an Arabic root word meaning peace and submission; therefore, some think of Islam as being a religion of peace, while others think of Islam as being a submission or compliance to the will of God. In either case though, the majority of Muslims believe that one can find peace just by submitting to Allah (the Arabic root word for God). Considered to be one of the Arabic religions, Islam is originated from the tradition of Abraham, the Hebrew Bible patriarch. The most number of Muslims are found in Indonesia.
The place of worship that I visited and did my interview at is Al-Masjid al-HãarÃÂm, known as "The Sacred Mosque." It is located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia and is the holiest mosque in the world, as well as the main destination of the Hajj pilgrimage.
English: A green version of http://commons.wikimed...
English: A picture of people performing (circumamb...
English: Supplicating Pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram. ...It can house up to 820,000 worshippers during the Hajj with its area of 356,800 square meters. Al-Masjid al-HãarÃÂm has no qibla direction (the point toward which Muslims turn to pray). That is due to the fact since Muslims pray in front of the Ka'ba, which is in the central courtyard.
I went to the Al-Masjid al-HãarÃÂm and interviewed the worshipper, Abdul Turab. Abdul is 35 years old and is a father to a 9 year old son named Mir. His wife, also 35, is named Salma. Abdul lives with his family in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Abdul has been worshipping at the Al-Masjid al-HãarÃÂm throughout his entire life. The questions that I asked Abdul were: How would you define the Islamic religion? What are the important holidays and traditions of this religion? How has religion shaped your life? What...