Readers of our weekly news sheet may remember an invitation for parishioners to visit the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking on Saturday 14 March.  Although my initial reaction to this opportunity was more than a little hesitant, my wife Jane gently pointed out that meeting with people of different faiths and learning more about their culture and beliefs often helps us to realize that we have much in common.  
 Like many, I’ve often wondered about the mosque as its dome flashed past the train window while travelling to and from Waterloo. Imagine my surprise, therefore, to discover that although architecturally impressive, the Shah Jahan Mosque is in fact quite small.  It was built in 1889 by Dr Gottleib Wilhelm Leitner to cater to the spiritual needs of Muslim students at the Oriental Institute and was the first mosque to be built in Northern Europe. 
 The original Mosque is a great deal smaller than either of our churches and can hold only 60 worshippers.  Although it’s used for prayers throughout the day, as the Muslim population has grown in Woking so has the need for extra space. This has been provided by large halls in the mosque grounds which are used when there is a need.  These are made up of three sections: A men’s section, which can hold up to 1000 worshippers, a ladies’ section, which can hold up to 600 worshippers, and a community hall.  

• Children of Muslim parents are considered Muslim from birth and that there is no equivalent of our baptism service.

• However, there is a naming ceremony for the baby, where its head is shaved and the hair weighed.  Traditionally, the parents donate the weight of the child’s hair in silver to the mosque.

• Apart from one or two small sects, Muslims do not use music in their worship as Christians do.

• The Qur’an was usually printed in Arabic to avoid mistranslation of the Prophet Mohammed’s words.

I came away from the mosque feeling that Muslims and Christians had a great deal in common. We believe in the same God and share the same traditions of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and the  prophets.  The key difference is that although Muslims revere Jesus as a great prophet, they do not believe that He is the son of God.  
 I’m glad I went.  
 Paul Allen 

And another perspective…..

A group of us from churches in Fleet visited the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking on a Saturday in March. Many of you may have glimpsed the ornate exterior of the mosque outside Woking station from the railway line into London.  It’s a gem of a building and was established in 1889, the first purpose built mosque in Britain.  We were met there by Rev Richard Cook, in charge of interfaith affairs for the diocese who gave a stimulating talk on Islam back in November at P and J.  Richard explained that the mosque was originally built to cater for the spiritual needs of Muslim students at the Oriental Institute in Woking, with funding from the Begum Shah Jahan of Bhopal.  It also acted as a place of worship for visiting delegates from India and as a centre for those in Britain with an interest in eastern cultures and languages.  The mosque became well known in the early 20^th century for its publications and missionary work and helped people in Britain to an early understanding of Islam.  We were also joined by the Imam of the mosque, Mufti Liaquat.  He explained that the original mosque only holds about 60 worshippers and is still used for most of the five daily prayers.  However as the Muslim population of Woking has grown, so has the need for more space and luckily large halls in the Mosque grounds (originally railway sidings) are used for Friday prayers, when over 1,000 people are present and for other festivals and community occasions.  The Imam took us over to the small mosque where we squeezed in along with others who were reading the Koran and praying quietly before the start of the Saturday midday prayer.  He explained about the five daily prayers, how Muslims know to pray in the direction of Mecca and that the ornate writing at the front of the mosque is the first verse of the Koran, the Fatiha, ‘In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being.’  He talked of the way that Moslems have to wash before they pray and that the prostrations of the ritual prayer reflect submission to God.  The word Islam means surrender.  The Imam added that usually only men come to the mosque as women are used to praying at home.  He talked about the reverence Muslims feels for Jesus, one of their main prophets and that in Medina, next to the burial place of the prophet Mohammed, a grave is reserved for Jesus after his second coming.  We were then led over to the main prayer hall to watch the midday prayer, sitting at the back of the hall, having left our shoes outside.  About 60 men were present, some teenagers and a young child.  The Imam led the prayers at the front of the hall with the worshippers performing the ‘salat’ or prostrations of prayer.  After a time, they all moved back, to perform their own prayers, each followed by a prostration.  The whole cycle took around 20 minutes and afterwards people greeted each other, shook hands and then dispersed.    Imam Liaquat came back to talk to us and answer questions.  He said that children from the age of about 4 years accompany their fathers to the mosque.  From about 7 years, children can start to learn the Koran in classes with a teacher, reciting in Arabic which is rarely their mother tongue as most of the Muslims in Woking would be Urdu speakers.  Many children come to the mosque each week for Koran classes in the evenings. 

The Imam was asked whether he uses the term God or Allah and he said for him they are the same.  He is happy to talk of God as we are worshipping the same deity, even though our beliefs and ways of praying differ.  It seemed a suitable point on which to end an interesting and stimulating visit and it gave us all an insight into the traditions of Islam. 

 Jane Jones