Not too long ago I visited the Mosque in Paris. In our French class we have been discussing the relationship of the religion of Islam to France, so we took a trip as a whole to the Mosque and it really opened my eyes to new aspects on the religion of Islam and to controversial topics currently present in France.
When we first arrived to the mosque it was like Déjà vu. One of the scenes of the famous movie Paris Je T’aime took place in front of what I later found out to be a restaurant and not the entrance to the mosque. When we turned the corner, the true entrance was beautiful. It was large and it had the Islam symbol of a crescent moon and a star on the top of the green roof. We went inside and our guide explained a lot of things that I would not have understood without a guide. One of the most interesting things I found out was the symbolic meaning of the colors of the mosaic all throughout the interior of the mosque. For example all of the green represented vegetation and life, I found that detail to be incredibly beautiful and interesting.
We were able to see the library, the banquet room, where they hold wedding ceremonies, and the most interesting of all rooms the praying room. The praying room was unlike anything I had seen in person. There were a few men inside going thru the motions of the traditional praying. The guide also pointed out that there was a separate area shielded by some draping for women to pray in private away from the men. The separation of the men and woman became more aware as we went thru but the guide also gave me the impression that there wasn’t anything out of normal from having this separation.
Today in France we see the integration of Islam in the French culture more and more because Islam is the second religion in France and because of certain controversial issues such as the burka. There was a clear clash of cultures but regardless of the differences, I found the mosque an incredibly spiritual and beautiful place to visit and learn from.
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