[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Saudi mosques regain their traditional role" ids="153745,153746,153747,153748"] By Adele Albanawi Saudi Gazette THE masjid, or mosque, is the place of worship in Islam where Muslims perform their daily prayers in congregation. This is the contemporary view of mosques. However, mosques played many important roles throughout history in addition to being places of worship. With the emergence of the Association of Qur'an Memorization in Jeddah and in different Saudi cities, the circles of Qur'anic studies and recitations started to spread in many mosques. "The first action that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) took after arriving in Madinah was building his mosque and from this mosque, he controlled the future Islamic state," said Sheikh Fahad Al-Zahrani, the imam of Al-Salam Mosque in Jeddah. "The mosque was not just a place of worship. It was the place where the Prophet received foreign delegations, it was a place for education and a shelter for the homeless," Al-Zahrani said. "Unfortunately, the role of mosques dwindled in modern times. Most people believe that mosques are only places of worship, an assessment that is no longer accurate. The mosque now is the center of the community, it is a place where people gather and get to know one another. More importantly, it is a place where Qur'anic studies and recitation circles are held," Al-Zahrani said. "These Qur'anic studies and recitation circles also give lessons in charity work, altruism and respecting parents. All of those lessons are derived from the Holy Qur'an and we have seen the positive change in our students. The statistics that we have show that our students are excellent and are among the toppers in their schools," he added. Sultan Al-Muwallad, a Qur'an teacher and a supervisor of the programs at Al-Salam Mosque, said, "The Association of Qur'an Memorization in Jeddah has instituted many programs that could help the youth generally and our students specifically to memorize the Holy Qur'an and follow its peaceful teachings. Wasim (Medal) is a summer-long program designed for children to invest their free time in summer into something productive. The program aims to deliver lessons in behavior and proper manners, educate the students about faith, and giving courses in self-development and also engaging in sports activities. In Ramadan, we hold iftar events inside and outside the mosque with the motto "Be A Role Model" in an attempt to encourage our students and raise awareness to do more volunteer work." The association is working constantly to improve on the quality of education that the students receive, he added. "The mosque holds special programs during Ramadan for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia," said Saad Alsulami, supervisor of Al-Salam mosque. "At the beginning, we held iftar events at Al-Salam mosque. Prior to the call for prayer and the commencement of breaking the fast, we held small Qur'an recitation circles, in which we taught the expatriates how to read, recite and memorize the Holy Qur'an. Then the idea expanded and we decided it will be beneficial to teach them how to read and write properly the Arabic language," Alsulami said. "Another program that is equally important is the Qur'anic studies and recitation circle for women. They have their independent administration and unique programs, which include courses in teaching English, teaching the basics of using computers, cooking and so on. All of these programs are supervised by the association," he added. Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah Hanafi, chairman of the board of the Association of Qur'an Memorization in Jeddah said, "Recently the association launched Hasanah (Immunity) Program. The aim of the program is to protect the minds and morals by consolidating the Islamic values in our students, teachers and supervisors. It is a preventative program to immunize the youth against the extremist ideologies and terrorist organizations." The Hasanah program comes under the initiative "How to be a role model", which was launched by Makkah Emir Prince Khalid Al-Faisal. "The Association of Qur'an Memorization takes it upon itself to fight against the rogue ideologies and promote the peaceful and moderate religion of Islam," Hanafi said. Abdulkarim Al-Zahrani, a former student of the Qur'anic studies and recitation circle, said, "Besides memorizing the Holy Qur'an, it was an amazing experience personally. At a young age, going to these circles was very helpful for me because I developed time management and many other social skills. Bilal Ali, another former student, said, "One of the most important benefits to me by joining the Qur'anic circles was it taught me how to discipline myself and enhance the ability to memorize."
