Some time back, during Ramadan, a dear friend invited me to go sit in on a prayer service at her mosque. Knowing very little about Muslim traditions, I was looking forward to learning about her life.

Fast forward to the heated election week, and I became horrified at some of the ignorance that was being spread around by some of the people I have in my life. It was eye-opening, to say the least. It made me realize that even though this is a bit overdue, it was important for me to share with everyone.

My visit to the mosque was full of peace, acceptance, and a sense of community. I didn’t at any point feel like I was being looked at funny, or left out of things, or looked at badly. Instead, people just accepted me into their sacred space for the night, and allowed me to snap plenty of photos while they spent quality time with their community in worship. I’m not a church-going, by-the-book sort of religious person. Instead, I choose to live my religion every day by how I treat people. Actions speak louder than words, right?! That being said, I was amazed at the devotion that people showed to their worship during this (very long!) service. To me it was fascinating and culturally enriching. To them, it’s their life.

In hopes that each of you open your minds to all cultures and religions, I present a small selection of photos from my time in the mosque during the last week of Ramadan.

xoxo

~n