So my dorm arranged a tour of the local Turkish mosque in Berlin. I was surprised to find out that this area had been in Turkish hands since at least 1866 and possibly since the 1700's (the government gave the representatives of the Ottoman Empire a place where they could bury their dead...and it just grew....)
The mosque as it looks now is quite new (2005)....
Here are the graves of the Turkish and other Muslim dead....all facing towards Mecca!
Muslim 'art' and design absolutely amazes me! Beautiful stuff!
Here we are as a group listening to our guide.
This is where the imam goes walks up every Friday to lead prayers...
This is the miqrab(?) which points the worshipper to Mecca (so they know which way to pray)....
They brought in the workers from Turkey because no one in Germany knew how to do this....
Beautiful ceiling!
This lamp is supposed to represent God and how He is the light of all things....
(I remember seeing something similar in the Berlin Jewish synagogue)
If you can look on the bottom of the lamp there are 'white balls'...they're actually eggs which apparently emit a smell that repels spiders! ;)
I had a good time and enjoyed learning more about Islam......I just wish more Muslims and believing people for that matter, were as 'converted' and tolerant and peace-loving as our guide was....our situation would be SO different....
