Mosques

Aston has plenty of mosques, big and small. I have not yet counted them all but surely they number over ten. In addition you have Islamic centres that are not connected with a mosque. Both mosques and Islamic centres make the presence of Islam very pronounced in Aston. Without doubt it is the religion of the majority of the population. On Fridays this fact shows itself in another way. The mosques are crowded by the faithful and the streets around them by their cars.

It is not so easy to chart what particular strand of Islam each mosque represents. As a start it would be needed to go around, paper and pencil in hand, and list down all the names that are written on the mosques, hopefully they are in English as well as in Arabic or other scripts. So far I have been hesitant to do so, as if I felt exposing myself to accusations of spying on other people's lives and sacred beliefs. Perhaps I am too sensitive, for I was told that nothing more may be involved than people from the same village in Pakistan or Bangladesh putting up theitr own mosque and having their own imam.

So far I have been in only two mosques, one in Aston and one in the city centre, both were rather large mosques that catered to Muslims of various countries of origin and used several languages in their Friday services. Some time ago a Muslim youth leader told us that only one mosque in Aston had an English speaking imam, but since then we found out that at least one other mosque should be added to this short list.

The question of language is a sensitive issue. The Qur'an is written in Arabic and Muslims believe that only the Arabic version is the true word of God. Any preacher should be able to read the Qur'an in the original language and explain the meaning of it to the congregation in a language they understand. Imams cannot do so without study and it is still the case that most opportunities for studying the Qur'an are found in Muslim countries. Also many of the mosque-goers, in particular the older men who are most faithful in going to the prayer services, have a poor command of the English language. They get by in the ordinary matters of daily life, but for more intricate discussions about issues of faith their knowledge of English falls short. Then for them the word of God becomes more important than the language of this country.

Ton