Stepping into a mosque

Are places of worship out of bounds to those who are not followers of the respective religion of the place of worship?

News coming from the Islamic religious authorities in the state of Selangor, Malaysia decreed that non-Muslims are not allowed to step into a mosque. What happens to those non-Muslims visitors who visited the Putrajaya Mosque regularly out of curiousity?

In multi religious country like Malaysia, places of worship has been part of the tourist attractions promoted by the government. These holy places attracted people from all over the world who are keen to experience the different culture of each religion.

Visiting a place of worship other than one's own religion was never an issue. Few months ago I even made the necessary arrangement for an academician from Taiwan to visit the famous Perumal Hindu Temple in Klang. The academician who is a Buddhist was doing a research on the management of different places of worship.

I had attended weddings in churches and walked into Hindu temples without any anxiety that I will be reprimanded by the temple authorities. I think they will be happy to have me meditating within their compound.

As for mosques, I had been there too but the most interesting experience that I had in a mosque is not in Malaysia. It was in 2006 when I was invited to participate in a Buddhists-Muslims dialogue held  in Bangkok.

The dialogue was held amidst the religious tension happening in Southern Thailand. As the participants were cracking their head to look into ways to help to solve the long standing problem, a phone called to one of the participants from South Thailand causes us to cry in our heart. The participant was told one of his relatives was just injured by a bomb blast in the morning. All of us can feel the severity of the problem there and then.

As part of the program we were invited to the mosque to meet up with the Imam, who co-incidentally have relatives in Malaysia too. We walked and sat in the prayers area below the pulpit where the Imam usually gave his weekly Friday sermon. We were later served simple drink and food in the adjoining building.

The mosque has a long history in Bangkok and when we were guided to the graves within the mosque compound, one the mosque committee told us some of the graves belongs to members of the Thai royalty. That's interesting I said to myself.

Our few hours visit was to enable us to have a better understanding on the lifestyles of Muslims and I departed from the mosque with a good feeling that these adherents of Islam who follows the Islamic teachings piously and respect for others will surely make the community they live in a peaceful and better place for all. - Loka