Similar to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, figuring out when to attend the Muslim Mosque was half the battle. I couldn’t find any websites with information about services. I even drove by the Mosque and noticed there were about six different times listed on the front door. But the words weren’t English, so I had no idea what any of them meant. I immediately got the sense I really wasn’t welcomed because they seemed to make it very difficult to access information about their services.
So, Friday afternoon (May 8th), I called the Mosque to communicate I was interested in visiting, but I didn’t know what next steps to take. I never got a call back, so I called again around 4:00 PM. This time, one of the nicest people I have ever encountered answered the phone. Seriously, you know how sometimes you speak to a person, and her kindness almost puts you in a trance? That was her. Our conversation completely changed my first impression of Clifton Mosque (cliftonmosque.org).
First, she was able to point me toward their website, which was not easy to find through a Google search. Second, she explained all of their meeting times, and when I expressed concern over “offending” them by my lack of Muslim knowledge, she quickly calmed my nerves by expressing how happy they would be to have me visit.
Of course, because their worship service (she explained it was their meeting that most resembled a typical church service) was at 1:50 PM on a Friday (yeah, not the most convenient time), I had to rearrange my teaching schedule to make it happen.
It took a week, but once everything got worked out, I attended Clifton Mosque Friday afternoon.
To finish reading about this experience or any of the reflections from my 52 visits, please purchase the full book here.
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