Following our work on Islamic art and places of worship in World Faiths Week, classes 5 and 6 visited the London Central Mosque today, where our fantastic guide explained the parts of a mosque. She told us all about the art which we saw, and explained many of the common roots of Christianity and Islam.
The girls covered their heads, and we all took off our shoes to enter the magnificent prayer room.
What did you learn today?
Did you find out anything which surprised you?
What similarities and differences did you find between the Mosque and our Cathedral?
Its seems that you have enjoyed going to the mosque, I remember when our class went there and we enjoyed it too!
The trip was really fun and Year 6 did have fun!
Going to London Central Mosque was a great experience and was a lot more interesting than I first thought. Our teacher called Jade was ever so nice and taught us so much about her faith.
What most impressed me was the endless decorations, that were placed in every single room. In the main prayer hall was the most splendid chandelier I have ever seen.
I would definitely recommend visiting it.
Yes, I agree with Aisa! There was an AMAZING chandelier! They turned the light on it on just for us!
I really enjoyed this trip because it was fun and the lady, Jade, taught me a lot of new facts. The facts that I learnt were that in the Mosque people don’t have images or symbols because they don’t wantto get distracted when praying and that people worshipping’s shoulders have to be touching one and other. Also, on the floor in the Mosque there is a template of the direction where you should be standing but not every template is for one person, just as long as your shoulders touch each other.This trip is very meaningful because other people don’t have the opportunity to visit places like this where people worship God. I really liked the way they build the Mosque, it was very creative. At the front of the Mosque, there was a word that was Arabic, all squashed up together to make a meaning. As well as learning about the Mosque we learnt about Jesus and God and the patterns that are in the Mosque. I learnt the 5 pillars.
My best part of the whole trip was basically everything! I would love to come to this trip again because it is very exciting an interesting. I recommend this because it’s great for learning new facts! This trip is very cool, fun, exciting, interesting, and great.
This was the best trip of my life! I got up from my bed and smiled at the gorgeous, bright sunshine. The world was telling me, ‘This is the day I go to a real Mosque!’ I jumped out of bed full of excitement ready for the day. I went straight in the shower and ate my breakfast as fast as I could. I then left my house and said bye to my mum and sister. I waited in the classroom with my packed lunch in my hand. I was clinging to it with joy. We first went to assembly. I was dreaming about the wonderful things things that I would see in the Mosque. We finally left asssembly and put our pack lunches and coats on. We lined up in pairs. My partner was Tianna. We suddenly pushed the door open, stepped into the fresh summer air and walked to the tube station, hand in hand. We got on the tube quickly and carefully, making sure that we were stepping over the gaps and getting on quickly holding our partners’ hand. We sang songs, played games, told some jokes and giggled around. We finally were near the Mosque, so we got off of the tube. It was quite a long walk! We walked past the London Zoo (ZSL) and saw ALL types of animals. We saw camels, chipmunks, parrots and baby cheetahs. We went to a garden and took pictures of the lovely, pretty flowers. We saw the most beautiful water fountains. We described them as: as the fresh, sparkling water trickled down into the round, circular pond, my eyes gazed at the sight of the beautiful and wonderous world around me. We finally got to the Mosque. It was golden, shining on the dome. A lovely lady called Jade showed us around explained how to pray and all the things about being a Muslim and the Koran.The ladies wore headscarves that wrapped around us to cover up hair. Mine was sky blue, turquoise and the golden yellow of the sun. We sat down in the prayer hall. We saw some men praying by bowing on their knees and we saw some relaxing peacefully by lying down. There are 24 different Korans in different languages because there are so many people that come there. Oh, I forgot to tell you that it’s the biggest Mosque in the country. I had a great time. Thanks Miss Fullana!
You used a bit of poetic license there Araya, but it is excellent writing, great vocabulary! Thank you!
I really liked going to the Mosque, it was so beautiful and I really liked how they worship God and that there are differences and similarities between our faiths. Jade (our teacher) converted to Islam. On the news you may hear bad things about Islamic State countries, but if you put that negativity away, it’s really a peaceful religion.
The Mosque was very interesting. I learnt the 5 pillars of Islam, the 6 articles and the life of Prophet Muhammad. Their beliefs are different in some ways from Christianity. I would love to come back to the Mosque.
I find it very interesting to go on trips and discover different cultures, faiths and beliefs. It was very exciting to find out more about the religion of Islam. We have heard of many things new to us.
I liked the Arabic writing which is called calligraphy, which looks very mysterious and lacy. The Arabic language is not so easy to read, as they write only the consonants down, they do not write vowels. So, if there was ‘ktb’ written down, we would know, it is a root for ‘writing’, but depending on the sentence and context, it could mean, ‘a writing desk’, ‘a writer’, ‘something written’ and so on. And I also learnt, when Jayde told us that on the carpet there are points which point towards the Ka`ba in Mecca, the place all Muslims turn to when praying.
I remembered visiting an exhibition on Zoroastrianism last autumn, an early religion that influenced the major world religions. Maybe it would be interesting to write how we feel when we come into a new (for us) temple of worship. What are the incense? Is there music in the background? What does it do to us, relax, prepare for a spiritual experience, what colours surround us? What are the priests and visitors doing? Maybe we could write about the most interesting visit to a place of worship.
Marko, this is fascinating, you have clearly done some independent research, and made links with other experiences. Your questions are really thought provoking too. Thank you!
First we went to look at Regents Park. We brought six ipads to take creative pictures of the gardens. At the park there was a wonderful rose garden with sweet smelling roses all around us. Then we had lunch at the park and four people sat on each bench. Then we set off for the Mosque. Our class went the long way there and when we finally got there our legs ached. As we got to the gate the girls all started to put their head-scarves on. We were all bursting with excitement. Class 5 and 6 both went into a hot room were we were greeted by a women who told us about the Mosque. One of the many things that she told us was that Muslims thought that Jesus was a Prophet. After that we went into another room where the woman told us more facts about her religion. As she was telling us about her religion a song was sang telling all Muslims in the building that it was time to pray. The song was sung twice telling people in the building that prayers were about to begin and that they were beginning. Our journey round the Mosque was ending, but we still had time to go into the main prayer hall. We all had to take our shoes off. We saw people who had not finish praying and we saw how beautiful the room was. On the ceiling hung a glittering chandelier which was given to the Mosque as a gift. The women told us that over 1,000 people came to the Mosque on Fridays and people would pray outside of the hall too. I found the Mosque really interesting and I want to go again.
The mysterious fun filled adventure began and we set off in our groups. When we came out the other side we felt refreshment stirring in the mossy green surroundings, as the light shower pelted over my confused head, my brain asked itself where am I. ‘Wow! It’s so beautiful,’ I recall saying, while I was entering the park as it emulated the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. We stayed in the garden for a long time and eventually our adventure made our tummies rumble and so we sat down for lunch.
Now we were leaving for the mosque. My nose sniffed the last scent of pollen in the richest flowers I had ever smelt. With thrust and energy we raced with Year 5 who were also on the trip with us. When we entered the mysterious mosque I found out that Year 5 were already there and immediately we started the tour. I learnt a whole bunch of things in a short period of time thanks to Jade the caring, knowledgeable, kind soul who showed us around. I was really excited and now I had already learnt about the 5 pillars, Allah, the different prophets, the map of what and where Mohammad did his work. Then finally we experienced the main prayer hall, then after this we travelled back with a feeling of amazement!
Our trip to London Central Mosque was a great experience, teaching us all about how Muslims worship god and how their religion is different to mine. Jade (who showed us around) taught us lots of facts such as: The Five Pillars of Islam (they are the testimony of faith, prayer, giving to charity, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to Mecca), God’s name in Arabic (Allah), what times they pray, how many times they pray (5 times) and more! Even though it was a long walk, to get there we went past London Zoo. But before we even started walking to the Mosque, we went to Regent’s Park which was really fun.
the Mosque we heard the call to prayer and what it means in English. We went into the prayer hall, and the chandelier that was in there lit just for us. I would love to go there again.
As the cold damp moss whisked across my nose and the wet soggy rain hit my face, I shuddered and thought the day would not be a pleasing one. I quickly hurried to school seeing all my fantastic friends at the gate, all saying how the day would be a good day. We all asked each other what had in our packed lunch but it wasn’t even lunch yet! As soon as we went in we so eager to set off but we had to read our brilliant books so that is exactly what we did. After a few minutes it was time to pack up to get ready for the surprising day ahead. We just wanted to go quickly so we wasted no time and as everyone came back we got given our partners and groups. My partner was Eleanor and our group was at the back to make sure no one got lost and to make sure we didn’t get lost ourselves. Although the soggy rain and the clouds drew nearer, we didn’t stop, we continued going on with Class 5 right behind us. We arrived at the busy tube station.
We got on our first tube and set of to get off for another tube. The other tube would take us all the way there though, we would need to walk a bit and that is exactly what we did. When we got off the tube we walked our way round and entered attractive Regents Park with the big roses smelling so gracious. We took some photos and noted down what we could see and hear. The park made me so alive and full of energy. This is an opportunity I will never forget. The trip didn’t stop there, as we were heading to see a Mosque.
We walked and walked and walked and walked but there was no sign, until we saw a massive dome and guessed is was the Mosque; all that walking did get us somewhere. When we got inside the Mosque we saw a lady called Jade who was going to tell us everything we needed to know about the Mosque and what happens in the Mosque. We started learning some new facts and then moved into see the prayer room where Muslims worship. They take their shoes off and then they go inside and have to be shoulder to shoulder (so the devil cannot walk past). But of course we couldn’t stay forever and it was time for us to head back to school. What a day I will never forget and that opportunity has helped to learn more about the Islamic faith. Thank you! I would recommend that trip! 100%.
The mosque was amazing. In the main prayer hall there was a crystal chandelier and it was turned on just for us! When we were looking at the displays a man called everyone to prayer. I expected to only see a few people come to the mosque to pray but loads of people came to prayer! It was astonishing! Thank you so much Miss Fullana and Mr Antcliffe for such an inspiring trip!
Hope you had a amazing time on your trip year 6!
That was so much fun I really enjoyed it thanks to our guide
The chandelier was the best bit!
It looks like you had fun!
I hope you had a good time in the mosque.
It looks amazing, and it must have been very exciting to be in the London Central Mosque!
You look like you’re having a great time
WOW!
It looks like you had an amazing time!
I think that you should be grateful for your trip!
I think that you should thank Miss Fullana Class 6!
Where is the Mosque?
Wow that looks so nice soon maybe I might do that