A distinct experience

I visited a mosque yesterday which inspired me to write about it today, instead of carrying on the happiness topic. I will continue that later on. 

The day before yesterday, the family of my deceased friend invited me to this mosque to pray on his body. Praying on a recently dead Muslim body is one of  the  main Islamic rituals. 

I checked the given address and I found it quite far in the North West London. Fortunately one of the underground lines ended around the area. Nevertheless it took one and a half  hours to get there including 28-minutes walk in the hilly roads. I have never been there before. Underground in London usually goes to over ground when it is far from the center. That is why the nearer the car got to the destination, the more beautiful the area became. Houses were beautiful unique architectural villas with artistically designed front gardens. Roads were mostly narrow with a shadow of green tall leafy trees. The whole landscape was extremely dazzling. The scent of the green land and the bird songs caused a good feeling on me. It was intoxicating. I could have enjoyed walking for a long time. I would have liked to close my eyes, quietly sing, and dream!

The mosque belonged to Shias. It was huge and had several halls, divided for different purposes. Even though the whole process was familiar to me, I felt a bit different from what we normally have in Iran. One distinction was about the language. We are not used to hearing English in the mosques. The other difference was associated with its architecture. The main hall was like a renovated old countryside mosque with several arches and high windows. A tiny Mehrab was placed in a corner. The last differences were the rest rooms. They were hygienically clean. The last point I would like to mention here was the lack of hypocrisy. 

The sun was setting and people were getting ready for their prayer. I felt that the atmosphere was spiritual. They brought the coffin calmly, put it in front of the line of more than a hundred praying people and we prayed sadly afterwards. It was surprising for me to see the gathering of so many Iranians in such a faraway place, some had come from other cities.

All in all, it was a quite enjoyable and valuable experience, and on top of everything, the last chance for me to say goodbye to this gracious friend. I wish him to rest in peace forever.