Kalamazoo Islamic Center

On Thursday the class went to the Kalamazoo Islamic Center right next to Western's campus. We stayed for nearly two hours, and in that time I learned so much and had so many misconceptions and stereotypes broken down. I was so impressed by the Imam. He looked like he was only a few years older than us, but had such a wealth of information to offer. I think because he was so close to our age, he was able to relate his culture to something which for many is base knowledge in our own culture-Christianity. He made a lot of connections to Christianity and stressed the religious tolerance his religion has for others. In both Christianity and Islam, the religion asks the follower to do just that, be a follower and submit him/herself to God. Its just that between the two religions, the means to get there are different. I really liked how the Imam presented it almost like a history lesson, in that it wasn't pushy like how some Christian denominations can be. I found it really interesting the sense of community this religion has. It is a strong push for all followers to pray together in groups or in the mosque on Fridays to strengthen that bond. By encouraging followers to gather together there is a strong sense of community and family. I noticed how similar that was to our own class. I feel, that by having Dr. Webb have us spend 45 minutes the first day learning each others names and 5 minutes everyday after created a sense of community in our classroom. I've never had that with any other college class in the last three years. But I feel like I can make better connections with my peers because I know all of their names and feel "safe" sharing opinions during discussion. Overall, going to a mosque would have been something I never would have done if not for this class. I think this was definitely a cultural experience that I really enjoyed and think everyone should go at least once.