Everyone, well except for atheists, has a specific holy place of worship they go to in order to cleanse their soul, revive their spiritual souls, and remind themselves of their religion and what they believe in.

You have the Christians going to church every Sunday, which is their holy day, to repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness.

You have the Jewish going to synagogues every Saturday, which is their holy day, to practice their religious services.

And there are us, the Muslims. Our holy day is Friday but since we pray five times a day, hopefully it isn’t the only day we go.   

Now, if you’re in the West, drive around for 10 minutes. Go through different roads in your area.

You’ll come across several houses of worship.

Have you asked yourself why are there so many?

Isn’t one church enough for every city?

Today, we will be focusing on Islam and its' place of worship – the mosque.

We want to see why are people still building mosques in almost every place around the world, today?

When is it enough?
 

Now for those who don’t know the Mosque or the Masjid is Islam’s holy place of worship.

For every mosque, there is an Imam whose primary responsibility is to lead Islamic worship services, mainly the obligatory prayers. In fact, the word "imam" itself means "to stand in front of" in Arabic, referring to placement of the imam in front of the worshipers during prayer.

For each of the five daily obligatory prayers, the imam is present at the mosque to lead the prayers. On Friday, the imam also usually delivers the khutba (sermon).

Muslims pray at mosques because prayers at mosques are rewarded much more than prayers at home. The Prophet of Islam says, “

Today is the 14^th of Rabi al-Awwal and tomorrow, 1439 years ago, the Holy Prophet migrated from Mecca to Medina, he laid the foundation of the very first mosque in Islam – called Quba.

The virtue of Masjid Qubas is mentioned in the following Quranic verse in Surah Taubah: “…certainly a masjid founded on piety from the very first day is more deserving that you should stand in it…”[9:108]

The Prophet said: “He who purifies himself at his home and comes to Masjid Quba and offers two rakats therein, will be rewarded the reward of an Umrah (lesser pilgrimage).” 

Quba mosque has a special and unique place in the hearts of Muslims due to its association with the Prophet Muhammed.

It is also known to be the second largest and prominent mosque in Medina after the Prophet’s Mosque (Masjid al-Nabawi).

Located on the outskirts of Medina, the mosque now has four minarets and 56 domes as well as seven main entrances and 12 subsidiary ones.

Nowadays, according to several sources, the current estimated number of mosques in the world is around 3.5 million. That’s a lot of mosques mashallah.

However, despite that large number, it said the number of new mosques constructed in different countries is not adequate as it does not match the growing Muslim population world over.

It is especially so in European countries where there is a high rate of Muslim population growth due to conversions, migration and birth rate.

France is one of these countries that need a large number of new mosques.

The head of the Islamic Council of France says the country has seven million Muslims and only 2200 mosques.

He added that the number of mosques in the country need to at least double to meet the need of French Muslims.

In Britain, too, there are only 1000 mosques while two million Muslims live in the country making up 5 percent of the population.

It is said that India has the largest number of mosques in the world. There are 300,000 active mosques in the Asian state, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.

But why are there so many? And why do we see people still building more and more up until this day?

A mosque brings the community together as it acts as many things, a social center, a community center and an educational center, etc. and it has many events which welcome both old and new members of the mosque.

Most of the acts and services of religion like praying, reading the Quran, funerals, giving Zakat, charity, asking sheikhs, etc. are done in mosques.

Mosques are study centers for new comers of the faith to come and learn about the Islamic faith, about the teachings of the Holy Qur’an, learn how to read it and pronounce. These are often take place on weekends or in the evenings. Some mosques provide full time schools if you depend on the mosque to provide a full time Islamic education. Nearly all mosques provide libraries which offer a variety of books on Islam which will expand knowledge on Islamic teachings.

Importance of building mosques?

In the congregation, rich and poor, high and low, all stand shoulder to shoulder. It is the best scene of mankind's equality. This also teaches us the lesson that we, as Muslims, should be united at all times.

• Without a mosque, there are no Friday prayers.
• Without a mosque there are no mosque charity donations.
• Without a mosque, there isn't a place for Muslims to meet in and practice their religion.
• Without a mosque, there is no one to remind you of prayer.
• Without a mosque, there is no atmosphere of an Islamic occasion.
• Without a mosque, there are no houses of Allah on Earth.
• And without a mosque, it means that Muslims are vanishing from that place.

Muslims do need mosques for collective prayers. But of course, a Muslim can pray at home where he can live a comfortable Islamic life with himself and his family, however, we must remember that Islam is a religion to be practiced collectively therefore, all good things if they are done together has more of a reward than the same things done alone. Never in the Holy Quran does Allah address Muslims as believer but, always as believers.

Let’s keep that in mind.