When we think about Muslims, we generally remember this sentence, “Koran in one hand, sword in the other." However, we should read behind what this simple sentence is delivering to us. The hostility and worry about Islam made Westerners to fabricate this story. Along with Christianity and Buddhism, Islam is the one of the three main global religions, but it is not well-known to us. Actually Islam is a religion that has over 1.3 billion believers, over one-fifth of the worlds’ population. Islam is not a religion only for Arabs, Muslims are scattered over about 140 countries. We tend to think of words like 'aggressive' and 'terror' when we mention Islam and Muslims. A lot of Korean people feel negative to Islam and fear it. Is Islam really scary? To experience Islamic culture, I visited the Korean Islamic Center Mosque located in Hannam-dong, Seoul. Let's find out about Islam! 

 

    After arriving at Itaewon station by metro, I walked about 10 minutes to the chapel. Soon unfamiliar Arabic signs came into my sight. Most people who walked by these places were Muslim and they wore turbans and hijabs. It was hard to tell whether I was standing in Korea or an Arab country. While I paced around in front of a Muslim mart, an Arabic shopkeeper started to talk to me. He said to me kindly that it was okay to look around the Muslim mart and explained to me about Islamic cultures. In Islam, there is lots of forbidden food like pork and they must eat slaughtered meat prepared according to Islamic law. These foods are called halal foods. This Muslim mart sold halal food only. 
     Passing the Muslim mart and walking up on the road, I came to an exotic arch-shaped blue door. Islamic principles such as "There is no God except Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s apostle.” were engraved in the middle of the arch-shaped door. Passing through this door, I could see the enormous white mosque of the Islamic chapel. The exotic building made me feel like I was in some Arab country. Muslims were gathering in twos and threes here and there in the Islamic chapel. There are some rules to visit an Islamic mosque. One of the rules is that you should not wear a miniskirt, shorts or a sleeveless shirt. To enter the chapel, I had to change my clothes to an Islamic long skirt.  
    The place that I visited first was the men’s chapel located on the first floor. Islam has a culture that separates men and women strictly, so the women’s chapel is located on the third floor. As soon as I entered the chapel, the colorful wall pattern and the Koran caught my eyes. The bookshelves located on one side of the room were full of Koran. There were not many Muslims here because it wasn’t time to worship.  
    Coming out of the chapel, I attended the ‘Koran school.’ which is held every Sunday, and is a two-hour class for young Muslims. Since young Muslims from all over the world take class together, the class is provided in three languages; Arabic, English and Korean. During the class they learn mostly Arabic and Islamic principles. Young Muslim students easily wrote in Arabic, which seemed very difficult, and they actively participated in class. It was very impressive.  
   At 12:36, an announcement was made that informs you that it’s time to worship. Many Muslims began to draw together in the empty chapel. Muslims must be punctual on five services a day. Almost 90 Muslims gathered and worshiped on their knees following an Arabic chant. This sacred and holy worship lasted a few minutes and I could feel their attitude of respect and admiration for Allah. 
   After the worship, I left the Islamic Mosque and entered a Turkish restaurant, ‘SALAM.’ The most famous traditional Turkish food is kebab. Kebab means ‘roast’ in Turkish and it is skewered food roasted in a fire pot. It was originally a nomad style as meat was roasted on a bonfire. I ordered Lamb shish-kebab and ekmek, which is traditional Turkish bread. Lamb shish-kebab is skewered lamb and button mushroom roasted in oven. Ekmek is a kind of thin flour bread roasted in an oven or fire pot. Most Turks enjoy ekmek with other vegetables and meat. It was the first time to try Turkish food, so I hesitated a little, but after having a bite, I realized its taste unusual and exotic.  
   After having a delicious lunch, I had a chance to eat Arabic bread and cookies in the Salam Bakery. Compared to a Korean baked goods, Arabic breads and cookies were so lovely and cute. However, it tasted too sweet. Maybe Arabs like sweet snacks. I also had Turkish ice cream. Turkish ice cream’s air content is 0%, therefore it melts slowly and is very chewy. 
   In the middle of Seoul, little Islam is living and breathing with us. They are making their own culture and unique style and showing off their charm and magic. 
   Actually, Islamic culture is distorted and misunderstood among many people since we heavily depend on western-perspective. It is true that Islamic culture has influenced on the Western culture. Recently, Islamic culture has been receiving a lot of attention and new interpretation from various perspectives. Negative feeling and prejudices against Islamic culture will not disappear right away. However, we have to understand Islamic culture without a biased western centered perspective. 

 

By Ahn Na-ri CP Reporter
ahn-nari@cnu.ac.kr

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