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