The Wonders of a House of Worship: Sidon's Mosque

 Sometimes you walk into a place and have an overwhelming feeling of happiness. This feeling imitates the rush of a rollercoaster at the moment of the drop, the happiness of the moment when you hug someone you love that you haven’t seen for years. That beautiful feeling lasts for a few minutes. Now, combine those two moments in a potion and sip it every now and then for maximum effect. That is the exact feeling you succumb to when you enter a mosque.
           The first time you embark on the journey of visiting Sidon’s Mosque, you will be astounded by its exterior and interior beauty. The outside calls you in so it can suck the sadness out of you. The walls are straight, but the top middle is round and it looks as if it gave birth to another round top—I used to call them the top buns. The Mosque has four long thin towers situated on its four corners. The exterior color of light brown, which turns into dark brown after a rainy day, reminds you of the desert. The top buns are colored blue to emit a feeling that you will achieve clarity when you enter this house of God.
           The first thing you really notice when you enter the Mosque is the high ceiling which holds the most stunning chandeliers, big and small, with thin rods that hold them in place. The flooring is made of carpet that screams comfort and prestige. The walls are built to mesmerize you with their scripture writings and wood carvings that probably took months to make. The tiny windows are the only thing that connect you to the outside. The light flows generously inside hitting you right in the soul, enlightening you. The night is sandhill review 2 welcomed with open arms for the night prayers and that is when the chandeliers come to life and their electric light give you a sense of contentedness.
           It is only when the Imam calls for prayer that you feel the incessant need to cry. It is when he approaches the microphone and starts with, “Allahu Akbar,” which bounces through the walls and jumps into your ears that you feel every worry, every doubt, and every hurt you’ve had dissolve with his resonating, exquisitely haunting voice. It is when you sit on the carpet after prayer and lightly laugh with your new acquaintances or when you read the Quran for guidance or pleasure that you feel a sense of oneness, community, and belonging, altogether.
           The first time I entered that mosque, I was five years old. I remember every detail and every feeling because I could not stop talking about it for weeks. Even today, at twenty years old, I still have the same sense of astonishment every time I go into any mosque. I look for that kind of beauty in everything, I yearn for that feeling in everyone I meet and in everything I seek, I search for something new to refurnish the parts of my eternal soul.