World Mosque Day

August 21 is marked as International Mosque Day since 2003 AD, following Iran’s initiative at the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), and its approval by the OIC Foreign Ministerial Meeting.

On this day in 1969 AD, exactly 49 years ago an arson attack was launched by the Zionists on Islam’s former Qibla (focal point of prayer), the al-Aqsa Mosque in Bayt al-Moqaddas. The usurper regime of Israel attributed the fire to Australian tourist, Denis Michael Rohan, and detained him, but a court in Tel Aviv released him on the pretext of being mentally ill. Muslims throughout the world held protest rallies, compelling heads of Muslim states to establish the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) the next year, to counter the threats against Islamic sanctities.

As we said, in 2003 on the proposal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the OIC designated August 21 as World Mosque Day in order to arouse international conscience towards the sanctity of mosques. Thus, every year, the International Mosque Day is observed in the Islamic Republic of Iran and other countries, on the anniversary of the arson attack on al-Aqsa Mosque in the Zionist occupied Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas – Islam’s third holiest site. The goal is to arouse amongst Muslims the importance of mosques, and their role in promoting religious, ethical, cultural, social and various other morally-upright activities.

This was not the only crime of the Zionist entity against the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque. In March 1968, the Zionist had started excavations underneath al-Aqsa on the pretext of unearthing traces of what they called Solomon’s Temple. Since then a tunnel has been dug underneath the mosque, and goal is to destroy this sacred site of Islam and replace it with a Jewish temple. The Zionists, along with an outfit in the US called the Christian Zionists, believe that destruction of al-Aqsa Mosque and its replacement by a temple will speed up the advent of the Jewish Messiah. Today, Zionist warplanes are criminally targeting mosques in the besieged Gaza Strip.

All religions have their own particular places of worship, and regard them as sacred. The Christians have the church; the Jews have the synagogue, while the Zoroastrians and other creeds have the temples. Islam, as the culmination of the message of monotheism preached by all Prophets of God all over the world since the beginning of creation, has the mosque, which is considered the house of God. This is a symbolic reference, since the Almighty Creator is One and Only, and is everywhere. He is neither confined to any particular place nor has a shape or size to be perceived by the human eye. He is far too glorious to be encompassed by the imagination of the creatures.

Thus, He could be worshipped everywhere, but in order to hold congregational worship and to provide believers with an adequate place to assemble for fulfilling rites and rituals, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) instructed the building of a special place of worship called mosque. The Arabic term for mosque is ‘masjid’, which means a place of prostration, and hence it is necessary to protect the sanctity of the place where the believers manifest their humbleness before the Majesty of God. An important point to note is that mosques are the supreme symbol of monotheism and should not be tainted by obeisance to anyone else than God. In view of this fact, the Almighty says in ayah 18 of Surah Jinn of the holy Qur’an:

“The places of worship belong to Allah, so do not invoke anyone along with Allah.”

The mosques should thus be clean and neat places, and the worshippers should also be ritually clean when they enter it. For this reason, God says in ayah 31 of Surah A’raf:

“O Children of Adam! Put on your adornment on every occasion of prayer,”

This ayah means to say that the word adornment here is not just a reference to apparels, but to moral virtues as well. In view of this fact, the Prophet of Islam has said: “Whoever builds a mosque, God will build a house for him in Paradise.”

The Prophet once addressing his loyal companion Abu Zar Ghaffari said: O Abu Zar as long as you are in the mosque, for each breath you take God Almighty will raise a degree for you in Paradise and the angels will salute you. The Prophet’s 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS) has said: Go to the mosques since the mosques are houses of God on the earth.

In view of the importance of mosques and their high status, God Almighty says in ayah 114 of Surah Baqara:

“Who is a greater wrongdoer than him who denies access to the mosques of Allah lest His Name be celebrated therein, and tries to ruin them? Such ones may not enter them, except in fear. There is disgrace for them in this world, and there is for them a great punishment in the Hereafter.”

Mosques in Islam, besides functioning as religious centres, carry out cultural, social and educational activities for the benefit of Muslim youth and for the sound and ethical development of Muslim societies. It is worth noting that the Prophet Mohammad used to deal with various affairs of the Islamic state from his headquarters in the mosque. That is why, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless his soul), used to say that mosques are the trenches of our society.

During the 8-year war that the US had imposed on Iran through Saddam in the 1980s, mosques functioned as recruiting centres for enthusiastic combatants marching to the frontlines for the defence of their faith and homeland. It is unfortunate that in India, frenzied vandals in 1992 destroyed the historic Babri Mosque. In Myanmar, it has become the habit of the Buddhist terrorists to attack and burn down mosques. Even in Muslim countries the Godless regimes ruling them, are targeting mosques.

For instance, the regime in the Caucasus republic of Azerbaijan, which is Muslim in name only, recently closed down or destroyed several mosques, while granting permission to the Zionist entity to build synagogues in the capital Baku and in other cities. In Bahrain, the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime periodically attacks and destroys mosque and even burns copies of the holy Qur’an. In Saudi Arabia also mosques are occasionally destroyed by the Wahhabi cult.

In Syria and Iraq the Takfiri terrorists frequently desecrate and destroy mosques and other Islamic religious sites. In the so-called free and democratic societies of the US and Europe, there are many restrictions for Muslim concerning mosque attendance. This explains for the support of the US for the criminal Zionist entity and for the Aal-e Khalifa regime of Bahrain, as well as for the Wahhabi cult of Saudi Arabia and for the Takfiri terrorists in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

In short the mosque is the bastion of Islam, and therefore it is essential for us to protect its sanctity.