Islam

Five communities. All but the Nation of Islam pray on prayer carpet facing the qibla and require a wudu room; they expect a Mihrab, a Minbar, and a shoe rack, forbid organs, pianos, drums, and handbells, and discourage pews. They keep the Islamic year, bury promptly, and serve halal food; only men lead mixed prayer or give the khutbah.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Nation of Islam describe themselves as Muslim, and the game includes them as they do. Most Muslims, and the main Sunni and Shia bodies, don't regard either as Muslim; the guide says so here once, and otherwise describes each in its own terms.

Sunni Islamic Center its page →

The most common American mosque: Jumu'ah at midday on Friday, the five daily prayers (and taraweeh each night of Ramadan), and a weekend Islamic school, run by a board its dues-paying members elect, with no body above it. Women pray behind the men. Ramadan is the year's giving season and Eid the biggest crowd; zakat passes through to the needy; loans are Islamic financing. The Hanafi variant prays Asr later, as many South Asian families do. A second Jumu'ah is the answer to a hall that can't hold Friday.

• Required: prayer carpet, a wudu room, and the building facing the qibla.
• Expected: a Mihrab, a Minbar, a shoe rack.
• Forbidden: organs, pianos, drums, and handbells. Discouraged: Oak pew, banners, the national flag.
• Fits best: the mihrab, minbar, prayer carpet, and shoe rack (+0.5); stained glass, the dome, and formal items (+0.33). The pipe organ −0.33, drums and the sound system −0.5; pianos, the electronic and Hammond organs, banners, the flag, and the alam −1; chairs and the screen 0.

The board decides renovations and hires the imam (imams are scarce), who leads the prayer but doesn't govern; the voting members decide new building, and women sit on the board. Volunteer khatibs give the khutbah when there's no imam. There's no wider body: nothing is owed, and there's nothing to leave. Face the qibla, lay prayer carpet, and build a wudu room, then a mihrab, a minbar, and shoe racks.

Community of Imam W. Deen Mohammed its page →

The masjids that followed Imam W. Deen Mohammed into Sunni Islam from the 1970s, most of them African American: a long teaching khutbah in English at Jumu'ah, a Sunday ta'leem, and the daily prayers kept by a few (the noon prayer most of all). Women pray behind the men, usually with no barrier, and sit on its boards. Boxes, sadaqah, and zakat; halal food; Islamic financing.

• Required: prayer carpet, a wudu room, the qibla.
• Expected: a Mihrab, a Minbar, a shoe rack.
• Forbidden: organs, pianos, drums, and handbells. Discouraged: pews, banners.
• Fits best: the mihrab, minbar, prayer carpet, and shoe rack (+0.5); chairs and the projection screen (+0.33). Pews, stained glass, the dome, and formal items −0.33, the pipe organ −0.67; pianos, the electronic and Hammond organs, banners, and the alam −1.

The imam is elected by the members, reviewed each year, and unpaid; he decides renovations after hearing the board, and the members vote on new building. There's no wider body: the community governs itself, owes nothing, and has nothing to leave.

Twelver Shia Islamic Center its page →

The week's gathering is Thursday night's Du'a Kumayl, with Jumu'ah and the combined evening prayers optional. The year turns on Muharram: ten nights of majalis with meals and Ashura, the year's crowds and its biggest sponsorships, then mourning through Safar to Arba'een, with no weddings. Months begin by sighting, so the Eids often fall a day after the Sunni mosque's.

• Required: prayer carpet, a wudu room, an imambargah, the qibla.
• Expected: an Alam, a Mihrab, a Minbar, a shoe rack.
• Forbidden: organs, pianos, drums, and handbells. Discouraged: pews, the national flag.
• Fits best: the mihrab, minbar, prayer carpet, alam, and shoe rack (+0.5); stained glass, the dome, and formal items (+0.33). The pipe organ −0.33, drums and the sound system −0.5; pianos, the electronic and Hammond organs, and the flag −1; chairs and the screen 0.

An elected lay board decides renovations and hires the resident scholar (scholars are scarce), who doesn't govern; the members vote on new building. Khums goes to the office of the marja' each believer follows (a tenth of what people give, paid by the members), which answers to no one for it and has no say over the center. Nothing else is owed, and there's nothing to leave.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community its page →

A chapter of a worldwide community that describes itself as Muslims who believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) was the Promised Messiah, followed by a spiritual Khilafat; its motto is "Love for All, Hatred for None" (see the note above). Jumu'ah at 1:00, with the Khalifa's sermon summarised, and the five daily prayers, Asr by the Hanafi reckoning, and taraweeh in Ramadan. Women pray in their own hall: build a balcony or gallery. The Jalsa Salana in July and the auxiliaries shape the year.

• Required: prayer carpet, a wudu room, the qibla.
• Expected: a Mihrab, a Minbar, a shoe rack.
• Forbidden: organs, pianos, drums, and handbells. Discouraged: pews, banners.
• Fits best: stained glass, pillars, the dome, and every formal item (+1); the mihrab, minbar, prayer carpet, and shoe rack (+0.5). Chairs, instruments, the sound system, the screen, banners, and the alam −1.

Members give chanda, all of it sent to the national body, which sends back a budget and the building's costs; the National Jama'at appoints and pays the missionary (missionaries are scarce) and decides new building, and the chapter's executive decides renovations with its consent. The Shura only advises, and women don't sit on the executive. Membership is by bai'at, exclusive, and under formal discipline; interest is forbidden. The national body can close or merge chapters and remove a missionary. A chapter can't vote to leave.

The Nation of Islam its page →

A Muhammad Mosque of the Nation of Islam, led today by Minister Louis Farrakhan, which describes itself as Muslims following the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and its founder, W. Fard Muhammad (see the note above); it is distinct from the W. Deen Mohammed community. Its mosques are lecture halls, centred on the Sunday Message from the student minister at a pulpit, with Wednesday and Friday study meetings and the FOI (men's) and MGT (women's) classes; men and women sit apart. It doesn't face the qibla or pray on carpet; Jumu'ah is optional. Saviours' Day is its year's great day.

• Required: a Pulpit.
• Discouraged: pianos, organs, drums, banners, the national flag.
• Fits best: the dome and formal items (+0.33). The pipe organ −0.33, drums and the sound system −0.5; stained glass, pianos, the electronic and Hammond organs, banners, the flag, and the alam −1; chairs and the screen 0.

The national leadership appoints the student minister, who works another job and decides renovations with the region's consent; the region decides new building. Registered members don't vote; membership is exclusive, under formal discipline, and asks much. Members pay dues and give in the boxes, and the Economic Blueprint ($120 a member a year) is theirs to give, voluntarily. The kitchen is clean of pork. The region can close a mosque or remove its minister, and a mosque can't vote to leave.

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