What can you find behind the front door of the largest mosque in the Netherlands?
The doors of the Ulu Mosque on the Utrecht Mosque Square are always open – that’s how it should be, according to Yücel Aydemir, the chairman of the largest mosque in the Netherlands. Still, it doesn’t come naturally to everyone to even walk in. What do you actually find behind the front door of the mosque? Aydemir shows that to the readers of DUIC.
During Ramadan, Muslims worldwide celebrate the blessed month on the Islamic calendar. The month is one of abstinence and contemplation, but for many it is also dominated by coming together. In the past two years, that was made difficult by the well-known spoilsport, the corona virus. But since this spring, measures against the spread of the virus have been possible and the festivities can continue in full swing.
Yücel Aydemir has just time between prayers to give a tour of the mosque. He leads the way to the large prayer room in the building. Before entering the prayer room, you will enter a washroom. Here visitors to the mosque take off their shoes and wash their feet while praying. “Hygiene is very important in the mosque. You are not allowed to enter the prayer room with shoes or wet feet,” explains Aydemir. In the washroom there are notes that remind visitors. You leave your shoes in one of the compartments of a large closet, they do not go inside.
Balconies
In the prayer room is a sky-blue carpet that springs under your feet. Here and there there are people to offer, in this room it is only men. They couldn’t be there to answer and are now catching up. They read the verses with a Quran on their laps. Most do this in silence, but one of the visitors mumbles along aloud. Mixed bidding is not allowed for men and women, Aydemir explains. Women therefore follow the prayer from a different floor, but in the same large prayer room. How does that work? Hanging large balconies around the prayer room. From another floor, the female visitors to the mosque follow the prayer. A third floor in the prayer room offers no extra space for men or women.
The prayer room is bathed in daylight that floods in through the high windows. Gold-coloured details sparkle in the sun’s rays on all sides. Yücel Aydemir: “The inside of the mosque was designed by a Turkish architect. In his design he has reflected a connection between the Netherlands and Turkey: tulips. You see them everywhere.” And indeed, from the patterns on the roof vault, to the ornaments on the chandelier and the drawings in the carpet. Everywhere you see tulips in the decorations. In the center of the prayer room is the mihrab. It is a prayer niche that points the direction of Mecca. This is where the imam takes place during prayer; the niche ensures that its voice is amplified, which makes it to be announced.
Text continues below image
call
However, the voice you hear when praying from the mosque is not that of the imam. More towards the back of the room is a special place for the muezzin, that is the person making the call. The public address system, the minaret, plays the call outside. This has happened twice a day since 1983. “Not everyone can do that just like that,” says Yücel Aydemir. “You have to have a good voice to make the call to prayer. That is not for everyone.”
Utrecht residents don’t just come to the Ulu Mosque for prayer. The mosque is a place where the doors are always open Aydemir. Also come to the mosque for homework classes, weddings, and for fun. For example, on the first floor there is a canteen where visitors to the mosque can drink a cup of coffee or tea together.
For female visitors there is the Máximazaal. In this hall, together to our queen, they can come together. Aydemir takes us to the bottom floor of the building. Here he shows a neatly tidy classroom. The tables are in three rows of two. Quran lessons are also given here to children up to the age of 13. Next to it is an independent youth center. It is in the mosque, but has its own board. Younger men can congregate here. It is especially busy when football is being played. Ajax, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray are popular clubs.
believe others
A space that especially wants to show is the silent space for other faiths. “This is a place we are very proud of.” Why is there also room for other faiths in a mosque? “The idea even had to take weeks with both orthodox Muslims as, for example, the orthodox operation.” According to Aydemir, some Muslims did not agree that the mosque should also provide space for prayers for people of other faiths. Orthodox requests will be convinced that the request wanted to win confirmed souls. The mosque president dismisses the idea. “The shape has given room for other faiths, which is why it must also be there in the mosque.” And although it was even getting used to for people, development has arisen from the various parties.
The time of the next prayer is approaching. On the sunny Mosque Square, people are beginning to start entering the building. It still takes a little getting used to, after a long time full of measures and restrictions, but according to Aydemir, the prayer room slowly started to fill up again. Especially during Ramadan, Muslims often spend a lot of time together in the mosque and luckily that is allowed again. The doors of the mosque should always be open.
Do you want to receive DUIC support and a set of postcards with the best photos from the book DUIC in 2021? For 7.95 euros you get twelve tickets, one postcard from every month in 2021. With the purchase of the cards you not only have a memory of 2021 – to hang up, keep or send – but you also support local journalism in Utrecht.