Covering Islam
From the Herald News archives:
Before visiting a mosque, take note of the following:
- women should wear long sleeves and long pants or a long skirt; loose-fitting clothing only, preferably not in bright colors
- women should put a scarf over their hair, one that is not see-through
- women should not wear perfume or anything else that would distract from the solemnity of the setting
- neither men nor women should wear shorts
- expect to take off your shoes before you enter the prayer room
- expect women and men to pray separately
- expect that a person of the opposite sex will not shake your hand; men and women who are not related or married to each other often do not touch.
(Some people may make exceptions, because they don’t want to offend non-Muslims, but very religious people, like the spiritual leaders known as imams, will decline to shake hands)
Side note on names:
When asking Arab-Americans or Arab immigrants for the spelling of their names, be very careful. For example, they may spell a name “Elfalali” for you, but you should ask if there is a space between the El and the Falali, if the F is capitalized, and if there is a hyphen between El and Falali. Also, there are numerous ways to spell the common name, Muhammad (including Mohamed, Mohammed, Mohammad, etc). Ask and ask again.
