Cultural experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Cultural experience - Essay ExampleThe report also indicated that a majority of immigrants in the country hailed from countries such as the United Kingdom, China, and New Zealand. Today, Australia appears like a new country in another land, thanks to the diversity of the country. The Australia multicultural policy has promoted the countrys shared values and cultural traditions (Hugo 2005, p. 9). In addition, it allows people from other countries who chose to call Australia their home the right to share and practice their cultural traditions and languages poverty-stricken from discrimination or interference from the govern manpowert. Almost one quarter of Australian population, (4 million people) speak other languages other than English (Griffiths 2010). The country also allows the emancipation of religion. For instance, when one drives along the streets of Sidney, he or she is amazed to see mosques at different locations in the city. Al-Zahra Mosque is one among the many mosques i n the country that a friend of mine once attended to examine of the Islamic mode of prayers. The Mosque is located in Australias capital Sydney and acts as a place of worship for the Islamic faithful (Jamal and Chandab 2005, p.6). The friend of mine reveals that the Mosques environment was so amazing that one could easily tell by far that the place is indeed a Muslim territory. This is evident right from the structure of the mosque, as he could easily see a tall tower, commonly referred to as the Minaret. The Minaret is standing tall on the building with loudspeakers attached to it. The loud speakers, he was told are used to announce to the muslin faithful of the beginning of the service. It was also through interaction with the congregants that he realized that, in Islam refer to God as Allah. He also asserted that he was so amazed to learn that Muslims do not believe in the domain of Jesus Christ and the Christians do. Instead, they believe in the existence of Prophet Muhammad . The friend also revealed that the environment looked peculiar from that of a church. As a result, other members of the conference could easily single him out from the rest. This is because, whereas he was dressed in full black suite, which was quite different from the way the Muslim faithful were dressed. For instance, most men were dressed in white robes, while their female counterparts were mostly dressed in black robes, according to the friend of mine. He was also amazed by the fact that most women wore robes, which covered their faces making it difficult to different the women. He even kept wondering how these women were breathing in those robes. It was also interesting for him to learn that before entering the Mosque, every member of the congregation is required to remove the shoes since the mosque is considered a holy place. This look peculiar to him since he did not pass judgment being subjected to removal of shoes. In addition, just outside the entrance of the mosque is a special place designated for leg, mouth, neck, face, nose, and hand washing before anyone can be allowed to blend to the service. The friend reveals that the inside wall of the Mosque is beautifully decorated with Islamic artifacts made of different symbols and Arabic writings. He also noted that, unlike Christians who pray in a single room, Islam does not allow such mixing. Instead, the Muslim men and women have different rooms for prayers. However, prayers are conducted by a single imam who direct prayers from the mens room using a loud speaker fixed in other rooms as well to alter women to follow the service and imitate what the imam says. The friend was also flabbergasted to learn that the building had very few chairs, as the entire Mosque is just a hall with a carpet laid on the floor. As such, congregants sit on the floor on carpets