Services Provided by the Mosque
From The Peopling of Astoria, Queens
Unlike the Orthodox Christian Church, in Islam the conversion process is not
as doctrinal. The conversion process with the person learning about the
tenets of the religion before he/she takes the formal oath or the Shadad,
which states that “Allah is the only God and Muhammed is his prophet.” After
that, the person prays 2 Rakats of the Salah or the prayer. Having completed
all of this, the person is now Muslim and must practice the religion in
order to remain a Muslim. The mosques perform on average 15-20 conversions
per year.
The mosque serves as a 24 hr support system for the Islamic community in the
locality. The imams we spoke to mentioned that they have one-on-one
individual counseling sessions with members of the congregation who face
different problems. Among these problems are commonly drug and alcohol
abuse, which is forbidden by the tenets of Islam. The imams speak to these
teenagers and discourage them from their addiction to these harmful
practices. Other problems they address are depression and a loss of faith in
Allah due to stress and troubles. In this case the imam tries to rekindle
their faith in God by encouraging them to pray and seek guidance in Allah.
Similar to the Sunday schools of the Christians, the mosques in Astoria
provide free religious classes for children and adults alike. In these
classes, the students learn basic teachings of Islam and get answers to
their questions. The mosque serves as the pillar of strength that binds
members of the faith in addition to solving their problems.