Design
When it comes to mosques, there are various shapes and designs. It depends on the region in which they are located. On the other hand, there is one detail that all mosques have in common, and that is the mihrab.

Mihrab is a niche in a wall that points in the direction of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Those are the direction that Muslims face when praying to God, or Allah.

The most famous mosques are in Turkey and the Middle East. The best examples are the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, The Grand Mosque of Mecca or the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.

History
The model for building mosques was Mohammad’s house in Medina, constructed in the 7th century. After his death mosques became important symbols of Islam. During the Middle Ages they were built wherever Arabs settled. 

They spread quickly throughout northern Africa and southern Europe, as far as Spain. By the 15th century Islam had spread to Asia, where it became the dominant religion on the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. With the Muslim population spreading to the Balkans mosques have become widespread in many cities and towns in Greece, Albania, Serbia and Bosnia.

Parts of a mosque
mosques usually have a square or rectangular layout with a courtyard in the middle. The first mosques had flat roofs on top of the prayer halls. Later on Islamic architecture focused on domes and arched entrances

A common feature of many mosques is a minaret, a tall thin tower that is usually located at one of the corners. They were designed to make mosques as big as Christian churches, with their bell towers. From the minaret a muezzin announces praying time to worshippers.

The prayer hall normally does not have any benches or chairs. Worshippers pray in rows facing Mecca. There are no statues or pictures on the walls. Some mosques show verses of the Koran on the walls to assist worshippers. Many prayer halls have columns that uphold the roof. Every mosque has a mihrab, a niche in the wall that points to Mecca. From a pulpit, or minbar, the religious leader of the mosque, the imam delivers his speech.

Religious functions

Prayers:
Adult Muslims are expected to pray five times a day. Most mosques have formal prayers for each of these times. If performing the prayer is difficult, for example for ill people, then exceptions are made.

Mosques also hold a special prayer service, called jumath. This is done once a week. It is a form of Sabbath and replaces the Friday prayers at the mosque.

When a Muslim dies, a funeral prayer is normally held. It is held outdoors in a courtyard or square close to the mosque. The prayers have all the worshippers present, including the imam, taking part.

Ramadan events:
There are many events in Ramadan, Islam's holiest month. During Ramadan, Muslims must fast during the day. Mosques organize iftar dinners after sunset.
Political functions

Countries with small Muslim populations use mosques as a way to support civic participation. They are more likely to do this than Muslim-majority countries of the Greater Middle East. In the United States, Muslims are often immigrants, or the children of immigrants. Mosques want to interest these people for politics. They also want to keep them informed about issues that concern the Muslim community. People who attend the services at the mosque regularly are more likely to take part in protests, to sign petitions, and to involve themselves in political events.

These four colors green, black, white and red are the dominant colors found in the flags of most Arab states.

Star& Crescent:
The crescent moon is an extremely important symbol in Islam, it symbolizes concentration and openness.  It adorns the top of Muslim mosques and is featured quite prominently as the major element in many Islamic flags, as in the national flags of Turkey and Pakistan. Many historians point out that this symbol actually originated from the Ottoman Empire and is not of Islamic origins at all. It is considered a case of cultural diffusion. As Islam spread to the Ottoman Turks who used this symbol on their flag, it also began to be associated with Islam. Those who advocate the use of the crescent as the symbol of Islam cite certain verses in the Quran to support their stand, and many Islamic nations and organizations today incorporate the crescent into their logos or flags.Usually pictured next to a star which symbolizes paradise.

Shahadatin
Another popular symbol in Islam is the Shahadatain which means “two Shahadas.” The Shahada is the Muslim statement of faith.

The Shahadatain is more representative of Islam than the star and crescent. The Shahada is the most fundamental belief in Islam. In order for a person to become Muslim, they must recite the Shahada.

To Muslim the Quran is the most sacred text, as it is believed that the text is the actual words of God that being revealed to Muhammad. The Hadith is a second most important text that records sayings of Muhammad and his followers. These two texts form the basis for all Islamic theology, practice and Sharia – the Islamic law.

Quran

The word "Quran" means "recitation" in Arabic. This book has the highest authority in both religious and legal matters. Muslims believe the Quran is to be a  perfect copy of the angel Gabriel's revelations to Muhammad from 610 until his death in 632 AD. There are 114 chapters in the Qur'an, which is written in the old Arabic dialect.
All the chapters except one begin with the sentence 'In the name of Allah the most merciful and the most kind'. This is the thought with which Muslims should start with every action.
The longest chapter of the Qur'an is Surah Baqarah (The Cow) with 286 verses and the shortest is Surah Al-Kawther(abundance) which has 3 verses.
The Qur'an is sometimes divided into 30 roughly equal parts, known as juz'. These divisions make it easier for Muslims to read the Qur'an during the course of a month and many will read one juz' each day, particularly during the month of Ramadan.

Hadith

The word "Hadith" means "report" in Arabic. The book is a record of the words and deeds of Muhammad, his family, his followers and his companions. Although it is not treated as important as the Word of God like the Quran, Hadith is an important source of doctrine, law, and practice. 

Interesting fact

The Christian Bible also has information on the true God, but Muslims believe the Bible is to have been corrupted in transmission and translation.

The Five Pillars consist of:

Shahadah Confession of faith:
Shahada is a declaration of faiththat there is only one God (Allah) and that Muhammad is God's messenger. It is a set statement normally recited in Arabic it means - lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh (لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله)  - "There is no god but God (and) Muhammad is the messenger of God." It is essential to utter it to become a Muslim and to convert to Islam.

Salat: consists of five daily prayers according to the -- islamic law. It perhaps the most well-known Muslim practices among non-Muslims. It is performed five times a day: at Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (noon), ʿAṣr (afternoon), Maghrib (evening), and ʿIshāʾ (night). All of these prayers are recited while facing in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and form an important aspect of the Muslim Ummah. Muslims must wash before prayer; this washing is called wudu ("purification"). A Muslim may perform their prayer anywhere however, the mosque is the most preferable place for prayers.

Zakat: is the practice of giving money to those who are in need. The word zakat can be defined as purification and growth because it allows an individual to achieve balance and encourages new growth. The principle of knowing that all things belong to God is essential to purification and growth. Zakt is obligatory for all Muslims who are able to do so. It is the personal responsibility of each Muslim to ease the economic hardship of others and to strive towards eliminating inequality. A Muslim can also donate more as an act of voluntary charity , rather than to achieve additional divine reward.

Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan. Ritual fasting is an obligatory act during the month of Ramadan. Muslims must restrict themselves from food and drink from dawn to dusk during this month, and are to be especially mindful of other sins. Fasting is necessary for every Muslim that has reached puberty unless they suffer from a medical condition.The fast is meant to allow Muslims to seek nearness and to look for forgiveness from God, to express their gratitude to and dependence on him. During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam by refraining from violence, anger, envy, greed, lust,  gossip and to try to get along with other people.

Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca

Islam regards it as pointless to live life without putting that faith into action and practice.
This event occurs in the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah. It is when Muslims go to the holy city of Mecca. Every able-bodied Muslim is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life. When the pilgrim is around 10 km  from Mecca, they must dress in Ihram clothing. Both men and women are required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. After a Muslim makes the trip to Mecca, they are known as a hajj/hajja - one who made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The main rituals of the Hajj include walking seven times around the Kaaba termed Tawaf, touching the Black Stone termed Istilam, traveling seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah termed Sa'yee, and symbolically stoning the Devil in Mina termed Ramee.
The pilgrim, or the haji, is honoured in the Muslim community. Islamic teachers say that the Hajj should be an expression of devotion to God, not a means to gain social standing. 

Carrying out the Five Pillars demonstrates that the Muslim is putting their faith first, and not just trying to fit it in around their secular lives.

other festivals include 
Muharram: The Islamic New Year and Mawlid al-Nabi (12 Rabi 1): Prophet Muhammad's Birthday

God molded clay, earth, sand, and water into a model of a human. He breathed life and power into it, and it evolved into life. And this first human was called Adam. God took Adam to live in a Paradise. God taught Adam the names of all the creatures, and then commanded all the angels to bow down before Adam. All of them bowed but Iblis refused to obey.

God placed Adam in a beautiful garden in Paradise, telling him that he could eat whatever it wanted except the fruit of a forbidden tree. Satan tempted Adam to disobey God, and eat the fruit. When Adam had disobeyed God, God cast Adam out of Paradise. Muslim scholars are divided whether the Paradise from which Adam was expelled is the paradise in the heavens awarded to the righteous at the day of judgement or a paradise on earth.

Islam breaks somewhat with Judaism and Christianity in that Eve is not mentioned in the Quran^{[clarification needed]} and in explaining why Adam ate the forbidden fruit. In the Hebrew account in Genesis, a snake tempts them Adam and Eve to eat the fruit. While the Genesis creation narrative does not explicitly identify the snake with Satan, that Satan and the snake are the same being is claimed in the New Testament, in Revelation 12:9 and 20:2. In Genesis, Eve was tempted but Adam was not.^[20][21] In contrast, the Quran states explicitly that Shaitan (Satan) tempted Adam to eat the fruit.^[22] Unlike Christian traditions, which sees Satan as rebelling against God, Islamic tradition identifies Shaitan's disobedience as a result of his superior nature out of fire, in contrast to the nature of humans,^[23] since angels in Islam do not rebel against God.^[24][25] God cast Iblis out of his paradise, and Iblis vowed to tempt Adams generations to corruption and to disobey God.




According to Islamic mythology, God instructed Adam to construct a building (called the Kaaba) to be the earthly counterpart of the House of Heaven and that Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ismail (Ishmael) later rebuilt it on its original foundations after was destroyed in the flood of Nuh (Noah).^[26][27] According to other opinions, Ibrahim and Ismail were the first to build it.^[27] As Ismail was searching for a stone to mark a corner with, he met with the angel Jibrail(Gabriel). Jibrail gave him the Black Stone. According to the hadith,^[28] the Black Stone is reported to have been milky white after being descended from Heaven but was rendered black due to the sins of the people, who had touched it.^[29][30] Muslims do not worship the Black Stone.^[31]

The Kaaba was originally intended as a symbolic house for the one monotheistic God. However, after Ibrahim's death, people started to fill the Kaaba with pagan idols. When Muhammad conquered Mecca after his exile, he removed the idols from the Kaaba.^[32][33] The inside of the Kaaba is now empty.^[34] It now stands as an important pilgrimage site, which all Muslims are supposed to visit at least once if they are able (Hajj).^[35][34] Muslims are supposed to pray five times a day while facing in the Kaaba's direction


As we want others to respect our life and dignity, so we must respect and protect the life and dignity of others; as we want others to respect our freedoms of religion, conscience, thought, and expression, so we must respect and defend these freedoms for others.