“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It
In March 2017, given the current geopolitical context and the rhetoric coming out of the White House I was excited for my trip to Malaysia (a predominantly Muslim country) to see the side of Islam that one rarely hears about in the United States. While in Malaysia, I had the opportunity to visit a variety of different mosques. The mosques ranges from being centuries old to a brand new one filled with green technology. They ranged from being incredibly opulent to incredibly humble. Not only did the facades vary, but my experience as a tourist and how I felt were so dramatically different from one mosque to another.
This trip to Malaysia was not the first time I had visited a mosque. I had visited a couple mosques a year prior during my trip to India, so I was pretty familiar with the routine. As a female if I was not dressed appropriately (i.e. in loose clothing covering my arms and legs and a scarf covering my head) I would be asked to put on a robe that they had for tourists. Men would be asked to put on a robe if they were in shorts. Everyone has to take off their shoes to go into the mosque, leaving your shoes unattended outside hoping that they are still there when you get back.
What made my visits to mosques so meaningful in Malaysia was the fact that a handful of my cohort was Muslim unlike in India where no one in my cohort was Muslim. The first mosque we visited was the Pink Mosque in Putrajaya and as the mosque came into view from the bus the Muslim students had a reaction that I will remember for the rest of my life: a gasp of joy and an expression of pure awe, wonder, and admiration as they pressed their face against the window to get a better look. Use to their religion being a minority and having a negative connotation, this was the first time they had seen their religion given respect and prominence; the Pink Mosque made out of rose-tinted marble, can hold 15,000 worshipers, and cost MYR 250 million ($80 million) to construct. Seeing how emotional they were getting, showed me how important their religion was to them, and helped me appreciate the mosques in a whole new way.
Throughout the trip the Muslim students wanted to do their afternoon prayer in different mosques throughout Kuala Lumpur. To my surprise and admiration many members of the cohort understood and respected this desire and accommodated the trips to the mosque around our daily tourist schedule. I ended up visiting both the National Mosque of Malaysia and the Federal Territory Mosque in a small group, accompanying Abdullah, one of the male Muslim students, for his afternoon prayer. The experience I had in these two mosques could not be more different.
When we got to the National Mosque of Malaysia it was during afternoon prayer. Abdullah went inside to join the prayer and Brooke, Sukanya, and I waited outside for prayer to be done so that we could go in. There was a separate entrance for non-muslims so we got on line. At the front of the line were two employees judging whether or not each person needed a robe to enter the mosque. I was wearing loose cotton pants, a ¾ sleeve shirt, and a small scarf that I wrapped around my head and cover my chest with. This was exactly the outfit I had worn to mosques in India and I thought it would suffice here. The male employee told me I could go in, but the female employee stopped me and threw a raggedy robe at me. I politely obliged though the feminist in me hated that I was just judged for what I was wearing. Once I threw on the old robe I was shepherded into the mosque as though I was part of a factory line. Brooke and Sukanya had a similar uncomfortable experience with the mosque employees. Given how strict the rules were to get into the mosque I imagined that this mosque must be a truly sacred place.
Thus when I entered the mosque, I was horrified to immediately see souvenir stands carrying selfie sticks and other such tchotchkes. As I walked around the mosque, I was confronted with coin operated massage chairs throughout the premises. I searched for informative signs or a way to learn about the mosque but there was no opportunity to do so. I watched as tourists left the mosque shortly after arriving, with no trace of their visit in their thoughts, though they had plenty of pictures on their phone. It felt like such a missed opportunity to me, here you had thousands of people from all of the world coming to a mosque, but rather than trying to educate them about Islam, the sacred nature of the mosque was undermined through selfies sticks and massage chairs. I left the mosque feeling disheartened.
The next day we went to the Federal Territory Mosque around afternoon prayer. I went in expecting a similar experience as the day before. I was wearing a similar outfit as the day prior, but this time I was let in without needing to wear a robe. Brooke was wearing jeans so she had to wear a robe but the women was incredibly nice about it. The robes were a beautiful light purple velvet and each one was individually steamed. This immediately set a different tone for the mosque. Rather than being thrown a ragged old robe, Brooke was giving a high quality robe and a women helped her put it on. The care and quality of the robes were different from what I had previously seen, to me this showed how sacred the mosque was and that they wanted everyone to dress there best in it.
The women guided us into a small visitor’s center and offered us cold water bottles. She told Abdullah that he was welcome to walk around the mosque (because he was Muslim) and told Brooke, Sukanya, and I to wait for her here while she finishes up with another group. At first I was uncomfortable being tossed into a side room with little explanation. We awkwardly waited with little idea of what was going on. I felt like we had been hidden away in a back room. I was frustrated because I just wanted to walk around and explore the mosque on my own.
But then I realized that I was not entitled to roam freely around the mosque, I was being graciously invited in to someone else’s sacred space. This to me was a sign of how much respect people had for this mosque, tourists would not be allowed to trample around the mosque unaccountable to anyone. I have read about and seen firsthand the inappropriate and destructive nature of tourists, from taking selfies at former concentration camps to disregarding appropriate attire at religious sites to trying to carve ones initials into Stonehendge. It was heartening to see that this type of behavior wasn’t going to fly here.
Finally, the women came back to the room. She asked us what length and type of tour we wanted. She was willing to do five minute tours so that we could take pictures or two hour tours with detailed explanations or anything in between. We said that we would like to learn about the mosque and we were planning to stay until our friend was done with afternoon prayer. She then asked us what religion we were. I was taken aback and felt uncomfortable saying I was raised Catholic. It initially felt like a loaded question. Brooke and I cautiously responded that we were Catholic and Sukanya said she was Hindu. With this information in hand the women began the tour.
She walked us around the mosque explaining the architecture and what the different spaces were used for. She talked about how celebrations and weddings were held at the mosque and about how people come to the mosque to break fast during Ramadan. She showed us where people washed themselves before praying and brought us into the main prayer room. At every new place she told us if we were allowed to take pictures and if we were, offered to take pictures of us, though we always politely declined as we were not big photo takers. Like a true grandmother at one point she even forced us to take a photo saying we would appreciate it later. Throughout the tour she would relate things to the religions we were familiar with to enhance are understanding, for example while explaining a ceremony they do with a new born she compared it to “catholic baptism.”
As we were ending our tour the call for afternoon prayer began and the women brought us back to the visitors room, since we were not allowed to be in the main mosque during the prayer. It was apparent that she was uncomfortable that she was missing prayer and we offered to wait outside for Abdullah to be done so that she could participate. She insisted on staying with us in the room not wanting us waiting in the heat and said that she would do her prayer when Abdullah was done. We ended up talking for half an hour as we waited. We talked more about Islam and religion in general. We talked about ISIS and how different that Islam was from the Islam that she practiced. We talked about her grandchildren studying in the U.S. and answered questions she had about the country. She asked us how we liked Malaysia and recommended various tourist things for us to do.
The experience was exactly what I had felt was missing from the other mosque. She truly took the time to educate us, but never forced herself upon us. You could tell that she was acute at gauging a group’s interest and meeting them where they were at. If the goal was to just take pictures she was more than happy to oblige when appropriate and sprinkle in a bit of knowledge into the tour. If the group was interested in learning about Islam she was happy to spend hours talking on the subject. Not only was she catering to a groups interest but the question about what religion we were was not intrusive as I had initially thought but rather was another way for her to meet people where they were at. She was adept at explaining and comparing Islam using terminology that was familiar to individuals based on their religious background.
I challenge other religious based tourist sights to follow in the Federal Mosques lead. Today, people are traveling in record numbers. People are seeking out temples, mosques, cathedrals, shrines, etc. for the beauty. So many of the major religions come from the same routes, though many people are oblivious to this. Build on these similarities and show how no matter where people come from they are more similar then they are differ. Meet the tourist where they are at, offer to take that perfect Instagram shot for them while giving them a fun fact. This is especially important for Islam which is such a misunderstood religion. If people are making the effort to visit a mosque, make it a positive experience rather than a judgmental one. You want people coming back from their travels with a fresh perspective and sharing everything they learned rather than complaining about the sexism and how they had to wear a dirty robe. When you have so many tourists coming to you why not take the opportunity to try to educate them instead of trying to sell them a selfie stick.
Travel Tip for Women:
When in a country with a large Muslim population, like India or Malaysia, dress everyday like you might stumble upon a beautiful mosque that you want to go into, because there is a good chance that you will. Many times it will be very hot as well so light and loose clothing is the best. I recommend loose maxi skirts with loose tops or maxi dresses with a sweater or something over them. I would also always carry around a scarf with you so that you can cover your head. While many places will have robes for you to wear if you are dressed inappropriately you do not want to rely on this and miss out on seeing something. It also is usually faster and more comfortable in your own clothes. For shoes I recommend something you can easily slip on and off. Sneakers are a pain because you have to deal with socks and laces. I wouldn’t recommend sandals though because you will be doing a lot of walking and a lot of times the streets are dirty. My go to shoe in these situations is Sperry’s, they are easy to slide on and off, have good support, and are closed toed.
In Pursuit of the Traveler 