ZAGREB MOSQUE - Islamska zajednica u Hrvatskoj

prayer, as well as that of the
day Friday itself – džum, is
derived from the same Arabic
root. The name for the
basic community of Muslims
– džemat also derives from
this root. Another name for
a mosque – mesdžid is older
and is mentioned in the Koran.
Mesdžid means the place of
A view to the interior of the Zagreb Mosque
sedžda, or the religious expression
of humility before God by
touching the floor with one’s
forehead; this is one element in
each of five daily personal and
obligatory prayers. The word
mosque has not become part of
Arab tradition, but all mosques
and mesdžids are commonly
called mesdžids. From this
came the Spanish
word mezguita,
English mosque and
German Moschee.
It also influenced
the Croatian form
of mošeja, which,
however, was not
adopted due to the
popular traditional
words džamija and
mesdžid. In the Ottoman
tradition in
central and southeastern
Europe, each
place of worship
which has a munara,
or the tower
from which a mullah
calls the faithful
to prayer is džamija
(mosque), and all
other places of worship
are mesdžids.
There are differences
in the interiors of
Hutba (preaching) on Friday
mosques and mesdžids. Both
of them have a mihrab, a niche
in the front wall marking the
obligatory direction for each
common and personal prayer,
which points to Mecca or a
building called Bejtullah, the
first of God’s houses erected
by Ibrahim/Abraham, God’s
emissary. Mosques also have
a minber, a pulpit situated to
the right of the mihrab, from
which the imam addresses the
faithful on Friday and on holy
days, as was done by God’s
emissary Mohammed. To the
left of mihrab, there is ćurs,
from the Arabian name for
chair, from where lectures are
delivered separate from the religious
service. Mosques and
mesdžids can have domes or
roofs, they can have harems
(fenced courtyards), mahfils
(prayer galleries), šadrvans
(fountains) and abdesthans
(basins for ceremonial cleansing
before prayer). There is a
lot of varied mosque typology
throughout history, and in the
many cultures and civilizations
of the Islamic world.