Sienna Severns 

July 17, 2018 

JMC 2033-002 
Assignment 10: Multicultural Experience
 

Faith:​​ Islam 

Location: ​Islamic Society of Norman, ​420 E Lindsey St. Norman, Oklahoma 73069 

Service:​​ July 16, 2018, 5:45 p.m., Asr “afternoon” prayer 

I visited the Islamic Society of Norman mosque for the Asr, or “afternoon” 

prayer of the day. As I entered the mosque, it was very quiet because Asr, along with 

the early morning prayer sessions were supposed to be quiet so people could use the 

time to pray to themselves rather than reciting lines from the Qur’an outline as they do 

in the evening prayer sessions. Inside the mosque, no shoes were allowed except in the 

lobby, to keep a high level of cleanliness, especially on the carpets where people pray. 

It is especially important to keep the carpets inside the prayer rooms clean because 

when praying, people are putting their hands and face down on the ground.  

There are five daily prayer sessions named after the times of day in Arabic: fajr, 

zuhr, asr, maghrib and iqama. I attended the asr session at 5:45. In the mosque, men 

and women pray in separate rooms for the respect and modesty of each gender. I 

observed the men’s prayer room, which had about 15 men aligned in the front of the 

room, almost shoulder to shoulder, with the Imam reciting lines from the Qur’an. Each 

line recited instructed the men to move to a different position. These positions ranged 

from standing up straight, to sitting with legs on each side of the body, to head on the 

ground with arm spread out in front. The recitations and movements continued for 15 

minutes, with the men leaving at separate times in the end depending on when they 
finished their individual prayers. After the prayer session I met with the assistant 

Imam and youth director, Harris. 

Harris explained to me that the prayer sessions reflect the voluntary submission 

to God, which is what the word Islam literally translates to in Arabic. He was also able 

to give me the basic information needed to understand the Islamic faith and the 

millions of people that adhere to the religion.  

This was an amazing experience to have, especially living in a state with little 

diversity like Oklahoma. It was great to get to be apart of something so unique from 

any religion that I am familiar with and to have it located right across the street from 

the university. I am especially grateful that I was able to get involved and learn about a 

religion that has been controversial for many people, considering the political climate 

in America right now with President Donald Trump’s muslim ban. 

Being able to immerse myself in the Islamic faith has given me the ability to 

learn about the culture and the people in it and I hope that I can educate other people 

who may let their own biases and judgements get in the way of being tolerant of others. 

One of the things that struck me the most from my conversation with Imam Harris is 

the treatment that the Muslim people receive from the community of Norman. Harris 

mentioned that they have not yet put up a sign in front of the mosque, marking it as a 

place of worship for the Islamic faith due to the fear of backlash. We also discussed the 

treatment of the Muslim youths in schools and how many of them face bullying due to 

their faith and looks. Being able to see these children and people getting involved in 

their religion struck a chord with me, especially after hearing about how the Muslim 
community is being treated in Norman and all around country. I am so moved with the 

way the people of the Islamic Society of Norman present themselves to others and go 

about serving their God, even with obstacles like judgement from others that are 

ignorant to the religion. I think that going to a mosque, like this one, would be a great 

experience for many of the American people who find only hatred in their hearts for 

people with a religion they know nothing about, like the Islamic faith. It is only 

through experiences like these that people can see that others, including the Muslim 

community, are not inherently bad because of their specific religion.