Open day at a mosque in the Dutch city of Middelsburg. A translation, courtesy Cid Martel, of a report in the Dutch Disease blog:
There weren’t many but the ones that were there got an elaborate tour through the house of prayer. Past the classrooms where children study the Qur’an in weekends and through the prayer rooms where you could kneel for a moment in the direction of Mecca. At the end there was coffee and tea with Turkish cakes. It was the most favourite part of the tour.
Leen and Fiet Meijers are informed about the holy city in Saudi-Arabia. The two protestants are interested in their own and other religions. “We’re curious as well. How they pray and if there’s room for your own prayer. The answers are very satisfying. They’re very open, you know,” the woman says.
Mister Meijers wants to know if the prayers are in two languages. The guide shakes his head. Would he otherwise be willing to kneel? “Hmm, maybe.” His wife is more resolute. “Why not?” She’s satisfied with the visit to the mosque. “Sometimes you read about these awful things. That Muslims kill Christians, that kind of thing. But apparently that’s not in their holy book at all. But I want to be sure. Tomorrow I’m going to go and get the Qur’an from the library.”
Happy reading. Don’t miss 2:190-191, 9:5, 9:29, and 47:4. Etc. etc. etc.