Mosque Crossword Puzzle for Kids

A mosque is a place where Muslims worship. The word mosque comes from the Arabic word masjid. A larger, 'collective', mosque is called a masjid jāmi. Larger mosques offer more services to their community.

For many Muslim people, a mosque is more than a place of worship. Muslims worship, study and discuss Islam, and do many other things in a mosque and its compounds. In the United Kingdom, many mosques are used as community centres. They are also used to teach about Islam. Religious festivals and gatherings are held in mosques. Weddings are one example. Mosques have rules to control what people do inside. One of these is that it is disrespectful to disturb another person who is worshipping.

Many mosques are known for their Islamic architecture. The earliest mosques, opened in 7th century were open-air spaces. They are the Quba Mosque and Masjid al-Nabawi. Later Mosques were buildings that were specially designed. Nowadays, mosques are in every continent, except Antarctica.

Architecture

Many mosques are famous works of architecture. They are often built in a style that has stayed the same for many centuries. Many mosques have prayer halls, domes, and minarets. They may also have a courtyard. Mosques are often built with patterned walls.

Mosques were first built on the Arabian Peninsula. The Muslims who built them used old architectural styles. They also combined these styles in new ways. A major influence was the palaces built during the Parthian and Sassanid dynasties of Persia. The Sarvestan palace from the Sassanid era is a good example of this. It has an arched entrance and a central dome. These features already existed in Persia before Islam.

After the Arab invasion of Persia, the new style, with its Sassanid influence, was used for the new Islamic world. Many forms of mosques have developed in different regions of the Islamic world. Important mosque types include the early Abbasid mosques, T-type mosques, and the central-dome mosques of Anatolia. In the 20th century, many countries that grew rich from oil paid for the building of many new mosques. The rulers of these countries often hired leading architects to design these mosques. They included non-Muslims.

Many early mosques have a square or rectangular plan. They also have a prayer hall and an enclosed courtyard. This is known as Arab-plan. The first mosques of this type were built during the Umayyad Dynasty.

The flat roof of the prayer hall was supported by columns. Many rows of columns were needed to support such roofs; this is called "hypostyle architecture". One of the most famous hypostyle mosques is the Mezquita de Córdoba in Spain. It is supported by over 850 columns.

Parts of Mosques

Most mosques have minarets. Minarets are tall towers. Usually they are at one of the corners of the mosque. The top of the minaret is the highest point in the mosque, and usually the highest point in the area around the mosque. The tallest minaret in the world is in the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco.

The first mosques had no minarets. The most conservative Islamic groups, like Wahhabis, still avoid building minarets. They see them as simply a fancy decoration and unnecessary. The first minaret was built in 665 in Basra during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I. Muawiyah encouraged the building of minarets, as they were supposed to be the same as bell towers on Christian churches. Because of this, mosque architects used the shape of the bell tower for their minarets. Both the minaret and the bell tower serve the same purpose — to call the faithful to prayer.

Before the five required daily prayers, a muezzin calls the worshippers to prayer from the minaret. In many countries like Singapore where Muslims are not the majority, mosques are stopped from loudly playing the call to prayer. The main problem is the use of electronic amplification of the call, which is now widely used by mosques.

The domes were often placed directly above the main prayer hall. They represent the universe that Allah created. At first, these domes were small. They only took up a small part of the roof near the mihrab. Later, they took the whole roof above the prayer hall.

Domes normally have the shape of a hemisphere. The Mughals in India popularized onion-shaped domes in South Asia and Persia. Some mosques have several domes, as well as the main large dome. The other domes are often smaller.

Religious functions

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 jumuah. This is done once a week. It is a form of Sabbath and replaces the Friday prayers at the mosque. Daily prayers can be done anywhere. However, Muslims are expected to do their Friday prayer 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. During eclipses, mosques will host special prayers called eclipse prayers.

There are two large holidays (Eids) in the Islamic calendar. During these days, there are special prayers at mosques in the morning. Larger mosques will normally hold them for their own communities as well as the people from smaller local mosques. Mosques, especially those in countries where Muslims are the majority, will also host Eid prayers outside in courtyards or town squares.

There are many events in Ramadan, Islam's holiest month. During Ramadan, Muslims must fast during the day. Mosques organise iftar dinners after sunset. These are done after the fourth required prayer of the day. Part of the food is given by members of the community, which creates nightly potluck dinners. The community contribution to these dinners is required. For this reason, mosques with smaller communities may not be able to hold the iftar dinners daily.

Political functions

During the late twentieth century, more and more mosques have been used for political purposes. Modern-day mosques in the Western world want to educate good citizens. The details differ greatly from mosque to mosque and from country to country.

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. American mosques host voter registration and civic participation drives. 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 matters.

A link between political views and mosque attendance can still be seen in other parts of the world. After the al-Askari Mosque bombing in February 2006, imams and other Islamic leaders used mosques and Friday prayers to call for calm and peace during the widespread violence.

Beginning in the late twentieth century and continuing into the early twenty-first century, a small number of mosques have also become a base for extremist imams to support terrorism and extreme Islamic ideals. Finsbury Park Mosque in London is a mosque that has been used in this manner.

Like other places of worship, mosques can be at the center of social conflicts.

Rules and behaviour in mosques

In a mosque, people should keep focused on worshiping Allah. For this reason, there are a number of rules about the correct behaviour in a mosque. Some of these rules are the same all over the world, such as no shoes should be worn in the prayer hall. Other rules are different from mosque to mosque.

It is generally seen as good to have someone who leads the prayers, though this is not strictly necessary. The person who usually leads the prayers is called imam. He must be a free and honest man. He should also be an authority when it comes to answering questions on religion. In mosques that were built or that are kept up by the government, the imam is selected by the ruler. In private mosques, the community selects the imam, through majority voting.

Only men may lead prayers for men. Women are allowed to lead prayers for congregations where there are only women.

In addition to washing, there are other rules that also apply to those who enter the mosque, even if they do not wish to pray there. It is forbidden to wear shoes in the carpeted area of the prayer hall. Some mosques also do not allow wearing shoes in other parts, even though these may not be devoted to praying.

Islam requires that its believers wear clothes that show modesty. As a result, both men and women must follow this rule when they attend a mosque (though mosques may not always enforce the rules). Men are supposed to come to the mosque wearing loose and clean clothes that do not show the shape of the body. Similarly, women who come to the mosque are expected to wear loose clothing, shirts, pants that cover to the wrists and ankles and cover their heads such as with a hijab. Many Muslims, regardless of their ethnic background, wear Middle eastern clothing associated with Arabic Islam to special occasions and prayers at mosques.

Mosques as hostels

It is common for a smaller mosque to serve as a hostel for Muslims on haj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Sometimes mosques are used for refugees, or as temporary homes for homeless people. Obligations to neighbours in Islam are very strict, and specific. In the Qur'an Mohammed said that a person who helps others in the hour of need, and who helps the oppressed; that person God will help on the Day of Travail (agony). There are other commands, such as helping the poor and being nice to people. An important part of being Muslim, or just being part of the mosque, is taking care of people who need help. A mosque is a social, as well as a religious, group.

A madrassa is a little different from a mosque. A madrassa focuses on teaching Islam, usually to children and young people.

Mosques in Spain

When Spain was under Muslim control, some of the most beautiful buildings were mosques. After 1491, Spain was under Christian control. However, the Christians did not tear down the mosques. They simply put a crucifix in them to make them into churches. These mosques influenced the Renaissance architecture (way of building) in Europe.

Text adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia article “Mosque” (revision 10569228, 2025-10-14), authors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.