Date visited: Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Location: Santa Clara, CA
3003 Scott Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 9505
Number of imams: 1. Sheikh Jibreel is a stud because he's one of the few imams in the area who leads 20 rakats by himself.
Qirat (recitation): Excellent. My standard for recitations.
Size of congregation: Large. Easily a thousand people were in attendance
Capacity of center: Large. I believe this center can hold up to 2,500 people with ease
Parking: Ample. Thanks to its suburban commercial location, there's plenty of street parking in addition to a good-sized parking lot.
Mihrab: Yes
Minbar: Yes
Shoe shelves: Plentiful
Building: Converted HP R&D center
Friendliness towards women: Good. The women are made to pray a separate room, but through the magic of one-way mirrors, they are able to see the front of the mosque and theoretically the imam while he's leading the prayers.
Friendliness of congregation: It's very large, so it can be hard to take initiative and approach people. The mosque board is very welcoming, however, so it's easy to make friends through the many events the mosque hosts.
Please tell me if there's any categories on which you'd like me to report.
This is my home mosque, so I really can't write about any first impressions. I can only comment on my displeasure with the direction the remodeling project is taking. For some reason, the powers that be decided it was more essential to build a relatively expensive minaret instead of adding something more functional, like a second men's bathroom.
