Masjidul Waritheen (Oakland, Alameda County, CA)

The Raiders lost last night, and it made me a little nervous because you never know how Raider fans will react to a loss, even if it's the preseason.

Thankfully, nothing happened, and not near this masjid on 47th Avenue.  I arrived well after dark minutes before isha time and was a little lost because it seemed that the masjid was closed.  The building desolate, but the doors were open, and I could hear activity going on upstairs in the school area.  While I was mulling what to do, I heard Arabic being recited across the street.  The community prays taraweeh in the center across the street, and not the former church building.

This is an African-American community, which meant quite a few people in the congregation were either new to Islam, or learning more about their faith.  Following Isha there was a short lecture on one of the lesser known companions of the Prophet, but the imam made sure to create parallels between his story and the community.  It was fitting that the time period was the early days of Islam, because then the imam made a comparison between the early Muslims and Muslims living in a predominantly non-Muslim community like Oakland.

Taraweeh was short and sweet, with dhikr after every four rakats.  Following taraweeh, the community once again engaged in dhikr, and all the prayers were wrapped up by 10:15.

The thought crossed my mind that when I retire from doing this 30 mosques project, I should just attend an African-American masjid every night, because they do everything so much quicker, which appeals to the 9-5er in me.  However, the more I think about it, the less I think I would be encouraged to do so.  Ramadan is all about pushing yourself to the limit, which of course the congregation was doing last night.  However, for a person like me, raised reciting Arabic, reading the Quran and praying taraweeh from the early age of 7, it wasn't as spiritually challenging because I'm used to praying taraweeh for 60 minutes or more.  While obviously it wouldn't be haram for me to spend Ramadan in an African-American masjid, I have a feeling it would be disliked because I'd gain so much more from a more established masjid geared towards folks with a more comprehensive understanding of Islam.  It's something for me to chew on.

The main building of the masjid.  This is also where the school is housed.

Date Visited: August 13, 2012

Location:
1652 47th Avenue
Oakland, CA 94601

Tag-team taraweeh: No

Qirat: Good

Size of congregation: 15-20

Capacity of center: 50-75

Parking: Street

Mihrab: No

Minbar: No

Shoe shelves: Yes

Building: The main building is a converted church.  The room in which they pray is a community center across the street.  It's also where they hold jummah prayers.

Friendliness towards women: Women have an active role in this community.

Friendliness of congregation: Everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

Masjid Al-Salam (Oakland, Alameda County, CA)

As I was parking my car last night, a cruiser sped down 7th Street in the opposite direction, siren screaming and lights ablaze.  It stopped a block away from the masjid and police officers got out to take care of something (or someone).  If I were an Oakland native, I would have gotten out my phone to record the incident, because sometimes the Oakland Police Department is a little overzealous when protecting and serving the people and needs YouTube to keep it honest.

Welcome to West Oakland.  The masjid is a shot-putter's throw away from the Port of Oakland.  It ain't the nicest area.  However, the congregation has developed a foolproof method of keeping their masjid safe:

Oh, you've double-parked on city streets when going to pray?  That's cute.  Homies here quadruple-park.

Some of the kids I saw are from West Oakland, born and raised.  Last night, they were on the playground where they spend most of their days.  They were chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool, shootin' some b-ball outside of the school (which the mosque is on Sundays).

To keep these kids safe from guys up to no good, the congregation uses their vehicles to serve as a protective barrier between the outside and the cul-de-sac on which this mosque is located.  They also do this because many do not have relatives in Bel Air to whom they could send their boys if they get into one little fight.

The masjid is predominantly Arab.  I do believe I was the only Desi in the congregation last night.  This also was clearly not a Hanafi mosque, given the loud chorus of "ameen" which followed the recitation of Surah Fatiha.  Such a practice would be frowned upon in a Desi masjid, who believe congregants should be seen and not heard.

I'm always surprised by the size of the congregation here.  Seriously, you don't think "Arab" when you think "Oakland."  Judging by the quality and luxuriousness of some cars I saw parked on the street, I'm willing to bet a lot of the congregation doesn't live in Oakland, let alone West Oakland.  Drawn by cheap property values, they have come to this neighborhood to leave their mark.

I do believe it's their positive mark on the neighborhood that the police lets them get away with blockading an entire city block with their cars.  If this masjid wasn't respected in this community, you can bet Oakland meter maids would have a field day every night of Ramadan.  No, they take care of Oakland, so Oakland takes care of them.

Date Visited: August 12, 2012

Location:
1005 7th Street
Oakland, CA

Tag-team taraweeh: No

Qirat: Good, one of the better ones I've heard.  A little too high-pitched to be crowned the king of the Bay Area, though.

Size of congregation: 50-60

Capacity of center: 75-100

Parking: All street.  For God's sake, do not park in the cul-de-sac or else you'll be blocked in worse than at a Gujarti mosque in Mill Valley.

Mihrab: Yes

Minbar: Yeah.  They've built a nice little lectern.

Shoe shelves: Yes, not enough.  Someone put his shoes on top of my flippy-floppies, which is gross, because nobody knows what the heck you've walked on when you've walked on the sidewalks of Oakland.

Building: Two-story affair located on one of the major avenue in Oakland.  Minutes from the West Oakland BART station.

Friendliness towards women: Women have their own space to pray.

Friendliness of congregation: If you're Arab, you'll feel more welcome than I did last night.  That said, it's open to everyone.

Islamic Center of Mill Valley (Mill Valley, Marin County, CA)

I felt like pioneering today, so I went down to the Richmond Yacht Club with my 215 horses and informed the harbor master that I wanted to ford across the Bay to Marin County.  He looked confused, so I tried to assure him that in elementary school I'd gained a lot of experience fording rivers on the Oregon Trail (although I did lose a lot of oxen on the way).  He told me to get out of his office.

Faced with no other options, I resigned myself to paying the Poor Tax all Richmond residents must pay for the honor and privilege of visiting Marin County (read: paid the San Rafael Bridge toll).

I've been to the masjid twice before, so I decided to mix things up by breaking my fast with them.  Previously, I'd only done taraweeh here, but I figured arriving at sunset would allow me to get better acquainted with this community, which is composed primarily (exclusively?) of Gujaratis.

The Gujarati people are the Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West of Mill Valley.  Yeah, they run this town.  They are also notoriously insular.  I should know; my brother married one of them.  Don't get me wrong, his in-laws like him all right; they'd just like him better if our last name was Patel and our father ran a small business.  Given that, I put on my Gujarati disguise (Desi features, brown skin, brown eyes, black hair) and hoped I wouldn't out myself.

I arrived at the masjid a few minutes before maghrib and discovered there was a lecture in progress.  Had I know there was a lecture, I definitely would have arrived earlier for research's sake.  I caught the tail end of the lecture, which was focused on the stories of the earliest Muslims.  The imam was breaking down the stories in a way which was accessible to the teenage Muslims.  As an example, instead of saying that a Muslim was engaged in a pre-marital affair with a woman in his jahiliyya days (days of ignorance), he was "dating" his "girlfriend" during his "J-days."

I was struck by his association of dating with jahiliyya.  See, growing up, I knew there was a correlation (causation, really) between the number of girlfriends I had and the number of thrashings I would receive at the hands of my mother.  That said, she never associated dating with jahiliyya, a term reserved for pre-Islamic era in Arabia (burying baby daughters, female circumcision, all that comes from jahiliyya).  But hey, whatever keeps our teenage boys away from their kryptonite (teenage girls).

Iftar was very nice.  I arrived with the assumption that they would afford this wary (and a tad weary) traveler a couple dates and a cup of water, but they did that and more.  The homecooked spread was very nice, and I appreciate that they invited me to help myself to seconds.  I declined, of course, since every bite I took would be taking food away from the mouths of babes (the little Gujus here were all over the food tonight).

I returned for isha prayer and taraweeh about an hour after maghrib.  I made sure to park in a spot which would likely not be blocked in by double-parkers (pro tip: park right next to the entrance), even though I intended to stay till the end of the night anyways.

Isha and taraweeh were interesting because there were three huffaz sharing the load.  Isha was led by the eldest imam, and then the youngest assumed the starting duties for taraweeh.  He tagged out about halfway through, and then the third imam finished taraweeh.  The young imam then tagged back in to lead witr prayer.  Fascinatingly, the youngest imam was also the slowest and most methodical.  I don't know why that surprised me, but it did.

The congregation is more disciplined than a lot of Hanafi masjids I've visited.  Some Desis at Hanafi masjids have been infected by the notion that they can get away with praying 8 rakats of taraweeh even though they, as Hanafis, are supposed to pray 20.  There was none of that here.  Major props for maintaining the tenets of the Hanafi school of law.

All things said and done, if you visit this masjid, there won't be any surprises waiting for you.  This isn't a dhikr-heavy sufi masjid, a dhikr-heavy Turkish masjid, or a dhikr-heavy Bosnian masjid.  Point being, it's not a dhikr-heavy masjid so if you grew up praying in a mixed masjid with standard rituals, you'll fit right in here.

Till next year, Mill Valley.  Stay beautiful, Guju Nation.

Date Visited: August 11, 2012

Location:
62 Shell Road
Mill Valley, CA 94941

Tag-team taraweeh: Yes

Qirat: Hard to say which one was the best.  I'll have to go with the reliever, though the starter/closer did a fine job.

Size of congregation: 40-50

Capacity of center: 100-150

Parking: They have a decent-sized parking lot, but you can also park on the street.  Fair warning, though, it's located on a very small residential street, so parking can be a problem.

Mihrab: Yes

Minbar: Yes

Shoe shelves: Yes, but nobody uses them, ha.

Building: A decent-sized facility with prayer halls, a small community center and, of course, wudu stations.  However, is all of it a masjid?  That's the question I was asking myself today when I saw those in itikaf eating iftar separately in the masjid instead out in the community center.  See, those in itikaf are technically not supposed to leave the masjid.  My attitude is, you have to cross the community center to use the restroom, so why not declare the entire facility a masjid and make it halal for those in itikaf to leave the prayer hall?  Personal preference, I suppose.

Friendliness towards women: Women have their own place to pray in the back.  Unsure of how community iftars work, if they even have them.

Friendliness of congregation: You have to pass a written test in Gujarati to enter the masjid.  No, just kidding.  They are welcoming to all, and they don't care too much about what you're wearing.  I will say, however, they highly encourage congregants to wear skullcaps, even if they're wearing jeans.  In case anyone forgets their skullcap, they have a bin with extras for people to borrow.

Islamic Center of Alameda (Alameda, Alameda County, CA)

This is a relatively small mosque located in a relatively small city of the Bay Area.  However, the mosque may be small, but the community is rapidly growing.  On Sunday, the same night I attended Lighthouse Masjid, or Imam Zaid's masjid, this mosque had a fundraiser which featured Imam Zaid, amongst other luminaries.  It's pretty clear that while this space may be cramped, the community is taking steps to expand its facilities.

Unfortunately, on the island of Alameda there is very little room to expand, if any.  At this point, there's no chance there's an empty parcel of land here so they'll have to redevelop an existing property.  They have already expanded over to the next block; the masjid is on one corner and a community center is just opposite, leaving them with plenty of room for spillover and community events.  It'll be interesting to see where this mosque is in five years.  I do hope they have expanded their facilities, because as of right now, they're woefully inadequate.

The imam who leads taraweeh here is very talented.  It's easy to get lost in his sonorous recitation, which you can hear from the sidewalk.  For the neighbors' benefit, however, they didn't have any speakers outside.  It is located in a relatively quiet part of Alameda, and it's good to see that they're being considerate.  Seriously, though, very nice recitation.

The crowd was substantial, but it wasn't as crowded as I remember it being in years past.  The parking lot was jammed; if you come here for taraweeh and decide to park here, you'd better plan on staying till the end, because chances are someone will block you in.  I can't decide if it's better for Muslims to double or triple park in the masjid parking lot or take away street parking slots from local residents.  You annoy someone either way, but I suppose it's better than Muslims be annoyed than innocent neighbors.


Date Visited: August 10, 2012

Location:
901 Santa Clara Avenue
Alameda, CA 94501

Tag-team taraweeh: No

Qirat: Great!

Size of congregation: 30-40

Capacity of center: 75-80 if you spilled over to the community center

Parking: Limited off-street parking

Mihrab: Yes

Minbar: Yes

Shoe shelves: No

Building: Tiny one-story facility, with a community center across the street.  The community center used to be a liquor store, judging by the style of the sign hanging outside the door.

Friendliness towards women: Women have adequate facilities in which to pray

Friendliness of congregation: This is a very diverse community, anyone is welcome to pray here.

Bay Area Cultural Connections/Pacifica Institute (Albany, Alameda County, CA)

I must note here is that this is not a mosque.  That said, they do engage in the standard Ramadan activities you would find at any mosque: iftar, maghrib, isha, taraweeh and witr.  You just have to be ready for a slightly different take on all these activities.

Because it’s not a mosque, you best have an invitation to come, or else you’ll be THAT guy, the one standing around looking like a chump while everyone chatters around you in Turkish.  More embarrassingly, you could be a chump who looks Turkish enough for people to start speaking at you.  Not that any of this happened to me, of course…

The first thing I learned is all things Ramadan in the Turkish community are regulated by a central authority.  This eliminates much of the acrimony that pollutes many mosques (“Ramadan begins on The Dark Knight Rises Eve!” “No, it begins on The Dark Knight Rises Day!”)  Here, Ramadan began when the Turkish authority said Ramadan began.

Curiously, though, this authority also has a different method for calculating prayer times.  I arrived at around 8:05, expecting to break my fast around 8:09.  8:10 came and went, and the men had still not broken their fast because according to the Turkish calculations, maghrib does not begin at sunset.  Being a guest, I again didn’t want to be THAT guy, who breaks his fast before the congregation has.  Similarly, isha prayers here start at 10:15 even though the vast majority of mosques have now started praying at 9:45.

The evening began with iftar, obviously, but it was interesting to see that the community didn’t immediately rush to pray before sitting down to dinner.  No, everyone had dinner first, relaxed a bit, and then prayed maghrib as a congregation.  Makes sense, in all honestly, technically, you have till isha time to pray maghrib so why would you rush?  Relax, enjoy your food, have good conversations in Turkish, just as God intended.  Lousy Arabs and Desis could learn something from this.

Prayers here are heavy on dhikr.  All the dhikr is done in Arabic, obviously, but it was still kind of a trip to see how much they emphasize it.  There’s no bolting after prayers here; you have to do dhikr first (unless you want to be THAT guy).

Taraweeh here is the Hanafi-20, but it was interesting because all the surahs recited were from the 30th juz, i.e. the short surahs.  So, despite starting at 10:15, taraweeh and witr prayers were done by 11.  I’m unclear as to the reason why they don’t do the longer taraweeh prayers, but it’s probably because come on, man, people have work in the morning and it’s a burden to keep taraweeh going till midnight.

I had the opportunity last night to learn a bit more about Ramadan in Turkey and what it’s like compared to here.  You see, the buddies I met when studying abroad in Ankara in 2007 are having a reunion right now in Istanbul.  I desperately wanted to go, but couldn’t pull myself away from work long enough to make the trip worthwhile.  Speaking to the gentlemen last night and experiencing all that I did was the next best thing to spending a night in Istanbul during Ramadan.  Man, I do wish I could have gone to Istanbul, though, could have knocked out this 30 Mosques project in a day or less…

If you’re in the area and are looking to learn about a different way to celebrate Ramadan, give them a holler.  They’ll be more than happy to have you.  If there’s anything I learned in my time in Turkey, there’s nothing quite like Turkish hospitality.  You could go to the poorest village in Turkey during Ramadan and people will still take you in if you need to break your fast.  You could eat them out of house and home and they’ll just smile because to the Turks it’s an honor to have a guest.  Of course, I would never do that, especially after having been sternly warned by Imam Zaid to not abuse the generosity of a believer, but there’s nothing quite like being the guest in a Turkish home.

Word of advice, though, if you're looking for an icebreaker, don't start by mentioning Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe or Galatasaray.  Just trust me.  It'd be like going to Chicago trying to talk about the White Sox with a Cubs fan...except I've never heard of a White Sox fan chucking flares onto Wrigley Field because they hate the Cubs just that much.

Foosball table inside the building.  Many an Istanbul Derby football match has been replayed on this table.

Look for this sign from San Pablo Avenue.

Date Visited: August 9, 2012

Location:
979 San Pablo Avenue, Suite 200
Albany, CA 94706

Tag-team taraweeh: No

Qirat: Good.

Size of congregation: 10-15

Capacity of center: 40-50

Parking: They share a lot with two other businesses.  Don't park inside, there's plenty of street parking on the Lincoln Highway.

Mihrab: No

Minbar: No

Shoe shelves: No

Building: Commercial space on one of Albany's major thoroughfares.  Fun fact: if you keep driving on this road, eventually you'll hit New York City.

Friendliness towards women: Women are welcome here and teach some of the courses at the Pacifica Institute.

Friendliness of congregation: Love how nice the people were last night.  Seriously made me miss Turkey.  Coming here is a great substitute, though.

Islamic Center of Fairfield (Fairfield, Solano County, CA)

You wouldn't know it, but there's quite a few reasons to visit Fairfield:

1) You're a Budweiser and/or Jelly Belly jellybean fan and want to visit their factories
2) You're on the way to Sacramento and can't wait till you get there to grab some In-N-Out Burger
3) You're a true road warrior and are taking the Lincoln Highway to New York City
4) You're a fan of Cold War relics and want to check out Travis Air Force Base
5) You're on a 30 Mosques trek and are running out of mosques to visit in the Bay Area

Fairfield is a bustling city because it's become quite the bedroom city for San Francisco.  One of the most heavily trafficked bus lines is the one between Solano County and the city.  Personally?  I don't think a marginally bigger and cheaper house is worth being stuck in traffic for two hours, but hey, to each their own. Although...one advantage of commuting from Fairfield to San Francisco is technically you travel so far you don't have to fast.  Crafty Fairfield Muslims have it all figured out.

Said Muslims have also built themselves a nice, large mosque.  It's not just a musallah; in addition to having prayer halls, they have space to spread out for community events and such.

I'm getting  a little ahead of myself, though.  To enter to the mosque, you must first have to get through the iron gates which surround the mosque.  The gates at night are also guarded by a security volunteer who I'm guessing is there to stop undesirables from entering the masjid.  Once you're inside the lot, be sure to go through the correct door or else you'll have a lot of trouble finding the restrooms.  Upstairs, you'll find the aforementioned community room.  Sequestered on the far side of the building, where no non-custodial man may tread, you'll find the women's prayer hall.

Taraweeh here begins with a mosque leader translating the chapters of the Quran the imam is about to lead.  It's a nice touch; most people can't understand the Arabic recitation and it's good to see a community which strives to better understand their faith.

Fair warning, though: taraweeh here is long.  For a non-local like me, and even some locals in the congregation, 4 rakat was the limit.

The building inside the compound.

Date Visited: August 8, 2012

Location:
1945 Kidder Avenue
Fairfield, CA 94533

Tag-team taraweeh: No

Qirat: Good.

Size of congregation: 30-40

Capacity of center: 100-150

Parking: There's a lot inside the gates and also street parking.

Mihrab: Yes

Minbar: Yes

Shoe shelves: Not enough.  Signs were posted to keep shoes on the racks, but what can people do when you run out of rack space?

Building: Looks like converted housing to me.  Definitely looks like an apartment building from the outside.

Friendliness towards women: Women have their own facilities here.  They are welcome to pray at this masjid.

Friendliness of congregation: The congregation is diverse and therefore welcoming to all ethnicities.

American Muslim Society (Napa, Napa County, CA)

Small mosque, small post.

You best keep your eyes peeled when you're looking for this mosque.  Fortunately, you'll have kept your eyes peeled as soon as you got off the freeway because the highways leading to Napa are very scenic.  Sure, vineyards may be instruments of haram, but they sure are nice to look at.  After the second coming of Christ and the world becomes Muslim, I'm sure he'll make this the largest juice-producing part of the state.

Actually, the first thing I noticed was how developed the city of Napa was.  I don't think I'd ever been here, or if I had, I was too young and too bored to pay attention.  The development and the fact that there's only a four-lane highway leading here (interstate's that-a-ways, son) means it takes quite a while to get here despite being a relatively short distance from Richmond.

I should be thankful that it was so developed.  At the podunk towns in California you're lucky if you can get anything to eat after 9 because small-towners need to go to bed or something ridiculous like that.  No, I have the massive amounts of tourism to thank for that; all the visitors who come from all over the world have helped develop this town into quite the bustling city.

Ah yes, tourism is the lifeblood of this town, and it's the industry of choice for the Muslims here.  There were a handful of Muslims in the masjid, but no less than two livery vehicles parked outside the masjid.  If the Great Recession hit the South Bay hard, it hit these guys even harder.

The community seems to be doing fine, though.  Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming.  Their facility is small, but they've done their best to transform this tiny warehouse into a comfortable place to pray. Pairsian carpets line the floor, somewhat blemished by the tape they've laid down to create prayer lines.  Decorative ceramic pieces also hang on the walls; if you ignored the concrete blocks which compose of the walls, you'd think you were in someone's living room.

Ain't no hafizes here.  The community takes turns leading taraweeh by using a Quran.  Despite there being no huffaz in the area, they are still striving to finish the Quran at night by reading a juz or more a night.  Much respect to them for trying to achieve this.

The only entrance to the mosque. Evidence of living-room-ness can be seen from the outside.

Date Visited: August 8, 2012

Location:
3149 California Boulevard #B
Napa, CA 94558

Tag-team taraweeh: No, but the congregants trade off on taraweeh duties

Qirat: Good

Size of congregation: 8-10

Capacity of center: 15-20

Parking: There is lot parking, but it's cramped.

Mihrab: No

Minbar: No

Shoe shelves: Small one at the front

Building: A unit in a small warehouse complex

Friendliness towards women: There is a woman's section delineated by curtains behind the main section.  However, there were no women there last night, and there's only one restroom.  Additionally, the only sink in which to do wudu is on the wrong side of the bathroom door.  It is nestled in a small passage, so there's probably enough privacy for a woman to do wudu, but hijabis, it may be best to do your voodoo before you come.

Friendliness of congregation: Extremely friendly.  They were wondering what this big shot from Santa Clara was doing in their neck of the vineyards.