The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1577 page)

see
MOSES
.

 
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(Arab.,
masjid
, from
sajada
, ‘he bowed down’, Egypt. dial.,
masgid
> Fr.,
mosquée
). The Muslim place of assembly (
jum‘a
) for
al
t
. While a special place is not necessary for
al
t (
Mu
ammad
built the first masjid in
Mad
na
, not in Mecca), it is certainly desirable, and should be attended where possible. Masjids (mas
jid) are ‘houses which God has allowed to be built, that his name may be spoken in them’ (Qur’
n 24. 36). Masjids in general have a minaret from which the call to prayer (
dh
n
) can be made by the
muezzin
(
mu’adhadh
n
), a large hall or halls for the assembly, in which a niche (
mi
r
b
) is placed in a wall indicating the direction of
Mecca
(the
qibla
), and in which there is a pulpit (
minbar
). There may also be a platform (
dakka
) from which further calls to