Roughly one-quarter of the world is Muslim. With facades dressed in mosaics, glowing marble, crowning domes, and spiraling towers, mosques are awe-strikingly stunning from the outside. In off-prayer hours, wander inside these magnificent structures and you'll find exquisite prayer halls accentuated by gorgeous Persian carpets or valleys of chandeliers.
Also known as masjids in Arabic, mosques are places of prayer and worship in Islam, but they also function as much more. Often they serve as community centers with classes or as social places hosting events and holidays, like Ramadan.
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