The Prateepsart Ismail Memorial School (PIMS) is an Islamic school located in Tha Sala city, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Thailand. The everyday practices of this school reflect the culture and teachings of Islam from a young persons perspective. I have chosen to document photographically the lessons that PIMS teaches its students in a way that will also help the viewer to better understand the Islamic way of life.
After learning a bit about the culture of Islam I became very interested in it and yearned to learn more. I felt that there was no better way to learn than to experience it first hand and this set of photographs is the result of my learning process. Over the course of three weeks I made several trips to PIMS and observed different aspects of the school from children playing on the playground, to prayer, to the insides of classrooms.
As I observed the daily routines and activities of PIMS, I made photographs of what I saw. I have chosen twenty photographs with captions that I believe best give the viewer the ability to experience both the daily schedule of PIMS, and the culture of Islam first hand.
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Prateepsart Ismail Memorial School Tha Sala, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
Pictured is The Prateepsart Ismail Memorial School (PIMS) Mosque. The students that attend the school primarily use the mosque but members of the surrounding community are also welcome. PIMS is a private Muslim primary school in Tha Sala, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. It is a medium sized school providing education to approximately 600 students in grades ranging from Pre K to 6th grade.
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Whiteboard and Posters Inside Classroom
Although PIMS is a private primary school, children of any faith are welcomed to attend the school; but this is uncommon because the schools teaching is based on Islamic tradition. In order to attend, children’s families must pay tuition. According to school officials it is not very expensive compared to other schools in the area, and donations are a large portion of the schools funds.
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Salat
Salat is preceded by wudu and usually performed five times per day. Salat is an Arabic word that refers to the repetition of a unit called rak’ah that consists of specific actions and words. The rak’ah is repeated two to four times depending on factors such as time and day of the week. The five times per day that Salat is performed vary depending on location and season, these times can be calculated using a formula that uses the longitude, latitude, and time zone of a location. While praying during Salat, Muslims face towards the Kaaba in Mecca. All facing the same direction is traditionally seen as a symbolism of unity of Muslims worldwide. Salat is incorporated into the daily schedule at PIMS and children are accustomed to the ritual of praying and returning to class.
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Girl Begins Process of Wudu
A young girl sits to begin the process of wudu to prepare for Salat (prayer). Wudu is the purification of the body before prayer and acts such as deep sleep and natural discharges including urination and passing gas nullify the sanctification. The process must be completed before each prayer only if the previous wudu has been nullified. It is important to preform this ritual before Salat in order to ensure the validity of ones prayers. If one chooses to skip wudu before performing Salat, it would be as if they deliberately skipped prayer, which is a sin.
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Girls Rinsing Feet
Girls are seen removing their shoes and rinsing their feet before entering the Mosque for prayer. In Islam it is tradition to remove ones shoes before entering a Mosque. Shoes are worn to protect ones feet while walking and are considered to be very dirty. Shoes must be removed and kept outside the Mosque in order to contribute to the cleanliness of the Mosque.
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Brooms Leaning in Window Frame in Mosque
In Islam it is very important that the area in which one prays is clean. Muslims believe the Mosque is God’s house and should be cleaned often and taken care of. In order for ones prayers to be heard by God, their body and place of prayer should be clean.
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Seperation in Salat
Observation of young boys performing Salat through a Mosque window. Men and women are separated during Salat. Usually the men will pray in the front of the mosque and the women will pray behind a curtain located at the side or rear of the mosque. If not partitioned by a curtain, the women are positioned behind and separate from the men during Salat. The separation of men and women aids in reducing unnecessary distractions between individuals during prayer.
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Dress Code
A view from the back of a mosque in which prayer is soon ending. Young women are displayed in attire suitable for Salat, this includes extra coverings worn only during prayer and not necessary during day-to-day activities. During Salat, a woman should be completely covered in opaque material with only her face and hands exposed. In order to ensure her entire body remains covered throughout prayer, a woman may choose to wear garments that exceed in length past her feet.
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Girls Participating in Salat
Observation of a group of young girls participating in Salat. Although it is necessary for teen and adult men and women to be completely separated during Salat, it is not necessary for young children to be completely separated. Boys and girls are able to pray in the same room without being partitioned by a curtain; boys are seated in the front of the Mosque and girls in the back.
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Dua
A young girl performs Dua during Salat. Dua is a portion of Salat in which one expresses their faith and submission to God; this is also the time for asking things of God. The hands are held in a cup like shape near the face as a representation of begging. Requests made during Dua usually include asking for God’s guidance during certain situations or asking for more specific things.
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Prayers End
A young girl wearing hijab gazes out a window just as midmorning prayer is coming to an end. This particular hijab matches her classmates’ and is part of her school uniform. In Islam, hijab is a representation of a woman’s submission to God and a connection with her faith. In addition to being an order from God, Muslims believe that it is important for women to cover their bodies in an effort to prevent dangerous situations like rape. The coverings are also used for protection from the sun as well as cold weather.
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Group of Young Men Participating in Salat
In the culture of Islam it is believed that men are meant to be the leaders of the community and of their families. Although men are generally regarded as the leaders of their households, they must also be kind and attentive to their wives. Husbands and wives are expected to work together to come to agreements within the household and the wife oftentimes has as much say in family matters as the husband. Some men believe that it is their duty to control their wives and may become physically aggressive towards their wives. Actions such as these are improper and never supported by the Islamic community as a whole.
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Reflection of Young Women During Salat
Muslims believe that a woman is a gift from God and she must always be protected. Along with the protection that her dress code provides, a woman must always be protected by a man. A young, single womans protectors are the men in her family, her father, her brothers, etc. After a woman marries, her sole protector is her husband.
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Imam
An Imam is an Islamic leadership position. They are the prayer leaders that are positioned at the very front of the mosque and guide the community through prayer. Not only does the Imam lead prayer (Salat), they are also community leaders. Men are chosen for the position by the community and remain in the position until they die or decide to step down. Pictured is the area in the PIMS mosque in which the Imam will be positioned during salat.
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Minaret
A minaret is a distinctive architectural feature of a Mosque. Their main functions are both as a visual marker for the community and are the vantage point from which the call to prayer is made. Traditional architecture required a tall minaret in order for the call to prayer to be heard in the surrounding area; modern day mosques may have shorter minarets and implement the use of a microphone and speakers in order to make the call to prayer heard from a distance.
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Ramadan Mat
Ramadan is a major holiday in the culture of Islam. For 29- 30 days Muslims fast food and water until sunset. Ramadan is practiced for many reasons, the major reason being that it is an order from God. The secondary reason is to experience the suffering people go through when they are hungry. During Ramadan, Muslims learn to have physical and emotional control by refusing food. After sunset, Muslims have a celebratory dinner, this dinner is traditionally eaten while sitting on the mats pictured.
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Boys Returning to Class After Prayer
As prayer is part of the daily schedule at PIMS, it is routine for the students to line up and return to class when prayer is over. The boys enter and exit the Mosque on the right and the girls on the left.
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Girls Returning to Class After Prayer
As prayer is part of the daily schedule at PIMS, it is routine for the students to line up and return to class when prayer is over. The boys enter and exit the Mosque on the right and the girls on the left.
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Boys and Girls in English Class
Much like the rules of separation during Salat, young boys and girls do not have to be separated in a class room. Once students enter adolescence, the school may decide to separate boys and girls on different sides of the classroom, or in completely different classrooms. Separating males and females aids in preventing unnecessary distractions from learning.
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Girl Writing English on White Board
At PIMS, English is taught as part of the curriculum. Pictured is a teacher going over the English words for members of a family. The students are asked to come to the board and write words, students will help their peers by shouting out letters to the student at the board. Although this causes a bit of ruckus in the classroom, it encourages teamwork and allows students to practice their English writing.
