Pastek, that must have been a wonderful experience for you. Can I ask you to share a bit about what it was like?
That Ottoman style masjid is really pretty, I love warm colours like those. When you say "sometimes we were mixed", do you mean men and women amongst each other praying?
So, apart from a niche and a platform for the speaker to deliver the sermon on Friday, the area in front of the Imam (leading prayer) is empty - making the prayer room in the masjid a relatively empty hall. That's interesting and unique amongst religions I've explored so far. Does the Quran have a special place in the masjid?
To address your question very briefly
I don't know enought your religion, i've seen it's the name of your Book. Does that mean you need it for the prayer?
No, we don't need it for prayer, but a Gurdwara isn't complete without a copy of the SGGS (acceptable abbreviation for the name of our scripture) which is placed on an an altar-like structure decorated with material, and it is front-and-centre in the prayer hall unless it's after-hours.
Thanks Dynavert and Dawud for clarifying about the direction faced in prayer and the focal point in the masjid. I thought it looked pretty cool watching Pastek's video of people circumambulating the Kaaba and standing in circles to pray, then I realised that if you were looking at the world from far away and you could see all the Muslims on it if they were praying at the same time they'd all be facing the same direction getting closer and closer to the Kaaba until being right around it - that's pretty awesome!!
It's also pretty special that all Muslims face the Kaaba to pray, no matter what type of Muslim they are.
Thanks again for your time and responses.