Sharjah has a lot of mosques...

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to visit one of the many mosques in downtown Sharjah. Sharjah is the cultural capital of the UAE, largely because of its religious heritage. This heritage is immediately evident in how many mosques there are in town. Right now, there are over 600 mosques and the number is steadily growing. I have heard that there is a connection between Saudi Arabia and Sharjah, largely because of their religious and political conservatism. It is Saudi money that has funded the construction of several of Sharjah’s nicer mosques. Although the mosques that I have seen range from covered outdoor areas with carpeting to towering structures with multiple minarets, the one that I went in was one of the nicer ones downtown.

Every year, one the Muslim teachers at the Early Years school organizes a group of female teachers to visit the mosque and have questions answered about Islam. Although there was not a similar trip for the men, I had permission to go into the mosque with Sayeed (He is Sara’s husband. Sara is Julie’s friend from studying abroad in Kenya who got us the jobs at Wesgreen in the first place!). He walked me through the ablution, the general “etiquette,” and the basic architecture and orientation of the mosque. It had very high ceilings and domes with chandeliers coming down from several points. The walls were light in color with inscriptions from the Qur’an near the tops of the walls. The carpet was red with green and gold patterns separating the rows where the men pray. Being inside such a place immediately invoked the feelings of awe and reverence. As I said earlier, I felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to be inside.

Several minutes after we arrived it was time to break the fast for the day. We were given dates, apples, and water. A few minutes later, the prayer began. I sat in back while the mosque filled up. What was so special about the prayer for me was that men kept running in from all three doors as the prayer was going on. When the prayer formally began the building was only one quarter full. Throughout the next few minutes it became over halfway full. It was just a special image to see so many men running to prayer. I learned later that as long as you make by a certain point in the prayer, it is still considered to be an effective prayer. If you arrive too late, you can put your arm on another man’s shoulder to indicate that he is now your “imam.” Groups formed around people in this fashion after the prayer was finished. After the prayer, we went to a small Yemeni restaurant next to the mosque for iftar. It was a special evening to say the least. Oh, and Julie got an abaya and head scarf.

Also, the two pictures are from my drive to Oman to get my tourist Visa renewed. I especially liked the bottom one; it is a portable mosque at the UAE border post.