Three pillars of weekend life: Religion, Shopping, Beach

Well, I'm not sure if it's really true what I'm claiming in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way in the headline. But it was definitely true for my own weekend.

Friday is the most important religious day of the week - with the big obligatory Friday prayer around midday. As a result, public life slows down considerably between about 11.30 am and 1pm - don't try to find internet access or want to buy a telephone card during this time, you might walk your shoe sole through before you find anything open. Trust me. I know what I'm talking about.

The Friday prayer is really important for Muslims, there's hardly any excuse not to go to a nearby mosque (wth more than 1,000 in Dubai alone, you never have to go far anyway; the normal weekly prayers, by the way, can be done anywhere; would be really hard to go to a mosque five times a day anyway...). And not making it to a mosque three Fridays in a row is considered a really grave sin.

I used Saturday morning to get a look inside Jumeirah Mosque, one of the few times during the week when non-believers may enter the place accompanied by a knowledgeable guide (the guy you see in the picture - "If you are in distress, you do what? You pray!"). It was a remarkable experience, as volunteers could also go through the careful washing routine required before you enter the mosque for prayer ("If you go see your boss, you do what? You make sure you look good!"). So you wash your ears, your nose, your face, your arms and hands as well as your feet - which really helps to focus on the moment and get calm inside for the religious encounter.


Größere Kartenansicht

Islam, as I hear, means "submission" - "So if you go inside a mosque, you do what? You submit yourself to God!" (which is also a reason why one should never pass in front of a praying person - because Muslims consider their connection with God interrupted if someone steps between them and Mecca, which they face during prayer - "So they have to do what? Start the whole prayer all over again!" And a prayer session can be anything between two minutes and twenty minutes long). And yes of course you take your shoes off at the doorstep, because shoes are considered dirty; women are to cover their hair, short sleeves and shorts are a taboo out of respect.

The Mosque inside was of a holy simplicity and elegance, yet also colourful and light in atmosphere, with the voice of the Imam (leader of the religious service) being carried into every corner by the fantastic accoustics of the building; which by the way, is full of light, space, but also comfortable with the whole floor covered with soft carpeting on which believers sit or kneel during the service. There are no pictures, no statues inside the mosque - just a big open space, with a few pillars, and the mihrab (Prayer niche), which indicates the direction of prayer. This direction is called "qibla", and is the way to face Mecca, which has been a holy place for more than 1400 years and played an important role even before the prophet Mohammed left the city for Medina in 622 - the year which marks the start of the Muslim calendar just as the birth of Jesus Christ is supposed to set the Christian year Zero. The mosque, clearly, is not meant to dwarf or impress people; but simply a place for gathering and silent worshipping.

And this is virtually all it takes for a place to be a potential mosque: purity (it has to be clean), there has to be a mihrab, and it has to offer enough space for people to gather and pray. The spires are mainly there to make the Muezzin's voice heard (in earlier times, the Muezzin used to climb the towers outside, nowadays speakers installed at the top do a very good job in making sure you don't even miss the early morning call...) So you could rightly consider a prayer room at an airport to be a mosque, if it meets these requirements.

The guide spoke a lot about the religion and its meaning for everyday life ("It is what? The center of the life!") and answered questions the group of visitors had (among them a former construction manager from South Africa, now using his new spare time after being made redundant to show his son, usually living in Switzerland and very sunburnt, around town): how do you become a Muslim? (Basically, you just say a certain formula in a certain way and with serious intention, and there you are! A Muslim for life.) What are the five pillars of Islam? (the testimonial that there is only one God, the ritual prayer five times a day, giving to the poor, fasting during Ramadan, and the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca). Down to What do the different colours of the traditional clothing mean? (White is simply the most convenient against sun, and fashion let's you choose more colourful robes in winter). Here are some pictures of traditional Muslim clothing; and an article in the German Islamische Zeitung on the topic.



And the guide told much more about the religion - for a popular introduction to Islam, see this wikipedia article. Otherwise I could go on and on , with the insights of someone trying to get at least a fleeting impression of what is not just a religion, but also sets down rules for everyday life not just in law, but also a guidance through what the Prophet said, did, agreed to or condemned ("Sunna").

A word of advice, if you don't mind: if you come to Arabia one day - even more if you plan to see more conservative places on the peninsula than Dubai: better not discuss religion or politics with Muslims unless you know them really well, you are bound to provoke misunderstandings as perspectives are very different. It is, however, a very enlightening thing to ask about the perspectives of people here. And if you're forced to comment, I found it's a good idea to stress similarities between the religions or focus on positive aspects you see.

Coming here, to the beautiful Jumeirah Mosque, I was acutely aware that while we feel very strongly about certain things to be "right" or "true", what we actually have with certainty is simply our perspectives, acquired through heritage and experiences as one of billions of individuals on earth. And some things we just consider normal because they surround us every day.

I know, that's only been one of the pillars I announced. But: Gosh, I need to work now. Talk to you soon.