Now that I’m no longer trying to book hotels in my sleep, I can tell you about our trip to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. That morning, I dressed specifically to go to a religious site – ankle length skirt, long sleeves, and I brought my scarf to cover my head. We arrive and the parking attendant says, “make sure no short skirts for the ladies. That will not be allowed.” No problem. I am a prepared, respectful tourist.
We go up the escalator (I told you, it’s a GRAND Mosque) and come out on a large expanse of white marble. We see people gathering in one area for the tour that is about to start and then Josh tells me, “You’re going to have to wear an abaya.” What?!? I’m going to have to cruise around in a black tent when the dudes that are there for the tour are wearing normal clothes and short sleeved t-shirts? I was thoroughly annoyed, but went and got my abaya from a woman who was manning a table stacked high with them and then went behind a screen to climb into the tent. Sweet. I felt like a villain in a superhero movie or something. Beware the WALKING SHADOW !
I’m smiling, but I’m really thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Especially because later in the tour, our guide said there was no religious reason to wear the abaya, only a cultural desire to be modest. Riiight. That’s why every women, dressed modestly or not, had to don the black cloak and hood. Anyway, the mosque was beautiful and the tour was great and I would even go again (but next time I’d wear my own headscarf because theirs was sheer and slippery and kept sliding off my head which was annoying), but I disagree with requiring non-Muslim women to wear the abaya. It’s not like anyone is asking for my opinion though, so don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
The entire mosque was white marble with flowers created from semi-precious stones and colored marble. There were flowers on the pillars and bigger ones on the ground. It was amazingly beautiful and took me out of my abaya wearing funk.
Our guide, Ali, pointed out that the flowers inlaid in the floor tiles were tulips, lillies, and some other flower that I can’t remember at the moment. They are supposed to represent flowers that are important in the region, but I haven’t seen any tulips here yet. According to the Muslim faith, they are not allowed to decorate using any human or animal forms so the theme for this mosque is flowers. I’m a fan.
Crossing the courtyard before we enter the mosque. I think Ali said there was room for 40 thousand worshippers out there. That’s the biggest overflow room I’ve ever seen. It was beautiful, peaceful, and bright, as the sun’s rays bounced off all of the white stone. I wonder if they’re allowed to wear sunglasses during the prayer services?