I am not a vacationer, I am a traveler. This means whenever I travel, if I have the chance to spend my days diving into cultural experiences to learn more about a destination’s history and people, I’d much rather do that than spend my day laying by the pool (which does sound nice, but not my sole purpose for travel). As soon as the beau and I decided to visit Dubai, I immediately began researching on what to do in the city. Yes of course there are countless museums, fashion boutiques, spas, beach excursions, and day trips to the desert dunes, but I wanted to learn more about the people and one way to immerse yourself in a new culture is to learn about religion.
To be completely honest, I was not very familiar with Islam until recently. Last year, I started watching a Turkish show called Muhteşem Yüzyıl (“Magnificent Century”) about the Ottoman dynasty in the 16h century. Islam is heavily covered throughout the series, and I was intrigued to learn more. I felt the best way to learn more about Islam was to visit a mosque. Dubai presented me an opportunity to not only visit a mosque but to also get to learn more about the Islamic faith. All mosques in Dubai are closed to non-Muslims except one – Jumeirah Mosque.
Jumeirah Mosque was opened in 1979 and was presented as a gift to Dubai’s current ruler, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, from his father. The mosque is overseen by the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, which oversees the “Open Doors, Open Minds” program to teach non-Muslims about Islam. It is the only mosque in Dubai that currently allows non-Muslims to enter, however non-Muslims can only enter via guided tours at one specific time in the morning and one specific time in the afternoon to not interfere with calls to prayer during the day.
The beau and I chose to visit Jumeirah Mosque in the morning before the afternoon sun became too strong. We were told to arrive 30 minutes early for our tour to enjoy a light Emirati breakfast. We were served arsiya (Emirati porridge of rice and chicken), chebab (saffron pancakes) with cream cheese, and luqaimat (Emirati donuts) along with some delicious black tea and sweetened milk. It’s a good thing we didn’t eat breakfast beforehand because we were full and there was still plenty of food. After our quick meal, it was time to enter the mosque.
What I Wore to the Mosque
Esme New York kaftan (sold out – similar here and here) // Fajr Noor hijab
I was very excited to set foot in a mosque for the first time, and upon entering Jumeirah Mosque I immediately found myself drawn to the colours of yellow, pink, and blue, with blue being the colour to emulate the sky. The epigraphy written on the walls inside the prayer hall quotes the Victory verse of the Qur’an. At this point in the tour, we were invited to sit down on the floor as our guide began her introduction. She thoroughly explained in great detail about each of the Five Pillars of Islam – shahada (declaration of faith), salah (prayer, which can only be performed after wudu), zakat (donating a portion of your wealth to charity or the poor), sawm (fasting during Ramadan), and the Hajj (holy pilgrimage to Mecca which must be done at least once in a Muslim’s lifetime). Our thorough explanation was followed by a demonstration of wudu, the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body such as the arms, head, and feet before prayer.
We then witnessed an Islamic call to prayer, something I was actually already familiar with from the Turkish show, and then got to ask any questions we had. As an introduction to Islam, visiting Jumeirah Mosque certainly opened my eyes and my mind. As a student of history, it is always interesting to me and extremely enticing to learn more about a place’s culture and religion. Not only was I thrilled to get the chance to visit an Islamic mosque and learn more about Islam, I loved that I felt extremely welcome the entire time. Everyone was kind enough to answer any questions, and everyone was very eager to teach us as much as we wanted to know. At one point, I even turned to the beau and said that I wished little bean was with us so she could see inside the mosque and learn more, but we will just have to come back again.
Please remember that if you are going to visit Jumeirah Mosque that modest clothing is required. Women are required to have their shoulders and knees covered, and must wear a headscarf. Men are not allowed to wear shorts. If you do not have appropriate clothing to wear inside the mosque, do not worry as the mosque can provide coverings.
