Jumeira Mosque Cultural Visit

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We actually did something cultural recently. Yesterday we went to Jumeira Mosque and learnt all about Islam. The Sheikh here runs a cultural understanding program and as part of that they offer tours through one of the mosques in Dubai. It is all about breaking down barriers and understanding what other people are thinking and what they are doing.

It was actually very interesting. The tour took about two hours and the tour guide took us all through the different elements of Islam and what they actually do when they pray, what the five pillars of islam are, what the words of the call to prayer mean and all sorts of cool things.

It was good to get an understanding about what the Muslim religion means. Obviously I had picked up quite a bit having lived here for a year now but it was even better to get everything put into context.

The tour started off at the footwash with the giude explaining what they wash before a prayer session and why. It was odd because they wash certain parts of their bodies three times but other parts only once. It seemed to me as though the religion was just using the prayers as a good way to get hygiene into the daily lives of the masses in the past rather than for a religious purpose. A jolly good idea really.

We then moved inside the mosque where we sat down and the guide explained the five pillars of the Muslim faith. The first is a statement of faith, the second the fact that they have to pray five times a day, the third undertaking fasting during the holy month of ramadan, the fourth the act of charity (you have to give 2.5% of any of your money that hasn't been in circulation for a year to charity. Charity can be other family members, neighbours, relations etc or proper charities) and the fifth and final pillar is the haj to Mecca which every muslim should undertake once in their life if they can.

All in all a very interesting tour.

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