The City of a Thousand Minarets

I am so glad you all enjoyed our layover in Amsterdam and now it's almost time to take you to Egypt, but before I do I must give you a little background. When I told you that we had a trip planned I mentioned that is was not going to be a trip of leisure but of prayer and spirituality. And it was exactly that, it was not about the pyramids or the museums but of a beauty, history and pain of a different kind. Let me explain. Most of you know that we are Muslims. Like most religions, Islam too is divided into many sects, the main two being Sunni and Shia. We belong to the latter. The Shia's are further divided into many sects, we belong to a a sub sect of the Fatimid's known as the Dawoodi Bohra's. You may have seen Muslim women wearing headscarves and burqah's etc. We, the women, traditionally wear what is called a rida (they can be a variety of colors with embroidery and applique, sequins, bead work and ribbon work, the sky is the limit) and the men a white kurta (top) pajama (bottoms) with topi (hat). While we, M and I, are strong in our beliefs we are moderate in our lives and hence do not wear them unless there is a religious event. Now since this journey was religious in nature we wore:

Because the Dawoodi Bohra's (more commonly known as bohri's) are such a small community, when we go to these pilgrimages there are places for us to stay. They may be as good as a hotel, motel or hostel depending on the location; and they typically provide transportation, food, laundry service etc. But you have to keep in mind that this in fact a pilgrimage which are not supposed to be easy.

While in Egypt, Cairo to be exact, our main focus was Imam Hussain (A.S.), the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H). Imam Hussain along with his family, close friends and followers were starved and kept thirsty for three days before being brutally martyred in Karbala (present day Iraq). I will stay clear of the gory details, in the end Imam Hussain was beheaded and while his body remains buried in Karbala, his head is now buried in Cairo. His sister Zainab (A.S.)'s shrine is also in Cairo along with several other members of the Prophet's family. During this trip we visited these shrines to pay our respects.

What many of you may not know is that Cairo, the capital of Egypt was founded by the Fatimid Dynasty in the 10th century. It is also know as the City of Minarets with more than a thousand mosques in the city. We were able to visit seven of them, each with such rich histories and beautiful architecture.

Masjid Anwar 

 Masjid Lulua

 Masjid Aqmar

 Masjid Azhar

Masjid Azhar 

 Masjid Tuloon

Mohammad Ali Mosque

We also cruised along the Nile 

saw the Pyramids and the Sphinx and before we even knew it, our Egyptian adventure came to an end and we were off to Iraq.. with apprehension and full of prayers..

      

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