Losing my religion

The most beautiful mosque in Dubai is the Jumeriah Mosque which is rather grand and imposing. Like a great Roman church the people here hold it in high regard. It gleems gold and is well taken care of by the locals and the government. The Sheik Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding has a program “Open Doors:Open Minds�, which fosters education and understanding of Islam and runs tours of the mosque and other initiation tours for those interested in learning more about the faith.

I visited the Mosque and meet the delightful guide who was also a real estate agent. He was very funny and made great cracks about calling him if you were ever in trouble and needed a roof over your head. His assistant was from Sydney and she has lived here for 10 years. It’s not very common here to see a white women in the traditional Muslim dress and I’m intrigued to meet her and talk about how she came to live here. There was plenty of questions about terrorists from the mainly Yanky crowd and the real estate agent, in his wisdom, pointed out that the people of Islam can’t and shouldn’t be held respsonsible for the actions of some extreme individuals. That’s such a huge topic though and what I really wanted to convey were that the basic principles of being a Muslim struck me as being so similar to that of Christianity that it was bizarre. Kindness, tolerance, charity…

The Islamic holy day is Friday and therefore a day of rest in UAE. The weekend here doesn’t exist like it does in the West. Most people take from Thursday noon and all day Friday off and then go back to work on Saturday morning. So the big night out for everyone is Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Polygamy is practiced here and men can have up to four wives at one time, on the provision that he can provide for them all finally and physically equally. Women rule the roost though and they run the home and financial affairs. The man must provide for the family. Any money that the women makes from her business or investments is hers to keep – I must admit I quite like that idea.

Muslims are required to pray five times a day facing towards Mecca, the holy city that is in Saudi Arabia. The call to prayer is transmitted over loud speakers and the time varies depending on the sunrise. It’s like someone singing and is very peaceful. There are a lot of mosques in Dubai and there is a plan to build enough mosques so that people don’t have to work more than 500 metres to pray.

When the call to prayer goes it gives people 20 minutes to get to the nearest mosque and begin the ritual of washing before prayer. There is a communal outdoor bath where you wash your face, hands, ears, nose, arms and feet three times each.

Friday, which is holy day, is the day that everyone goes to the mosque and the Iman (similar role to the priest) gives something similar to a sermon with a common theme such as kindness or charity. The Iman also conducts weddings which are held at the brides parents house and apparently are grand affairs that can run for days.

There is definitely a class system here, the locals (the Emiraties) are considered the richest (I’m talking about the locals who have money in their blood), then the White westerners, then the Phillipinos, then the Indians. Recently in Time Out Dubai there was a stat saying that Indian construction workers got paid on average 500 dirhams per month. To give you an idea of how bad that is a basic admin role gets around 5,000 dirhams and excec jobs are 10,000+.

Oink Oink
Yes it’s true that Muslims don’t eat pork. However they do sell pork in supermarkets. In some of the main supermarkets there is a small room off to the side and there will be a sign above it saying “Pork Shop�. You can buy bacon, sausages …anything that your piggy heart desires.

You can tell a Wella woman by the way she wears her hair
So many people have asked me “do you have to wear a headscarf�? Let me dispel some simple myths and tell you what I know so far to be true.Musilm women cover their hair and bodies to conceal their beauty from the eyes of strangers and reserve it for their husband and family. The long black dress is called the abaya and the headscarf is the sheyla and no I don’t have to wear either. Interestingly Muslim women are seriously into their fashion and wear the latest gear under their abaya. The abaya is made of very sheer fabric and as I understand is always black but can be bought with various decorations on the sleeves or collars. A burkha is very traditional dress and covers the head and the only thing visible is the eyes. The older generation appear to the ones wearing this.

Men wear a long white dress called dishdash and what people often refer to as a tea towel is called a gutra. Dubai, in particular, is a very liberal society and I see women everyday wearing mini skirts and singlets but I have noticed that people, both men and women, stare at them. I’ve always been a firm believer that less is more so I stick to my grandma costume - works for me.