Ibn Tulun Mosque and More

Built in 876 A.D. construction took 3 years *only*


My top 4 favorite photos...above and below! not in any order of preference, just I really enjoy these the most!
Behind my mom and I is the washing area - nowadays people wash before they arrive, but of course back "in the day" there wasn't running water! They pray 5 times/day and wash first. Wash the right hand up to the elbow, then the left....rinse the nose with water, wash the mouth, the eyes, the ears (starting w /the right side) and the feet and the hair. If a woman touches a man's skin before he prays, he has to start all over again!



below is my new all-time favorite photo - yes I took it, had to brag....blushing...



below is the last of my favorite 4. I really had a hard time deciding (again)which photos to post and which to leave out! My mom, Joshua and I were quite camera-happy!! Here is us with Hala. I found that draping the veil didn't leave room for photographing...so now I actually "wear" it - really it was an odd sensation, but I didn't mind!




Yesterday was a trip to the Ibn Tulun Mosque (mosged ebn Tulun). Ibn means son. The man who had this mosque built was "the son of Tulun" - in Arabic there are a lot of names. The news media tries to make it all dramatic like there are all these aliases - which is JUST NOT TRUE - they have their fathers, grandfathers, etc....all those names! Some have just a gob of names!! My teacher has 4 names, Rob's copilot has 4 and those are SHORT! The sedan driver has SEVEN! There are those with more!! As adults, they chose which name they will "go by" Anas Tawfik is two of Anas' middle names! ha! So when Arabic Muslims try to get into the US or whatnot, the US only allows for 2-3 names...it's our own "American" focused minds that gets us into trouble not requiring record of all names...so stop the hype, media people - rolling my eyes at you once again - giving half truth in order to bring havoc and chaos and fear!

We also learned about the washing and praying of the Muslim people and the 4 primary sects of Islam - from an Arabic Muslim - GREAT leader Hala is!! One of the people with us asked a question very politely that millions of Americans need to hear answered! Said with tenderness and curiosity - without malace or judgement...said by someone who's been taught thru media (as have most Europeans and Americans)...

"which sect translates the Qu'ran violently for ....." and a few things were listed...

gently and lovingly he was informed (as you are all now, if you weren't before!).
the Qu'ran itself is not violent. There is no way to translate it violently. The big differences are things like "how" covered should a woman be, what "is" touching (se*, hand holding, brushing elbows?) and other things like praying (can you work thru prayer and make up the prayers later or must you stop) and physically handling women (is it just your wife and child or all women? and is it just a swat or a beating in English terms?) what about multiple wives (is it a time ordained thing to keep the name going or truly an ability to get rid of a wife you tire of? OR is it that you must have a greater ability to love to be equal to both women since even the Muslims know what happend with Ibrahim, Sarah and Hagar!)

I've had these great talks with my teacher too, Mohamed, seen photographed at the Tower and Opera.

Both Hala and Mohamed have told me they are not Muslim because their family is, but rather because they learned the Classical Arabic (fos-ha) that the Qu'ran is written in, and both have studied it and come to accept it as truth.

So it IS true that most Muslims in the Arab world are illiterate - but not in the sense we may think...they CAN read...but only their language in their country.....and then if they do speak Fous-ha it's in the very poorest countries where the people simply aren't educated EXCEPT by the sheik's and other religious leaders...

Henceforth - whatever that leader tells them.....about how to please Allah, what is acceptable.....who is valuable...is all they know and all they can know! I seem to recall quite a few old time thru current Christian-so-called groups in American like this! Crusades, some militia groups, Jim Jones and the kool aid gang ;)

Anyway, it's still true now....so there are 4 basic sects. There are certain countries that are at war with other countries right now that are the most strictest sect and have the bulk of the leaders giving their own agenda (I know of qutie a few churches like this in the US).

While I am living in the 4th of the most liberal sects type of country.....it doesn't mean other sects aren't here...HOWEVER, they are NOT legal to practice..if any claim was made against them, there would be SEVERE punishment!

For the media to build a hype against Islam and groups to take this stand against Islam in general, is to be as uneducated as the illiterate people who follow without knowing the truth...neither of the Qu'ran or Christianity!

Please pass this along to anyone who sends you Islamic hatemail...or send them to me ;)

Also - the raisin on the forehead...literally the translation of what the people call the bruise on the mens foreheads means raisin.....is meant to show their level of faith....are they being proud? Well, is it not the same as Christians putting icthus on their vehicles? Or wearing crosses? It is self-inflicted, so that men can show their piety and faith to Allah! I think if only I could wear a veil or bruise of some sort so that people could know whom it is I love and serve......maybe it'd help remind me....but then again, I may just become immuned to why I wear it..it's all a go around really, isn't it? So why judge it and ridicule to such large degrees as some are prone to do?

I'm of course not looking for answers, just giving out information to correct the educational injustice that I have received in America...and you all are likely subject to it as well.

On with the fun stuff now that the necessary information has been divied out.

First stop - Ibn Tulun (all above at the same)





within the inner walls of the mosque. Within a mosque, no animal or human can be depicted. when this was built, there was still a lot of vodoo influence, so the "paperdolls" were standing on the walls. It really looks like people, I thought so and asked..which is how I learned of former vodoo influence. I guess it's still here thru all the superstition still within the Egyptian culture.








Next Stop - Gayer Anderson Museum - this was originally 2 homes - he combined them with a walkway. We saw the men's winter sitting room and summer sitting room..the women's sitting rooms as well as the secret passageways (used in the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me) where the wives watched the men being entertained. The English, Persian, Egyptian and Pharaonic items he collected were just oustanding!

My mom has said it best....everywhere we go, there's so much to take in, it's a brain overload! OUTSTANDING!

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Gayer Anderson's Bedroom above
Below, one pc of alabaster! a table!! verses of the Qu'ran engraved on the edge - COOL chairs, huh?!

below - one of MANY jewelry boxes - inlaid with mother of pearl and alabaster - STUNNING!!






CEILINGS IN EACH ROOM! OUTSTANDING!





looking thru the mashrabaya on the rooftop at the Mohamed Ali Mosque situated at the Citadel (cool!) mashrabaya, you may recall, is the name given to the specific woodwork done here in Egypt. It is designed so that you can't see in, but women (to be hidden) could see out...and ashrab is a drink (mashruub is "to drink") it is where they hung the water to keep cool and also when the winds came, it brought cooler air as it went thru the clay water buckets.




above....spoons made from shells!!!
below - looking between the two houses, you can also see the walkways created internally.


This next photo really cracks me up! While driving..my mom saw these 2 amazing mosques and had to quickly photograph.....this is the first photo of the day...what's amazing is...THIS was our last stop! THESE were the 2 outstanding mosques that our guide said "if you're in the area anyway, we MUST see these other 2 mosques as well!" apparently, my mom knows good architecture! :)



intricate ceilings!!! OUTSTANDING! this is the style of the marmaluke dynasty reign



above - GREEN marble! oh wow! the floor, the tomb, WOW! green marble! Made for a Sultan from Iran.

Bottom is the prayer niche - it's marble - facing Mecca..so the leader stands facing it and it projects his voice to everyone kneeling and praying behind him. Then you've seen the "pulits" they climb on Friday's at noon for speaking time...I learned that the leader and the attendants sit cross-legged for 2 hours while the service takes place! YEEEE-OUCH!! that's all I'll say! YEEE-OUCH!