from UAE to Syria & Turkey

from UAE to Syria & Turkey
with Wasel Safwan
www.waselart.com
June 1 – 22, 2008 

All of a sudden, I have decided to make a journey to a travel agency office and plan what would be an all-inspiring trip from June 1st till 22nd, visiting Syria, to Damascus and finally setting camp in Turkey, an overall distance of more than 8500 km.

The trip started from Al Ain city, moved to Dubai where I took a flight to Damascus, there I had nice tour discovering the old city, the mosque of Ommayed. I saw tomb of Prophet Yihya (John the Baptist) – Peace be updon him - and I discovered that the area was inhabited mostly by Persian people. Even when I went to the bazaar around the mosque the Arabs spoke Persian. At the old bazzar “Hamidiya” I discovered an old small mosque, inside it I saw tomb of Abu Huraiyra (companion of Prophet Muhammad).

Few days later I moved to Aleppo, where I met my friend and brother Bashar. I stayed at his house for one night and it was pleasure to see his sons. I had a delicious Aleppo’s lunch and dinner; I won’t forget these days, also there I could see the tomb of Prophet Zakariya (Zechariah) – Peace be updon him -.

On the morning of June 6th, 2008, I moved to Antakya in Turkey by bus, I had my first Friday prayer in Turkey. I started moving to Istanbul which is about 800 km northwards. As the journey progressed northwards the scenery became greener with beautiful green and yellow colours. The journey took me through the Taurus mountains , the views were amazing, the clouds in close proximity around you with mountain peaks and minarets of the mosques stood in sharp contrast to the natural background – the view seemed like as if one was in an airplane.

The weather was amazing and I kept meeting new friends on each place I moved to. On next day, I reached Pollo, which is before Istanbul and the temperature here was 13 degrees. Few hours later I reached Istanbul early in the morning, it was raining. I left my bag at the hotel and went out for a walk in the city without a map. I had not come across anyone who could speak English or Arabic. It all seemed unfamiliar, passing by old houses, till I reached Eminönü. I saw the Marmara Sea and there were people fishing from the bridge. This district’s population rises to 2 million during the day time and at night it becomes a very quite area with around 30 thousand residents.

Eminönü means “in front of justice”, I guess it is the heart and soul of Istanbul city. In Istanbul I had amazing times; I visited the Istanbul Modern Art Museum, this had nice artworks to look at. I also visited many of the mosques & heritage buildings that belonged to the Byzantine and Ottoman age, such as Aya Sophia. This is a huge building formed from intricate domed geometrical elements and I wondered how they were able to build these elements above each other rising to the dome at the top. The Diameter of this is 31.2 meter and height from floor level is 55.6 meter. Architect Sinan resorted to use of pendentives with massive piers at the corners for transferring of the load of the dome to the ground. This allowed for formation of large space at the same time gave the space weightless aesthetical quality. There is more to see and learn by eyes than any words can describe. Sultan Ahmad Mosque which competes with Aya Sophia took 17 years to be built starting from August 1609 by architect Sedefhar Aga. The emperor Sultan Ahmad could not see it built fully during his period and his reign did not lead to any noble victories and this failure reminds me of recent times where we build huge but remain dis-united.

Eminönü Mosque which is close to Marmara Sea faces a large open space where people gather and walk. I met a gentleman called Abdul Jaleel at this mosque, he took me to Fatih area where I was surprised to meet people who were so gentle and were very good Muslims, I’ve been told that they are the natives of Istanbul. All the youth had a beard, they sleep after Eisha prayer and wake up for Fajr prayer and start a new day, following the principles of Prophet Muhammad - Peace be updon him -. I guess it is more Islamic than some of the other areas I have seen on this trip. I took Meswak from ADNOC petrol station in Al Ain and decided that for every mosque I prayed in I will give the Imam a Meswak from UAE. Meswak is a chewing stick from tree roots which use as toothbrush.

I loved eating the fresh fish they hunted in front of you at the Mermara, and eating the
Shells, Kastana and Cherry. Also I went to Istiklal street which is busy 24/7 visited by
many tourists. It is full of cafes, bookstores and restaurants. It is more for young people, the building styles are from neo-classical and Baroque, with some element of Islamic influence too.

After that I went to see the Galata Tower which was first built in 528 AD by Byzantine as a light house, in 1348 it was reconstructed as Christ Tower and in 1453 by Sultan Muhamed II it was used for witness. It was devasted by an earthquake and was repaired by architect Murad and has since been used for defense purpose as well as an astronomical observatory. In 1579 the tower was used to hold Christian prisoners of war who were usually worked as slaves in Ottoma time. An aviator called Hezarfen Çelebi from 16th C. flew from top of the tower to Doğancılar square in Üsküdar which is about 6km away. Sultan Murad IV watched him from Sinan Pasha mansion, and he wanted to award him but changed his mind, and said: “This is a scary man. He is capable of doing anything he wishes. It is not right to keep such people,’ and thus sent him to Algeria on exile. He died there”. In 17th C, the tower was used for observing of fire against the enemies. It suffered two bad fires in 17th C and 18th C from the enemies. The first of the two fires was in 1794, this destroyed the rooms and the stairs. The second fore in 1831 badly damaged the conical roof which comprised of lead and timber. The roof was restored by which time the tower became the oldest tower in the world. Its height to the top is 66.9meter, walls are 3.7m thick and the overall diameter is 8.9meter. The stairs within the cylinder were almost 80 degrees.

Next I went to The Basilica Cistern area from the 6 C, the water under your feet comes from rain over the ground from about 30 km away, there no humidity, everywhere you move is wet with some drizzling falling over your head. It is all marvelous Romanic columns which we now copy in 21st C! There is forest of 336 marble columns each 9 meter high. Of course this valuable historical and amazing building that stands before us is a testimony to the genius of the clever engineers of that era. The surrounding walls are 4 meters thick and are made from bricks. The columns are arranged in 12 rows each consisting of 28 columns.

Later on, I visited Abu Ayub Al Ansari Mosque “Eyüp camii”, Abu Ayub (the companion of prophet Muhammad as well) lived from days of Prophet Muhammad - Peace be updon him - till days of Yazid bun Muawiya, he was born in Yethreb in Saudi Arabi and buried in Istanbul. This place is lovely to visit and experience the history of Constantine. It is also popular with young couples who come here to take their marriage vows and also recite Fateeha at the tomb of Eyüp Al Ansari. Many visitors also recite Fateeha on tomb of Fateh Muhammed too.

I was shocked to see old men working in the street cleaning shoes, and was also touched by the poor families and the old houses they lived in. I left for Istanbul by bus to another city about 800 km toward southwest, called Antalya on the mediterranean coast. Antalya is more tourist destination with beautiful marina. I stayed in a very old house with an antique feel to it. The walls were built of stone, apparently built from the Ottoman days. I also visited the bazaar of the old city with its classic style houses and narrow streets. I visited a hand-made carpet area and learnt how old carpets were colored by rare plants that are hard to find now and new ones are from fresh plants. One can feel the difference by eyes and heart. There is funny story about the Pregamum king Attalos II; in the 1st C. he wanted to seek heaven on earth, he ordered his men to find it and after a long search, they discovered this land of which he said: “This must be heaven” and he gave it name Attaleia. Later on it was called Adalia and now it is called Antalya.

On the next day, I moved to Gaziantep city which is another 800 km toward east, it is where my great grandfather came from (Halil Aga). Anyways, the bus was full of Kurdish people, and they were kind to me but the road was scary! It was narrow with two way traffic with heavy trucks and buses. It meandered along the sea side, across the mountains and the forest with sharp drops into the sea. It was night time; I could see the full moon reflected in the sea, seemed so romantic and warm, mashallah. Sometimes the bus had to stop to let the other trucks or cars to pass by. I reached Gaziantep, the city is a place of heritage with hand crafts. I had my Friday pray there and visited the Archaeological Museum which had collections from Neolithic and the Hittite ages as well as the Roman and Commagene times.

I had no idea where to find a bus that would take me to Syria, language problem! I knew some Turkish words that could support me to take the bus – during my trip I miss my country UAE, I was all alone in this trip – a bus took me to the border of Turkey and Syria an old, sensitive, and a scary place. I began to feel that this is no longer a movie that I’m watching, instead I’m the actor in the story. People jumped on me to take me to the Syrian side and I kept ignoring them, until a good guy could help me and guided me to the correct office. I was really scared, we moved by car to the Syria border and was greeted at the checkpoint by a Syrian solder who was lying down at his office chair wearing his undershirt and resting his legs on the table having tea. The Turkish driver had a fight with them for some reason, and one of the soldier started shouting at him. They put their eyes on my bag and kept checking it and even read my personal notebook! I could not say a word at that difficult time and prayed to God to return me back to UAE safely.

We finally entered Syria at Aleppo city, people were having BBQ on the pavements surrounded by dirty land with plastic bags stacked on yellow dry plants, close to smoke of cars, despite this mess they seemed to be having happy moments with families and friends. This seemed so strange to me to see and from the shock of this I even forgot to take any photos.

From there I moved to Emessa or as is now called Hims city for couple of days and went to Arwad Island, which has a population of around 10,000 with such a small community they all seem to know each other; they are nice people. I had a fish meal there. The island is old and should have more care to preserve its past. Anyway, later on we came back to Hims and my relatives invited me to a farm of Al Ain soccer former player, Abdulhafeez Arab. The family prepared a lovely gathering for me, we ate fresh Preach and Plum from trees and Sham-Cherry too also had a rose-juice drink from the farm’s roses, and we grilled Kubba- so yummy, the breeze in this city is always cool. In this city I saw the tomb & Mosque of Khaled ibn Al-Waleed – and I was surprised to learn that this mosque was being maintained with restoration by a family from the Abu Dhabi, he is Sh. Muhammad bin Bitti Al Hamed – May Allah bless him. Alright! Khaled ibn Al-Waleed was called “Sword of God”, he was undefeated of any battle and he defeated the Persian & Roman from the Levant region in three years from 633 to 636 AD. He is known as one of the finest military commander in history, that even his president Omar bin Khattab, removed Khaled from his position because the people started to glorify him and it was feared that they relied on him while they should know that Allah who does all things. In 643 AD he passed away and at his last breath and he was apparently disappointed that he would die on his bed, his last sentence was:”I fought in so many battles seeking martyrdom that there is no place in my body but have a stabbing mark by a spear, a sword or a dagger, and yet here I am, dying on my bed like an old camel dies. May the eyes of the cowards never sleep”. Next to his tomb is his son Abdul Rahman and the tomb of Abdullah bin Omar bin Khatab was in the same mosque. In Hims I saw the tomb of the forth Muslim in history Amer bin Obaisa – radiya allahu anhum -, they say this city has 500 companion of Prophet Muhammad - Peace be updon him - and scorpions do not live there.

During my trip from Syria to north Turkey, I could feel the sequence of culture and type of buildings, sometimes I could see the same style of buildings in Hims as in Istanbul, but those in Turkey were much richer and ornate. Though, people are nice on both sides, you feel one soul a kind of brotherhood which is common from Al Ain city to Istanbul, especially those who share the same Islamic values, even though languages may be different – at the end we are all from one soul, Allah said: “And He it is Who has brought you into being from a single soul, then there is (for you) a resting-place and a depository; indeed We have made plain the communications for a people who understand. “ The Cattle 6:98. We have to travel to discover and touch how Allah gives us the good and how others are living. I was touched when praying in Antalya, a 10 year child guided us to say the praises after prayer. In Istanbul, I met a boy who was looking at the Marmara Sea, he hardly could communicate with me but was able to convey that he wished to go to Mecca. And in Hims I was reading Quran at the old mosque in the old bazaar, an old man guided me to touch the holy book gently by two hands not by one hand. At the Eminönü old neighborhood, they came to me to see the photos I was taking of them, they were around me, young and old alike, I wanted to hug them all, they arranged a delicious juice drink for me from their wood houses.

I won’t forget the moments I had with Abdul Jaleel, from the Eminönü Mosque, he took me to Fatih Mosque, and after one night I saw him by sudden at hotel lobby bringing for me a gift; it was a beautiful Islamic artwork. As Muslims, you can find brothers who care about you all over the Islamic regions.

Sometimes a building that is more than 1000 years old is standing with beauty and is better than a contemporary building we build with hi-tech accessories now.

Also I saw strong architecture from the Roman, Byzantine and the Ottoman ages. Though all the beautiful places I learnt, each one of us is attached to the place one is brought up in, and so none can match the beauty and magic of the desert in UAE; I miss my home, U.A.E.

By plane, I saw the Palm project over the Arabian Gulf, in Dubai, and the modern urban infrastructure of the city which I did not see in Syria and Turkey. I just wanted to land safely and feel happy to be back home. On June the 22nd 08, my lovely dad and family were waiting for me at the airport, and together we made our way to Al Ain – thanks to Allah.

Best Regards
Wasel Safwan Al Muaiji