This morning the group and I walked through the beautiful Albaicin district of Granada. We went to a mosque which was the first of its kind built since the fall of the city of Granada to the catholic kings of Spain. A kind man named Antonio described some of the history of Islam in Spain and the history of the mosque itself. The mosque was built in 2003 and funded by many foreign Muslim entities. Including, a sultan of the United Arab Emirates, Gaddafi, and Scottish convert who founded the new mosque in Granada. The mosque is surrounded with a garden and has a fabulous view of the Alhambra just across the river. After more information provided by Antonio, we went inside the mosque. It was fairly simple with a large area for men to pray and a smaller area behind a screen for women to pray. On wooden plaques in Arabic were written Allah, Muhammad, and Shahadah. In the center facing Mecca was the area for the imam to lead the prayer. This area is called the Minbar, every Friday he leads prayer and delivers a sermon. The mosque was truly a beautiful place of worship, even I who am not religious found a certain peace inside it’s walls. To think of all the history of Islam in Spain reduced to nothing in the inquisition, but to be resurrected in a mosque in the Albaicin made a huge impact on me. As we left through the simple, but elegant gates I couldn’t help but think of how much ancient history was beneath my feet.
-Powell
