It was bitter cold this morning when we gathered for a group photo before starting the long drive to Medina. Along the way Yannis organized a brief stop at an isolated station on the Ottoman-built Hejaz railway, interesting only because a similar train was destroyed in the Battle of Abu el Lissan by none other than Lawrence of Arabia. Guess we’ll have to watch the movie again.
Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, "The Enlightened City of Medina,” is Islam’s second most important city. The area in front of Masjid Shuhada Uhud, Mosque of the Martyrs of Uhud, was crowded with Muslim pilgrims from all over the globe when we finally arrived. The men all wore traditional thobe and the women were dressed in abayas, all except one of our own who refused and shall remain nameless. Rula, our local guide, soon found us among the crowd—not that we stood out or anything—and explained the significance or the Mosque of the Martyrs and the battle fought on nearby Archer’s Hill. We men removed our shoes and followed Yannis through the main entrance while Rula led the ladies to their side of the mosque.
I admit to being “mosqued-out.” After visiting mosques in Abu Dhabi, Jerusalem and Istanbul there aren’t many that can impress us. Even Masjid Quba, on the site of the first mosque established by Mohammed, was built in 2017. The Prophet’s Mosque, while impressive in size, is off limits to us non-believers. We watched as the faithful poured by and the men queued up to enter—women must pray outside of the mosque—then sampled dates from the line of shops across from the mosque.
The itinerary had us dining with a local family but I must have missed the part where it said it was Rula’s house in an upscale suburb of Medina. Over welcoming coffee and dates, Rula told us about her life and her five kids while her husband dutifully stood by. Dinner was wonderful with a variety of traditional dishes but the downside is we didn’t return to the hotel until nearly ten.
