Picto Diary - 01 May 2017 - Abu Dhabi (Day One)
Above: Abu Dhabi harbor entry. 01 May 2017.
We've airport transited here once. Never, until today visited.
The hop on hop off tour offered by the Seven Seas Voyager seemed the best way to get an over view of the city. We needed some time on our feet. Outdoors it was too hot, so we decided to stop at the Marina Mall. We would walk for two or three hours, get back on the bus and complete the two and one half hour circuit... making sure to make one more stop at the Sheikh al Zayed Mosque... purportedly a must see in Abu Dhabi.
Above: TIMDT observes White Presidential Palace from Marina Sky Tower. Marina Mall. Abu Dhabi, UAE. 01 May 2017.
Above: TIMDT shops at Damas Jewelers. Marina Mall. Abu Dhabi. 01 May 2017.
Marco Bicego anyone?
Above: TIMDT walks past L.K. Bennet, London. Marina Mall. Abu Dhabi. 01 May 2017.
TIMDT noted that Kate buys here shoes at L. K. Bennet. I'm sure that helps!
Later in the hop on hop off tour we passed another mall announcing the coming of Bloomingdales and Macys. This amplifies the point that I made in my Dubai comments about Carrefour. You must do business below the 35th parallel in order for your company to successfully grow.
Above: TIMDT wearing abeya at Sheikh Al Zayed Mosque. Abu Dhabi. 01 May 2017.
The Mosque, completed in 2006, is the third largest in the world... and, the largest in the world outside of Saudi Arabia.
The mosque accommodates over 40K worshippers, while the main prayer hall can hold over 7000. There are two smaller prayer halls with a capacity of 1500 each, one of which is the women's prayer hall.
The carpet in the main prayer hall is claimed to be the world's largest carpet. It was made in Iran. The carpet measures 61K sq. ft. and employed 1300 carpet knotters. It weighs 35 tons. Wool. 2.3 billion knots. Two years manufacturing time.
The mosque has seven chandeliers made by Faustig in Munich, Germany. Incorporated in the chandeliers are millions of Swarovski crystals. The largest chandelier is the second largest known chandelier inside a mosque, the third largest in the world and has a 33 foot diameter and a 49 foot height.
The above is all for starters... there are pools, special lighting that operates according to the phases of the moon, 96 columns with mother of pearl inlay, calligraphy from Islam's top calligraphers... and more.
Above: TIMDT, in abeya, poses in Main Prayer Hall. Sheikh al Zayed Mosque. Abu Dhabi. 01 May 2017.
The great carpet and two of the magnificent chandeliers can be seen.
The total effect of this mosque was that it was stunning... breathtaking. Sheikh Al Zayed Mosque is a religious edifice on a scale of any other religious edifice in the world.
It is up there with St. Peters, Shwedagon, or Kanchipuram. But, wait. There's a difference. Al Zayed mosque is new. The aforementioned buildings are old. Al Zayed mosque's newness, splendor and scope is symbolic, I believe, to the energy and vitality of Islam today.
The Al Zayed mosque is state sponsored... constructed with state funds. Like in Malaysia, where we were a couple of weeks ago, Islam is the state religion of the UAE.
Islamic values prevail in Abu Dhabi. At malls there is signing requiring modesty in dress. Beaches are sex segregated. While freedom of individual expression seems to be curtailed, Abu Dhabi accommodates many other elements of modernism. The city has been created in the last fifty years. There is little evidence of anything old. Sky scrapers with creative architecture are every where. Shopping malls are extensive and feature top brand stores. Luxury automobiles at a Coral Gables or Beverly Hills ratio ply the well engineered road system, which is lined with finely landscaped medians and walkways.
Guest workers (80% of the UAE's population of 10 million) who are not Islamic are not expected to comply to Islamic rules. They are given free reign to practice their own religions. Modesty in dress, however, is a good idea for anyone out in public. I saw the occasional exception to this.
The five pillars of Islam are:
1. Faith. Allah is God.
2. Charity. Donation of alms to the poor.
3. Fasting. One month day time fast at Ramadan.
4. Prayer. Pray five times daily facing Mecca.
5. Hajj. Pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime.
Now that doesn't sound so bad does it? UAE. A country, culturally intact, people moving together according to the same credo, all prospering as they preserve their cultural values while moving into modern life. Nothing wrong with that right?
As Western Culture disintegrates, the progressive, globalist, secular model replacement culture seeks to enforce one value: the individual's right of self expression. One can be or do anything he/she wants as long as it does not direct harm to anyone else. No longer are cultural relics such as the Bible used to enforce uniform values amongst the populace.
As surging Islam surges into the West, particularly Europe, unlike Christian culture, it has, so far, resisted the lure of self cultural immolation in favor of Europe's secular individualism. "We want to remain a Muslim culture," say Muslims urged to assimilate into the secular European world.
Vibrant, energetic, and culturally intact, as Islam seems to be, Islam would seem to be on a collision course with secular Europe. Considering its robust birth rates, Islam, therefore, is likely to replace secular Europe as Europe's dominant culture at some point. Not that there's anything wrong with this. Orderly Abu Dhabi seems to have done pretty well with its own blend of Islam and modernism.
Addendum:
Way to go Zach.
Hoops,
Pelham, NY
Wow Wonder where Zach gets that determination?
La Psy,
Los Angeles, CA