Monday, May 23, 2011

Lady Zainab Mosque of Damascus, Integration of All Forms of Beauty

One of the goals of pilgrimage and spiritual tourism draw another in Damascus, Syria, is the Mosque of Lady Zainab. Mosque graceful style as well as Iran's tomb is located in southern Damascus. The mosque is attracting Shiite Muslim pilgrims from Iran and around the world because of architectural pottery that bluish Sayiddah and the tomb of Zainab, the daughter of Ali bin Abi Talib, the granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad.

Most of the tourists or pilgrims who visited Damascus often miss the tomb of Lady Zainab, but its existence is very valuable as a building full of beautiful and emotional scene for Shiite Muslims in Karbala and Najaf out in Iraq. Visiting this place is so easy to use taxis, and even non-Muslim visitors are welcome to come, but it is limited outside the tomb area.
Tomb and Masjid Zainab Sayiddah is believed to be the former home of Siti Zainab, daughter of Ali bin Abi Talib (the fourth Caliph Rasyidah). He was taken prisoner by the army of Yazid bin Muawiyah after the massacre of his brothers, Hassan and Hussein, in Karbala and Najaf. For Shiite Muslims today, when families Ali betrayed is a decisive moment and the most tragic in their history. Thus, the atmosphere at Lady Zainab Mosque compound is not a ritual or worship a calm and quiet, but the passion that diruapi mourning lament, singing, crying and 'torture' ourselves with chest pounding.

The mosque itself was built since the 1990s, on top of an existing cemetery. Indeed, the location of this mosque is a bit hard to find, he is like hidden behind a row of shops, markets and hotels. To find it, simply by looking at one of the towering blue towers, or better yet, by following the flow of black-robed pilgrims who flowed toward the entrance.

This mosque consists of a courtyard with buildings in the middle. In architecture, this mosque has all the characteristics typical of Iran's mosques, decorative ceramic ornaments featuring blue, gold layer, and mirror glass. The mosque is protected shiny gold dome.

Page mosques are full of men and women who marched in a circle, singing songs in Persian or Arabic, banging their chests. Often this action deliberately recorded with a video camera. The scene is led by a priest.

When the singing and beating his chest, the flow of tears rolled down their cheeks, as if they felt the painful tragedy experienced by Zainab when lost brother and a prisoner. In this ritual, as if they were attending his own funeral Zainab. And that's how Shia look at the events that befall the Prophet's grandson.

Tomb complex itself is divided into two parts; for men and women. Footwear must be left at the front door of the tomb. The room's tomb, though relatively small but always crowded. Space for the congregation of women and men are only limited by thin wooden walls. Laments and sobs of the two parts are inter-shouted replied to the other side.

Not only from the room a woman, from any room pilgrimage men sobs that sounded no less thrill. All those present, old or young to sit in a circle while hitting his chest, weeping and wailing. Ekstasenya So, some people even threw myself into the tomb wall, hugging, rounded and shower with kisses. Others knelt and prayed, their foreheads against the stone fragments taken from the earth of Karbala.

Historians say that Mousa Murtadha-grandfather's tomb guard the tomb-building complex from a mixture of stone, brick and wood. In 1870 the ceiling is shattered tomb was renovated with brick and wood frame reinforced by Salim Murtadha, which gave custody to her son's tomb, and then its successor the eldest. Currently Lady Zainab's tomb complex is managed by a committee co-chaired by Hani Murtadha and Mohammad Ridha Murtadha.

In 1952, Mohammad Rida Murtadha prepare Lady Zainab Mosque complex scheme with an area of ​​150 x 190 meters square; widely page 90 x 90 meter wide main hall square and the mosque 30 X 30 square meters. Mosque floor covered with shiny marble tiles. This mosque has four gates, each four meters wide with a porch area of ​​four meters, too.

10-meter-high roof of the mosque is covered with ceramic and porcelain beautiful Iran. Plates coated with pure gold dome that makes it sparkling in the day or night, more attractive viewed from all directions.

If architecture is considered as an integrated art prints, then the Lady Zainab Mosque represents the value of aesthetics and modern Islamic architecture. He enriches the Islamic heritage and the heritage of the world because mempertautkan all forms of artistic beauty, photography, jewelry, calligraphy, as well as applied arts such as porcelain, mirrors, glass, decor, carpet weaving, and wrapping lighting.

To expand the area of ​​the mosque, on the recommendation of the Minister waqaf and the Department of Housing, the committee bought several real estate development next to it in 1979 and allocate the necessary budget to launch the expansion project, which until now has not been done.

The Committee made the mosque as a religious tourism business worked professionally with employees as many as 90 people. One of the other committee duties is to fund and protect the mosque and manage finances. Now the Lady Zainab Mosque is one of the religious tourist sites in Syria, visited by more than a half million people each year.

Source:www.republika.co.id

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