A Blossom in the desert

A Day in Aleppo

Since it was already time for Zuhr Salah ,they all decided to pray in the Banu Umayya mosque of Aleppo before rambling around the souk. It was one of the oldest and largest mosques in the city located near the entrance of Al Madina souk . After praying Salah ,they decided to take a tour of the mosque .Sidra enacting as a guide explained the history of mosque to Emaan as she said,

"The mosque is supposed to be a home of remains of Prophet Zakariya A.S. It was build in the beginning of 8 CE and that minaret was built in 1090. Its construction was commenced by Ummayad caliph al Walid in 715 and then succeeded by his successor Sulayman ibn Abd al Malik in 717 with a intention to make it like the Great Mosque of Damascus ,the place where Prophet Isa A.S will return at the end of days."

( Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) mentioned :" Allah will send Messiah ibne Maryam ( Messiah son of Maryam).Thus he will descend near the white eastern minaret of  Damascus ,clad in two yellow sheets,leaning on the shoulders of two angels" [Sahih Muslim])

Listening to her ,Emaan asked Sidra ,
" You sound like a guide ,how do you know so much history of this mosque ?"

" Well ,if you have parents whose passion is architecture and history ,who can even find in the shape of mango resemblance of some architectural design....then being their child this is the least I can do " Sidra said rolling her eyes making Emaan and Yamama chuckle .

Emaan was awestruck by the beauty of the mosque ,the hypostyle structure with large marbled courtyard surrounded by porticoes gave mosque a royal touch .The courtyard had alternating black and white stone floor that formed intricate geometric arrangement that sparkled when sunrays glistened upon it, giving a feeling of standing on a clear water. Carved Kufic and nakshi  incriptions decorated the entire minaret . The mosque had two beautiful ablution fountains .The mosque also had a small muesuem containing a number of ancient manuscripts and other valuable objects including  a box supposedly containing strand of Prophet Muhammmad's (pbuh) hair. Even after touring the entire mosque ,Emaan still felt like staying more, but they had still much to see of Aleppo ,thus deciding to visit again they moved to visit Al Madina souk.

The souk was filled with diverse colours ,fragrances and smiling faces. The shops were enlighten with beautiful artificial lights and skylights giving them a immaculate and enigmatic aura. Al Madina souk was divided into numerous souks with their own names as Khan Al -Shouneh ,Khan Al Qadi ,Souq Al Farrayin , Souq Al Hirak , Souq Al Dira etc. Emaan ,Yamama and Sidra were present in Souq as- Siyyagh or the jewelry market ( one of the main centre for jewelery shops in Aleppo & Syria) buying jewelleries when Emaan asked them ,

" Where can I buy toys here "?.

Yamama giggled as she said ,
" Emaan do you still play with toys ?" .

" Well there is no age limit to play with toys but right now I am not asking for myself... I wanted to buy toys for Abida and Adila". Emaan said smiling while checking out jewelleries.

" Abida and Adila ? Mr Rahman's daughters ...right? " Sidra asked.

" Yes ,Mr Rahman's daughters ...last time my visit to their house was so sudden that I couldn't take anything with me for them apart from chocolates....and the love and pampering  Mr & Mrs Rahman and these cute munchkins showered on me, made me feel so special that I can't describe ....you know what... they even made adorable cards for me...so I also wanna reciprocate their love ....so I thought I will buy toys for them and I have selected these jewelleries for Mrs Rahman....in my last visit she told me she fancies jewelleries a lot......"Emaan was saying when she saw Sidra taking out money from her satchel ,holding her hands Emaan said,

" No Sidra ...you are not paying for this..you have already paid for things I bought earlier...you know Al Firdous also gives me salary and this is a gift I am giving so let ME pay".