Ever since my brother studied Arabic in Damascus years ago, I have longed to go there, and alhamdulillah, I finally got the chance.
We left home early and reached the border in the morning. However, this was the most 'ghetto' border we would be crossing. The word 'ghetto' is the only word that I can think of to describe it. We had to wait for a few hours there and fill out a lot of paperwork and we were ripped off into paying a hefty price for our visas! However, we still decided to go on, but the fun wasn't over yet. At the next stop, we were told that we had to pay an even heftier price to bring our vehicle across the border! This had never happened to us before in any of our middle eastern travels, and needless to say, Ovaise was not impressed. By this point, we could not even turn around and go back to Jordan, since we had already paid for the visas, so the only thing left to do was to cough up the money.
After we got through all of that, we were finally in Syria. We tried to put all of that behind us and enjoy the few days that we would have in Damascus. As soon as we reached Syria (actually, even at the Syrian border), we could tell that Syria was was not as well off as Jordan. Actually, on a side note, it was very interesting to see the progression of the different countries that we crossed through. From Qatar to Saudi, it was a step down and then from Saudi to Jordan, it was another step down and lastly, from Jordan to Syria was yet another step down-in terms of the amount of money each country has to put into their infrastructure. However, another thing we noticed was that with each border crossing, the locals of each country were friendlier as well.
Anyway, alhamdulillah, we had a cousin of a friend living in Damascus and he was going to meet with us to show us around. We arrived in Damascus at around dhuhr time and the driving was crazy! That is yet another difference we noticed as we progressed: with each border crossing, the driving became more hectic!
We had to find a landmark so that our guide would be able to find us. We soon found ourselves parked right in front of the University of Damascus-the very spot where my brother had studied arabic years ago! We called Mustafa (that's his name) and he was there soon enough. He took us home and we were able to freshen up and pray, etc., before heading out again to get some lunch. We decided to park our car and take a taxi, since taxis are cheap there and Ovaise was not feeling too comfortable with driving in Damascus. We went to the old souq and it was quite lively! Quite different from the souq in Qatar, this seemed to be a 'real' souq. We ate at an old restaurant in the souq and the food was fantastic! For some reason, garlic sauce is banned in Jordan and we really missed it, so having a nice meal (with the garlic sauce) in Damascus was a real treat. But even besides the garlic sauce, the food in general was better than in Amman.
After that, we walked around the souq some more and then went to the Umayyad Mosque. MashaAllah, it was beautiful! We prayed asr and walked around. There were many people sitting in the courtyard and just relaxing. The head of Yahya (alaihi salam) is said to be buried there as well as the head of Hussein. Allahu alim.
The spot where the mosque now stands used to be a Christian church dedicated to John the Baptist in the Byzantine era. After the Muslims conquered Damascus in 636, half of the structure was used as a mosque, and the other half as a church. Later, the church was purchased from the Christians before being demolished. Between 706 and 715, the current mosque was built in its place. At that time, Damascus was one of the most important cities in the Middle East and would later become the capital of the Umayyad caliphate.
It is also believed that Isa (alaihi salam) will descend to one of the minarets of the Umayyad Mosque (the eastern one) as it is said that he will descend to the white minaret in the East of Damascus. Again, Allahu alim.
We spent a lot of time in the Umayyad masjid and also had the chance to pray jumah there. The courtyard was quite busy and the khutbah could be heard from there as well. Whenever I think back to Damascus, I remember the mosque and have fond memories of sitting in the courtyard. Next to Mecca and Madina, this masjid was simply amazing mashaAllah.
Right next to the masjid is the shrine of Salahuddin Al Ayoubi (may Allah have mercy on him). This was also a special moment for us, to be able to go and visit his shrine, because, as Muslims we hear so much about him. The actual shrine is very modest and there is actually another one placed right beside his. This is said to was presented by the German Kaiser Wilhlem The Second on his visit to Damascus in 1898.
We also were able to visit the shrine of Saladin's uncle, who had actually started the movement. The area was under construction, so we couldn't go in, but we saw what we could through the window.
After making duas, we stepped out and went back to the souq to get some of the famous 'Bakdash' ice cream. I had to see what all the fuss was about, as this place was always crowded and many tourists were snapping pictures of it. The ice cream was good, and the kids really enjoyed it too!
We bought a few other small items from the souq as the prices were somewhat cheaper compared to Jordan, but we didn't buy too much. I remember buying some sweets from a vendor in the souq and as soon as we told him we were visiting Damascus, he was very happy and handed us all handfuls of sweets and kept urging Ovaise to take some more!
We also visited the Azam palace, which belonged to the governor, Assad al-Azam Pasha-one of the last great Ottoman governors of Syria. It is now a cultural history museum. We enjoyed our tour of the palace, as did the children--there were many things to see and we took our time walking through the palace.
We also passed by the The Hejaz Railway, which was a narrow railway that ran from Damascus to Medina. It was built as an extension to the existing line between Istanbul and Damascus all the way to Mecca. But it was only able to reach to Medina due to the outbreak of World War I).
Other than that, we walked around the city and ate some more tasty treats (the bakeries and fresh baked goods were amazing, as were the sweets!). Equally satisfying was the fresh berry juice which could be found all over the souq-I was hooked on it!
Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the world and it was interesting to see that not as much commercialization/westernization was apparent there, compared to other middle eastern cities we had visited. It certainly had a special feel to it and I would love to go back again for more than just a weekend, to explore the city more!
One thing that was visible in Damascus as well, was the poverty. We had plenty of beggars coming up to our vehicle to ask for money, etc. We tried to help out as much as possible and our Syrian friend warned us that some of them are 'professional beggars', and to be careful.
However, one man in particular, I will never forget. We were making preparations to head back to Amman and Ovaise and Mustafa were gone to a shop to buy some food for the journey. I was sitting in the backseat with the kids and a man came to the driver's side and asked me if I could help him. I initially understood that he wanted money, but then he started talking more arabic and I couldn't follow. I told him my arabic was limited and that I spoke english. At that point, he switched over to english and told me that he was very hungry and his father had been sick and in the hospital. He hadn't eaten for days and really just wanted a meal. I pointed out Ovaise to him and told him to go and ask my husband. He waited behind the car until Ovaise came back and proceeded to tell him his story. Ovaise offered to buy him some food and he accepted. Alhamdulillah, he was able to sit down and have a nice lunch. He gave Ovaise some dua and sincerely thanked him.
The reason I will remember him is because of his respectful and soft way of talking. Allahu alim, but he seemed so sincere and really just wanted to eat. On our way back, I made a special dua for him and his family.
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