The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat was really amazing. This house of Islam can hold up to 20,000 people between its male and female prayer rooms. Despite having to wear abaya, getting a tour of this mosque was really great. All of us were lacking in knowledge of Islam- up to this point we had read some of the Quran and had talked to Arab friends about the religion, but our tour guide showed us how Muslims pray and what to do in the mosque. We also left the mosque with loads of free books (information on women in Islam, why they don't eat pork, etc) from the Mosque Education Director who sat us down in his study to specifically tell us about his religion. While I don't think I'll be converting anytime soon, the grandeur of the prayer rooms (though the women's was more drab) and the friendly staff did make a good case!
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I so love and appreciate the culture/architecture of the Middle East.. I want to go back. This looks amazing.
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