Ras al Khaimah Old Mosque

In the old quarter of Ras al Khaimah, the northernmost of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the Ras al Khaimah Old Mosque carries in its very name the antiquity that distinguishes it from later constructions across the city. Ras al Khaimah itself derives its Arabic name, meaning top of the tent, from the historical settlement pattern along the coastline, and the emirate enjoys a particularly heritage reaching back through the Julfar trading port that flourished in the medieval period as one of the principal pearl diving and merchant centres of the Arabian Gulf, trading with India, East Africa, and Persia. Julfar appears in the records of the fourteenth century traveller Ibn Battuta and in the writings of Arab geographers as a prosperous harbour, and its descendants at Ras al Khaimah continue the maritime tradition to the present day. The Old Mosque dates from an era before the architectural modernisation of the emirate, and its form represents the traditional Emirati mosque idiom in miniature. Architecturally it is a single storey building of coral stone or mud brick, whitewashed inside and out, with a low flat roof originally supported by date palm trunks and palm frond matting, later reinforced with modern materials during preservation work. A short cylindrical or square minaret rises above the roofline, from which the muezzin called the five daily adhans before loudspeakers became universal. Inside, the mihrab is finished in simple carved plaster with the single inscription bismillah al rahman al rahim, and a small minbar of three steps provides the elevation for the khatib on Fridays. The mosque hosts the five daily prayers, Jumu'ah for the old quarter residents, and the nightly taraweeh of the blessed month of Ramadan, while the two Eid congregations fill the adjoining plaza. It stands as a much loved reminder of the older rhythms of Emirati life, and visitors exploring the old city alongside the Al Qasimi fort and the Al Hisn watchtower find here a tangible link to the pre oil era of Arabian coastal settlement. Emirati pearl divers' descendants still bring their own grandchildren here to experience the unhurried rhythm of an older Gulf that preceded glass towers and motorways.