The Council Of European Jamaats

 Every camp kicks off with a very early start, airport excitement, tedious check-in procedures and long journeys until reaching the final destination; and this trip was no exception.
 We arrived at our destination quite late in the evening and the girls had no time to do anything but settle in for a good nights rest. The early-risers were the first to explore the beautiful surroundings with pleasant surprises.  We were surrounded by acres of farm land with fruit trees and olive plantations everywhere and hills and mountains further on. The views were breath-taking and the complex which was to be our home for 4 days was out of this world. No descriptions can do justice to this Madressa Centre located in the region of Spain known as Granada. The nearest village is about 4 km from the Madressa and is called Puebla De Don Frederique, which was once a mini-kingdom way back in history. The Madressa began in 1994 when Abdas Samad Romero, a Spanish convert, took over his father’s farm and adapted the buildings to create an Islamic Centre for Learning. The buildings offer accommodation for students, a large conference hall, a beautiful library and several study rooms. Two years ago the centre saw the completion of its own mosque, the architectural beauty of which has become a local attraction, with many locals popping into the café and visiting the mosque. The Madressa has run as a full time learning centre for several years and now has accreditation from the University of Damascus and Al-Azhar in Cairo. It also accommodates large groups with special study focus as well as creativity weeks in Arabic Calligraphy.

 Located at an altitude of 4000 feet and surrounded by mountains, including the peak called Azzagra which is approximately 7000 feet, the farm provides its guests with a variety of delicious food made from home grown organic produce and home reared organic halal lamb. The centre is unique in many ways as it has developed very naturally from the local community into which Abdas-Samad as well as his wife were born. They have both studied in Mecca for eight years and various members of the family have also become muslims. Abdas-Samad’s active involvement in local politics has brought the Granada mosque to completion in difficult local political circumstances. His wife is very active in looking after and teaching Arabic and Islamic Studies to students who come to the centre from all over Spain and the rest of the world.

 For the duration of our stay at this centre Abdas-Samad’s family made us feel very welcome and we experienced the detoxifying effect of the very pure air and water coupled with fresh, organic food.  After 3 days of lessons and project work together with walks in the surrounding mountains and relaxing hours spent at the secluded ladies pool, it was no wonder that the girls were sad to leave. No doubt they would miss the strolls between the fruit trees where they could pluck apples, plums or pears to eat any time they wanted.

 However, the history lessons had to come alive by actually visiting the places we learnt about in Sister Zainab’s lessons; and Granada with the famous Al-Hambra was our next destination. Nothing compares with the beauty of the palaces of this place where the girls read ‘Wala Ghalib Illallah’ (There is no Victor but Allah) all over the calligraphic carvings on the walls and marvelled at the architectural beauty of the place. The ceilings, walls and floors as well as the gardens and fountains bear witness to the magnitude of the rich culture that Islam brought into Spain from the 8th up to the 16th Century. That evening we were invited to the Granada Mosque which is located on the other side of the city, from where we could take in the beauty of the Al-Hambra palaces from a distance. We met up with local muslim women, who showed us around the mosque and talked to us about how they had managed to build such a beautiful mosque in such a prime location of Granada and the struggles they had with planning permission.  They talked about the early years, some 25 years ago when local muslim families got together to clear the land with their own hands, preparing it for the building. It was an experience for the girls to talk to local muslims and learn about the work they do to promote Islam in a country which was once under Islamic rule and which has for centuries wanted to eliminate traces of this evidence. The girls were particularly impressed by Sister Munira, an American convert living in Granada for over 30 years, who has learnt a very special old Granadian Leather Art, using it to create works of art with Islamic Calligraphy on local leather from Granada. We were invited to see her studio and admire many of her works. She showed the girls how she works the leather and the tools she uses to create her designs. She remarked that this work brought her even closer to Islam and the Creator, Allah.

 The streets of the old town of Granada reminded us very much of Islamic countries and so did the many Spanish words we came across ( marfil - marble,  limón – lemon,  naranja – orange, aceite — oil , arroz – rice, atún – tuna, azúcar – sugar, cero - zero hasta- until, and many more). By the way did you know that Al-Khwarizmi is recognized as the founder of modern Algebra and the actual name of algebra comes from the title of his most famous book, Kitab Al-Jabr wa al-Muqabilah ("The Book of Integration and Equation"). This book on algebra, in its translated form, was the principal mathematics textbook in European universities until the 16th century!

 Our next stop on this historic journey was Cordoba with its narrow and cobbled streets resembling a maze. Our abode for 2 nights was a beautiful little Hostel with a cool courtyard where we spent evenings discussing what we had experienced during the day. At the Calahora Museum, which is housed in an old tower at the end of a bridge, we were taken on a virtual journey of discovery wearing our ‘mickey-mouse’ earphones. Islamic Spain came alive before our very eyes with scenes from the past recreated in models, and sounds reminding us of what it must have been like. Dr. Salma’s Foundation must be commended on their work in this area to raise awareness of the vast contributions Islam has made to the West in the fields of Medicine, Astrology, Science, Architecture etc. during a period when Europe was in its Dark Ages. The true Renaissance was happening in these parts while Europe was still asleep.

 After the Museum and the short walk to La Mezquitta (The Cordoba Mosque), our journey unfolded the evidence of the determination of past rulers to erase all traces of Islamic heritage. With sadness we walked into the once greatest mosque of the Islamic world, with it’s over 900 columns, to witness the removal of parts of the mosque, replacing and changing it into a cathedral. No matter how great the efforts were, the Cathedral now is still known as La Mezquitta (The mosque).  We learnt that after the authorities had proudly changed it,  the ruler of the time was invited to inaugurate it.   He is known to have been very upset at what he witnessed and to have said ‘What you have built can be seen anywhere, but what you have destroyed was unique’. Such is the grandeur of the Cordoba Mosque, where we met many muslim tourists who came up to us, praising us for having brought a group of muslim girls and ladies to witness the historical evidence of Islam in Spain.

 Our last evening was spent at the house of Dr Salma which has been converted into a museum. Here we saw a display of books on every subject as well as a display on the process of making paper, which was brought to Europe from China by the Muslims.  During dinner Dr Salma talked to the girls about the importance of their identity as muslims living in the West and the one advice she gave the girls was to remember Allah in their every breath. She was pleased to see the good behaviour and discipline of the girls and was impressed by their attitude and concentration towards prayer.

 On our last day, we visited the archaeological site of Madinatul Zahra which Archaeologists started excavating and recreating about 30 years ago, just outside Cordoba. Standing at the top of the site, one can just imagine the grandeur of this Arabian city from a thousand and one nights centuries ago with beautiful fountains and gardens and rich architecture to surpass anything built in that part of the world.  The pieces carefully dug up are being pieced like a big jigsaw puzzle to give us an idea of life as it once was in this city.

 Our journey may have physically ended as we departed Malaga that day; however our hearts and minds are still continuing on it. Many a times we are stopping in our every day lives and thinking about what was and how it disappeared. The Islamic Empire was so grand in it’s time that it brought life to Europe, advancing it in every aspect and every science, bringing modernism, changing the quality of life of the people in a way never imagined.   As we learnt from Sister Zainab in the History lessons, these changes were brought about by scholars from the Islamic World, many of which came to these parts from the time of our 6th Imam, however our search in the many history books have found no evidence of any links. We can only assume that these scholars must have come from the universities opened by the vast teachings of our Imam, who sent them out to spread knowledge to people.

Making this journey has brought the importance of travelling in Islam to our minds. Allah says in Chapter 6 Verse 11  “Say: Travel in the land, then see what was the end of the rejecters”

Seeing the remains of such a rich civilization has brought questions to our minds; why did such a powerful Empire end? Did the people become too proud of their achievements, did the hunger for power and possessions deviate them from the right path? Did they forget who the ultimate Creator was?

While many of us travel to be entertained, to bask in the tropical sun, or to shop in the many malls, our journey was more an awakening to the infinite Mercy of Allah.   We observed, marveled and were dazed, discovering and being convinced of the infinite signs of Allah – both His Mercy and His Justice.

Islam brought light into the darkness of Europe. Looking at the advancements in Islamic Countries today one wonders if the candle burnt out giving its light to others.
We would like to thank The Khawateen Committee of The Council of European Jamaats for enabling this life changing journey for the girls and would recommend many such visits in the future. Below are some photos and some diaries written by the girls at the Camp.

A few of the Diaries:

25th August 2005

Airport
Group 2 arrived in Frankfurt airport.  We all felt hungry and we went to eat.  After that, we wondered around the airport.  We looked at the time and we had five minutes until our flight.  We ran to A32, which was really far from where we were.  We were 15 minutes late for our flight.  We had got onto the plane, but some people were in our seats.  When we arrived in Malaga, we had some problems to find our suitcases.  We met Group 1&3.  We did wudhoo and prayed namaaz at the airport.  This was the day at the airport.

By:  Mubinah Alloo

Friday 26th August 2005

Today was a great day; after lessons in the morning, we walked all around the grounds and saw loads and loads of fruit trees.  So we picked apples, pears, and plums, which were delicious as they were so fresh.  After that we saw about five beautiful horses, which we fed with plums and pears.  They were really friendly and we stroked them.  However, Zainab Auntie was terrified and needed a lot of encouragement to touch the horses.  Next, we saw some chickens, who were quite interesting.  We also went through some plant and vegetable patches and saw absolutely huge chillies, tomatoes, and aubergines.  Finally, we went swimming, which was great fun as people raced each other, pushed other people in, and splashed the Aunties.  All in all , it had been a fantastic day and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

By: Ruhina Ladha

Saturday 27th August 2005

The day started with fajr prayers. We all went to sleep apart from Shamim aunty and Zehra who went to see the sunrise!

The breakfast was ok but the tea was really nice. Anyway after breakfast we had a tafseer class which I found quite interesting because I thought I knew the transalation of sura fatihah , suprisingly it was actually more profound then I had thought. We also went to the farm 1min away from the mosque and the restaurant. We saw horses and chickens, even a donkey! Zainab aunty conquered her fear of touching a horse! Go zainab aunty!   

In the afternoon , before we had our class with zainab aunty we prayed our namaaz and three ladies came to talk to us about how they converted.  One lady told us that she converted because of a dream she had had.  The dream was about an exam she was having.  Passing the exam signified passing from the darkeness to the light.
After that  we had free time and went swimming.

During our class with Zainab Aunty, she taught us about the history of Muslim Spain.  We also started writing our scripts for a play that we are going to perform back home.  However, for pratice, we performed for Abdul-Hadi, Tareekh, and a lady we met at the Madressa.

By Sabiha Panjwani

Saturday 27th August 2005

On Saturday 27th of August 05, We woke up and went down for breakfast in the kitchen. As usual, the cats were underneath the table. We have called them Mithu and Jaanu. Secondly, we went to lessons in the classroom. Our first lesson was Quran with Sadaf from Birmingham. We got fifteen minutes break before we had a history lesson with Zainab aunty from London.

Thirdly, we practiced our play about the olden times and when muslims introduced objects like streetlamps and lots of other things.

Fourthly, We prayed Namaaz and met 3 women who had converted to Islam. Next, we went for lunch and got some free time. Finally, we went swimming while some other girls went to a village. The village shops and main attractions such as museums and shops were closed.At dinner we saved some fish and fed the cats outside. Last but not least, we ended the evening with a game of taboo.

By Sakina Zahra Nazerali