After exploring around the neighborhood near where my airbnb apartment was, I saw this beautiful building from a far. I started walking towards it and I found out it was an Iranian hospital. Little did I knew, I stumbled around a Persian neighborhood.

For those who don’t know, Persian and Iranian are similar. Iran was once a part of the Persian empire. That is something, I did not know at the time of me stumbling across this beautiful piece of art. Found out later while doing research. Walked towards this interestingly patterned building. From outside looking in, I figured out it was a mosque. I could tell by the shoe cubby and chants of the Qur’an.

Saw someone come out of the mosque. Asked if it was okay for me to enter. I got the clearance to explore. Once inside the gates to the entrance, I was in awe towards the attention to detail. The colors made the building look so majestic. The patterns and the designs are so beautiful. Couldn’t wait to see how the inside looks like. Put my shoes in the cubby and I was off.

The inside of the mosque was truly foreign and new to me. The colors matched the outside with a touch more of green. To make sure it was okay, I asked one of the mosque’s operators if I could take photos. He gave me permission of course.
I got to see some of the followers pray. Similar to how it was during my time in Cairo, the mosque was sectioned by gender. I was not allowed to go on the women’s side. Still, I enjoyed the part I was given access to.
Sometimes, it’s hard to picture how close United Arab Emirates is to Iran. It’s literally less than a two hour flight from Dubai. Makes sense why there’s a strong Persian community here. Glad I got to see in person.

As I was looking at the Muslims praying, I started to think a little to myself. The differences between this mosque and the mosque in Cairo. They both practice different types of Islam. Egypt is Sunni majority and Iran is Shia majority. They are similar and very different at the same time. Similar to Catholics and Protestants, the houses of worship look very different. It’s almost the same here. Expect, Sunni is the majority branch of Islam at about 87% to 90% of the Muslim population. While, Shia Islam is about 13% to 10%. Here is the link for those who want to more read about this.
Also, I remember something funny at this time. I was wearing the cross my family gave to me for my travels. This whole time I was exploring this mosque, you can clearly tell I was a christian or came from a Christian family. Yet, not one person gave me a second look nor hostility. To think how, I was once so scared about going to a Muslim majority country. I can only laugh at myself now. I grew so much as a person throughout my travels. With every new country, I was becoming a person. Someone with more understanding to others who are different than me. Truly believe, we can stop more wars from happening, if we just understood each other better. We all have similarities despite our differences. Hopefully, we get to see that in our lifetime.
After about an hour of looking around, I saw pretty much all of the mosque. That was my sign to walk back into the heat. Thought about staying until the sun went down. However, I didn’t want to take advantage of the friendly welcome I was given.
Safe travels everyone and much love!
What a wonderful experience. I’m glad you found people were not hostile towards you as I think many fear. I also think that for the most part it’s a stereotype of what cultures think of other cultures. We don’t know them nor they us and that builds an ignorance that turns into fear and misunderstanding. The mosque is absolutely beautiful, I’m glad you got to see it.
Yes, you couldn’t had explained it better. We fear what we not know. Some of my closest friends are Muslims now. I believe the Media has truly brainwashed us to believing others different towards us are evil.
Beautiful share🙏
Thank you so much!
What lovely photos! Thank you. Wishing you more great travels!
Thank you so much!! Stay safe!
I’m amazed at how accommodating the muslims were to you and I hope everyone learns from this…
Also, I’m allured by the details and architecture of the mosque. Beautiful place indeed.
Same here. I think it was because I was in Dubai. They are very liberal compared to like the countryside of Pakistan. Still, it was very heartwarming. Have you see the Moorish mosques of North Africa? They are very similar
What a wonderful experience! We maybe have differences in religion, race, nationality etc but we’re all human. Thanks for sharing 😀
Exactly what I was saying here 😊 we are all people!!
I love Persian architecture. It seems similar to me as Moorish architecture. It’s great they let you inside. The Quran and Islam recognize Jesus as it does other spiritual teachers.
Now that you mention it, it really does. It’s a shame I didnt get to see any Berber mosques when I was in North Africa. Yeah, I was told that. Christians have a lot in common with Muslims. Islam is a religion I started looking into. I love the scent or smell of rose water t
*scent of rose water. Starting to see the similarities of all the religions
That is just so pretty
Thank you! The patterns are very beautiful!
Iran is a very beautiful place with lot of tolarance towards others.
We in India have Zoroastrian community which fled Iran during Muslim invasion.
They have contributed to India in positive way.
Zorostrian
Wow!!! Zorostrian I never even knew about this. Thank you so much for sharing! Besides the main religions like Hinduism and Islam, what other communities are in india
Hindus are majority and every other religion on earth.
Indian is main religion.
well india is a country i always wanted to go! thank you for sharing some interesting fact about some of the communities
Yep: we’re ALL ONE. And knowing that doesn’t make it easier to practice. But if we do, we can change the world. Thanks for your lovely post.
Yes!! Exactly! I know it’s very hard sometimes. That’s why I try my best. I no longer see people who are different than me as inferior or superior. I just see a human. I learned to stop hating others this way. We have the power to change the world this way.
Awesome trip!
Thank you! Congrats btw! For your anniversary!!
Thank you 😊
This is so beautiful, you remind me of my first time visiting a mosque. Glad you had a wonderful experience x
Yeah! You must know that experience since you live in Dubai. I was reading up on your profile…didnt know you were from Mauritius. I thoughy you were just writing about it. Also…never interacted with someone from Mauritius
Such a lovely experience! Beautiful designs. You can tell the architects placed a great deal of thought when creating such a wonderful space. I think that there is a minority group that the media likes to shine the spotlight often as material for sensational news.
Hi there! Thanks for visiting my blog and the ‘like’/comment. Lucky you to have visited such a stunning place! I love Islamic architecture/patterns/ceramics – so thank you for posting these lovely pictures.
Thanl you so much! No problem Anytime!
That’s so great you took the chance to visit a place where so many fear of what they hear, but don’t get to understand to know. The mosque has such beautiful detail and look. It’s really mesmerizing to take in the artistic look. You really don’t know a culture or another country until you get to know it from a perspective. Another great post!
Yeah i learned that with my trip to Egypt. I was so scared and when i went there, i found out there’s nothinf really to be afraid of. Also, i was on the news when i came from this trip. I found out first hand how much the news tends to over dramatize things. Apperantly i had the zomebie virus