FUJAIRAH // From behind the cashier counter at his souvenir shop, Ajaz Ahmed Guzer marvelled at the site that’s been his place of work for the past 18 months.
He tried to envisage the construction of Al Bidya Mosque, thought to be the oldest in the UAE, back when there was no air conditioning to provide a reprieve from the hot weather.
“Whoever built this must have been a great person,” said Mr Guzer, 30, from Kashmir.
Whoever did made it out of local stone and mud brick, as early as 1446, on a hillside by the coast about 30km north of Fujairah city. With an area of 53 square metres, the mosque’s simplicity is striking compared with the country’s other famous places of worship.
Farther south, the emirate has nearly finished the Sheikh Zayed Mosque – which would be the country’s second largest once completed – on a 22,000-square-metre plot. The project is in its final stages, with much of the work now being done on its interior.
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque’s domes and minarets are reminiscent of Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmed Mosque, but Al Bidya’s is unique for its pointed domes supported by an internal pillar. It is tucked into a hillside that is crowned by two towers.
Ashmita Sarkar, 27, from Kolkata, toured one, overlooking ribbons of trees between the hill and the Hajar Mountains. She was visiting for the first time with her husband, who works in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s really beautiful and splendid,” she said, looking out at the view.
It is a place where many want to be remembered. Graffiti covers the tower’s doors and interior, made by visitors who wrote names and messages on its walls. Others have etched names – Farhad, Atta, Asif – into cactus leaves in the garden.
Imam Hafiz Ahmed lives next to the mosque, in the same building as the site office and ablution area.
He came here from Bangladesh 25 years ago and has been the imam at Al Bidya for eight. He keeps a garden of papaya, banana, lemon and mango trees alongside the house to remind him of home.
“Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to see the world. But then I came here, and the world came to me,” said Mr Ahmed, 48, who speaks Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, Arabic and some English.
He lives at Al Bidya with his wife, and has raised two sons and three daughters in the UAE.
His youngest, 11-year-old Marjina, said living at the mosque meant she was far from her friends in Fujairah city, but she calls them on the phone. Her favourite part of her home is the mountain.
“I climb up there with my father,” she said.
Mr Ahmed joined a madrasa at age 10, and learnt the whole Quran in two years.
The strength of his recitations won him an international competition in 1988, against competitors from 52 countries. He was noticed by Emirati dignitaries while reading from the Quran at the mosque of a Bangladeshi vice president.
“When you read the Quran out in a good voice, great regard for Allah develops in a person’s heart when they hear the Quran,” he said.
When it comes to worship, the building is not what is important, he said.
“All the mosques in the world, they are Allah’s houses. You will have one in one particular design, the other one in a different design. Some are big, some are small, but they are all houses of Allah.
“No matter where you pray, your heart must be full of love for Allah, because this is His house.”
The mosque’s long history, for Mr Ahmed, is not so much an opportunity for wonder, but one of humility.
“Before me, there were so many imams whose names or identities have disappeared from this world. Similarly, I will also leave this world and my name and identity will remain unknown,” he said.
“No one will know about me or ask after me. Those who do Allah’s good work, they will have success in this life and beyond. This is the important thing.”
lcarroll@thenational.ae
* Additional reporting by Deepthi Unnikrishnan and Silvia Razgova