Experts battle to save ancient UAE mosques

Scholars say they have come across derelict mosques of ingenious simplicity in the UAE, which are a world away from the elaborate structures found in most Islamic cities today.

The buildings reveal a distinctly Arabian style which survived to the early 20^th century, before the UAE became the developed urban society it is today with a taste for grander places of worship.

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But after three decades of rapid change in the UAE, where most locals formerly lived in small fishing villages or desert settlements, restoration expert Abdel Sattar Al Azzawi said he detects a new interest in the region's architectural heritage.

“Now young nationals want to know about their history and buildings,” he said.

Mr Azzawi oversees the preservation of traditional old mosques and houses in the city of Sharjah. It has been a fight to protect this architectural heritage from greedy developers.

“They (real estate developers) just look at the money. They say it's a waste of time, why don't I build tower blocks instead?” he said from his office in the heart of Sharjah's restored “heritage area”, which is surrounded by high rises.

But his fight to save the city's historical buildings has had some success, at least in Sharjah where Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, is supportive.

Recent archaeological finds in the UAE have helped pinpoint the features of Islam's earliest mosques, which emerged in the Arabian peninsula.

“I found a mosque built entirely out of driftwood on Marawa Island. I've never seen anything like it,” London-based archaeologist Geoffrey King told a recent conference.

He also came across the remains of a mosque built from coral on the island of Sir Bani Yas.

Though it was difficult to date them, they could reflect the style of the earliest mosques over 1,300 years ago, he said.

“There is definitely a category which we see here...There is a distinctly Arabian tradition,” King told Reuters.

This tradition has unique features, including mihrabs - a recess, or prayer niche - which jut out from the back of the mosque and holes in walls which protect copies of the the Holy Quran from humidity.

“The history of the mosque goes back to the beginning of Islam, but I'm sure the first ones were very simple - only a foundation with stone and above that only palm leaves as a kind of wall,” Mr Azzawi said. “I found some in Dalma and Sharjah around 200-250 years old. They are just left there - people are afraid to destroy the mosque, so they just leave them to decay,” he said.

However, traditional-style mosques are also threatened by over-zealous restoration, according to Mr King, a fear of which has gripped experts since the controversial renovation of Cairo's Ibn Tulun mosque where shiny marble masks the building's 1000-year history.

“We're lucky we found these buildings when we did, because there was an intention to build them anew,” Mr King said.

The most striking thing about the region's traditional mosques is the absence of minarets, experts say. Minarets became a defining feature of Islamic architecture and the world's major mosques today compete in their number and height.“There is a very old Islamic tradition of having no minaret but a prayer platform for a tower,” said Mr King, citing the Julfar Mosque in Ras Al Khaimah, from the 15^th century, and the more recent Muhannadi mosque, built in 1931.