Al Azhar-the madieval remains at al Qahirah

From downtown Cairo, I took the efficient Cairo underground train to Ataba, then hopped on a taxi to Maydan Hussein which is the centre for Al Azhar. This place is also known as al Qahirah, from which the name Cairo is derived and built by the Fatimid 1000 years ago. It  looks very medieval,with narrow crowded streets,huge middle east bazaar, tall minarets and original islamic architecture . Al Azhar mosque,Hussein mausoleum and Khalili market dominate this place.

It was Al Azhar mosque that led me to this place as it has been the oldest university in the world and  the ivy league of Islamic learning for Malay religious student  for ages. Any scholar who had studied at Al Azhar would be highly regarded and properly placed by the Malays in their social hierarchy  and would become an ulama in the society. Even before stepping his foot on Al azhar , the whole kampung would celebrate his departure with kenduri and doa. Parents would be eager to engage their daughter to a boy going Al Azhar and the richer one would go further by financing his studies.Such is the respect accorded on Al Azhar boys in Malaysia then.

As I entered the mosque I was welcomed by a large tiled rectangular courtyard.Bordering the courtyard was an open arcade for resting, waiting , studying and sleeping.The arcade leads to classrooms for religious classes and each class is separated from one another with partitions.As there were no chairs or tables and students would sit on the floor.The atmosphere at the mosque courtyard was serene and quite, very much different of the hustle bustle of the market streets outside.Some religious students were seen on the terrace , alone or in study group,mugging  the old religious texts or having group discussion by themselves .The student studied by rote devouring some battered Arabic text and when they formed study group it was for the mastery of the text . I peeked into the classroom and saw a teaching session in progress.  Anyone can walk into the classroom to listen, so in the class I saw students of different age group.I was told by an Indonesian student that the scholar giving the religious lecture in this class was a renowned cardiac surgeon.It looks like teaching is  a one way traffic  with the scholars imparting what he knew and the students absorbing as passive listeners.There was not much of learning, only teaching and passive listening.This must be the only way knowledge has been dessimenated to future ulamas  for ages and our sekolah pondok must have got their inspiration from here.Most of the students at the mosque were from Malaysia and Indonesia  and I hardly seen any Arab looking faces among them, except some walk in Arabic ladies.

I spoke with students from Kelantan and  Kedah  about their life after classes.It seemed that there is no distraction that that can lead them away for around Al Azhar there nothing ,even open space or sports complexs and these students  don't live like their counterparts in Malaysia.Their focus is on religion and that make them very motivational to stay at the mosque to study. After their study, they go back to their hostel which is their home in Cairo named after their states eg Kelantan House, Kedah House, where they find solace within their own tribe.Our boys in my neighbourhood in Petaling Jaya could never live this life without going to video arcade, mamak stall, jamming studios, shopping complex ,etc,etc.

I walked across the road to Hussein Mausoleum, which was housed in an imposing mosque that can accommodate about a 1000 worshipers. The mausoleum itself was in a special chamber within the mosque, where Hussien's severed head was entombed.Husein's body was burried in Karbala where he was killed, but his head was brought by his follower to Cairo. The Syiah sect regarded Hussein with the highest reverence and they displayed their  emotions when they visit their iman's mausoleum.. They not only prayed at the mausoleum but kissed the the mausoleum doors, gates, fences and pillars with deepest affection. The Syiah had been saddened by Husein's death  and even after 1300 years their grief had not abated.

Nearby was Khan Khalili, the biggest open market in Cairo , selling almost everything a household may need, but not much on high tech gadgetry for I couldn't find the card reader for my laptop.Visitors to the market were accosted by shopkeepers and harassers to buy their merchandise and customers must be ready to drive a hard bargain to get a fair price.

Around Al Azhar , there were many more monuments and historical artifacts that testify to the greatness of Al Azhar as the influential centre of Islamic leaning and civilization.This place is archaic, from the buildings, the narrow bazaar,  to the dress of the Arab scholars. I saw many European tourists sitting down in the arcade cafe at the market square, romanticing  and immersing in madieval exotic.