“Ethiopia 🇪🇹 ~Ankara; The First Mosque Built in Africa located in Wukro”
Our second stop was to see the very first Mosque ever built in Africa. The original building has been modernized and updated….The rest of the day was spent in the truck, making our way to Mekelle. We got to check in early, and it is giving me a chance to rest and get over the crud. We even have a bathtub, so I will be taking advantage of that, very soon!
Tomorrow, we make the push for a 10-hour day in the truck, to get to our much anticipated region of Lalibella; THE Rock Churches of all!
We are enjoying our time, here in Ethiopia. If one can imagine blending Israel and India, together, this would be Ethiopia. It is a very spiritual country, yet very noisy at the same time. Saturday night, last night, had party-goers up till 3:30AM with blaring music. We do not care for the noise level of just about every activity here….it is causing us to not get enough sleep, but it is what it is, and while the spirituality is high here, I also notice the young kids are quite mean to the animals; throwing rocks at stray dogs, and their herd they are in charge of, or whipping the donkeys to move faster. This does not feel very spiritual to me, but the new generation, like in other countries, do not always follow suite of their elders.
Our driver, Simon is doing a great job, and we appreciate him very much. He gets us to each new place, and is happy to do so. When we are done in Lalibela (two nights) we fly back to Addis Ababa, thus ending our Northern region visit, and Simon will drive an 11-hours day to meet us, there. From Addis Ababa, we start our trip to the Southern region of Ethiopia; Omo Valley and tribal visits. We are quite excited about that!
The first mosque in Africa
A Turkish body completed the restoration of an ancient mosque in Ethiopia.
Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) completed the restoration of the Al-Nejashi mosque, the tomb of the Abyssinian King Ahmed Nejashi, and 15 tombs of the companions of Prophet Muhammed.
Located in the town of Wukro, over 490 miles north of Ethiopia’s capital l; Addis Ababa, Al-Nejashi is said to be the first mosque in Africa. It is named after Nejashi, who hosted companions of the Prophet who escaped persecution in Mecca.
In a statement TIKA said the restoration is part of a scheme to promote common cultural values and assets abroad and to contribute to the development of inter-governmental cooperation.
As part of the project, the road that leads to the mosque was restored. The path leading to the tombs in the backyard of the mosque is called “Companions street.”
“The project restored the tombs and made them fit for visitors. The design will promote tourism and as a result contribute to infrastructure such as hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and museums in the area,” it added.
Al-Nejashi mosque holds an important place in Islamic history. This is where the first hijra (migration) took place by the companions of the Prophet following persecution and torture in Mecca.
On orders of the Prophet, they set out on the journey, crossed the Red Sea and reached the Horn of Africa to establish the first Muslim community of Africa.
Al-Nejashi welcomed the immigrants and guaranteed them protection. Influenced by the faith, he soon accepted Islam.
Recently, neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace deal after two decades of conflict and Eritrean Muslims made the mosque their meeting point.
The 10th of Muharram on the Muslim calendar was marked at the mosque with attendance of thousands of Eritrean Muslims.
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About Us
Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More