Religion Is a Sensitive Issue…..But One That Should Be Explored

A few of us took a trip over to our British’s friend’s flat to check it out. He’s here for two years so has arraigned proper accommodations not far from the office. It’s a nice space, very big and fully furnished. We drank a couple of beers (Amstel is all you can get here as they have a brewery someplace close), strummed on his guitar a little, and got a full brief on the Muslim religion by a Lebanese colleague of ours.

I must admit that I knew very little of the Muslim (Islamic) faith prior to this trip but have now been exposed to more interesting aspects of it being here than I think most American’s will in their lifetime. Fascinating stuff the rift between the Shia’s and the Sunni’s. Our friend Youssif had his own opinion about who is right and who is wrong but learning the subtle differences between the two was interesting nonetheless. For those who are interested it can be simplified to this: The main difference is a question of leadership. Specifically, Shia’s believe that before the Prophet Muhammad died he told the followers (as is written in the Quran) to continue the faith by following Ali, the Prophet’s cousin. Sunni’s believe that the Prophet wanted the people to follow any new leader that could be elected because he is capable of the job. There are other subtle differences, but in the end most of the other religious practices are identical. Though there is quite a bit of animosity between the two groups. The majority of the Muslims in the world are Sunni, and here in Jordan most if not all are Sunni.

All of us non-Muslims in the room were captivated by the conversation and thanked Youssif fiercely for his openness to discuss his faith. We all learned something this day.

After this, we met a bunch of other colleagues at a restaurant in the Old City downtown for a feast. The event was organized by some local staff in order to offer some hospitality to us visitors. The place is called Jafra and is down an unmarked, rather ominous looking alleyway that none of us would have ever stumbled upon.

It was up a few flights of stairs and when we walked in the Argileh smoke and rustic wood surroundings made quite an impression. The place was full of families and friends hanging out, eating traditional food and smoking flavored tobacco from giant water bongs like chimneys. The food was good, hummus, tabbouleh, fattoush (chunky tabbouleh but with baked pita bread, like croutons), fatteh kebab (ground beef and spices shaped into a log and cooked on a skewer, served with whole roasted tomatoes and onions), fatteh (spiced meat baked in a casserole with bread and yogurt), and farooj (spit-roasted chicken). After dinner we got a few argileh’s and smoked some cherry and apple flavored tobacco, then got a full kit to make our own Arabic coffee. Now I’m a pro.

We left the restaurant and followed our hosts to a famous dessert stand located down yet another alleyway. Habiba is famous for kunafeh which is the most delicious desert I’ve had in a while. A cheese that’s a cross between fresh mozzarella and ricotta, topped with baklava-type flaky pastry, drowned in a sugar/rose water syrup and baked. Out of this world. Probably the best night so far and not a drop of alcohol was involved.