Sunday, January 29, 2017

JORDAN & ISRAEL FOR MUSLIMS - 7 Days

DAY 1 - AMMAN-Daily -Year Round
Arrive at Amman Airport. Our local rep will meet you upon arrival and help with the transfer to your hotel in Amman . While this is a daily tour, you may choose your own arrival date, we may have to change the sequence of the itinerary to accommodate any closure of specific sites and/or border crossing, subject to local holidays and regular maintenance of sites etc.

Day 2 - Amman (BL)
Breakfast at the hotel, then we will start by heading out to Salt and its surroundings where we will see and visit several tombs of prominent figures of Islam and others mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. Within a modern mosque in Wadi Shu'ayb lies the shrine of Prophet Shu'ayb (Jethro), the Midianite father-in-law of Prophet Moses and with whom Prophet Moses took refuge after he killed an Egyptian. Repeatedly he preached to his people about monotheism and to abandon their corrupt practices such as under-weighing and under-measuring the commodities they sold. Within a mosque to the west of Salt, on a hill carrying his name lies the shrine of Prophet Yusha (Joshua). He was the apprentice of Prophet Moses and later his successor. Prophet Joshua led the army of the tribes of Israel in conquest over the land of Palestine. Lunch is included enroute, then continue to Amman and your hotel.

Day 3 - Amman and Jerusalem - Al Qouds Al Shareef (BLD)
Breakfast at your hotel main, checkout the hotel and transfer to the borders (king Hussein Bridge) for departure. Meet and assist upon arrival at Allenby Bridge and drive to Jericho to visit Hisham's palace and old Jericho.
Continue to Jerusalem to visit the rest of Raba'a Adawia and to see a panoramic view of the old city of Jerusalem.
Al-Masjid El-Aqsa is an Arabic name which means the Farthest Mosque. To understand its name, and its importance, it must be remembered that the roots of Islam began in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia today).
Ten years after the Prophet Mohammad (SAAWS) received his first revelation he made a miraculous night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and to the Seven Heavens on a white flying horse called Al-Buraq El-Sharif . During his interval in Jerusalem, the Prophet (SAAWS) stopped to pray at the rock (now covered by the golden Dome), and was given the commandment to pray five times a day.
Today, Muslims throughout the World use Mecca as the direction of prayers (Qibla). However, for 16½ months following the Prophet Mohammad's miraculous journey, Jerusalem was the Qibla.
During Prophet Mohammad's life, he instructed Muslims to visit not only the mosque where they lived in Mecca, but also the 'Farthest mosque' from them which lay 2000 kilometers north, in Jerusalem. Hence the name Al-Masjid El-Aqsa, or Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the second oldest mosque in Islam after the Ka'ba in Mecca, and is third in holiness and importance after the mosques in Mecca and Medina.
The rectangular Al-Aqsa Mosque is 144,000 square meters, 35 acres, or 1/6 of the entire area within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem as it stands today. It is also called Al-Haram El-Sharif (the Nobel Sanctuary). The Dome of the Chain marks the exact central point of this Mosque.
Al-Aqsa Mosque holds up to 400,000 worshippers at one time, bearing in mind that the space required for each person is roughly 0.8m x 0.5m to enable the submissive kneeling in prayer. On Fridays at noon, during the fasting month of Ramadan, and particularly the 27th of Ramadan (Lailat El-Qadr), the area is filled to virtual capacity.
There are 11 gates to Al-Aqsa Mosque: 7 of which are open. Of the 4 closed gates, one is the Golden Gate.
Indications of any Muslim mosque the World over is the thin spiral minaret which always immediately adjoins the Mosque wall. Minarets are used to call Muslims to prayer five times a day, seven days a week throughout the year. At Al-Aqsa Mosque, there are four minarets: 3 square and 1 cylindrical from the Mamluk period.
There are no minarets on the Eastern side of Al-Aqsa Mosque because there were no inhabitants and thus no-one to call to prayer. After all, it was not till the late nineteenth century that Jerusalem began to expand outside the city walls.
Al-Aqsa is made up of 3 parts, narrow arcades run along one end, a huge atrium and a covered area at the south.
Running alongside the arcades are several family burial sites (maqamat). These persons contributed to the schools and charities in the vicinity of the Mosque run by the Supreme Muslim Council.
The atrium of Al-Aqsa Mosque is an oasis of peace and tranquillity inside a walled city of hustle and bustle. It has trees, lawns, fountains, the beautiful Shrine of the Dome of the Rock small domed rooms and structures which are rooms for scholars, sheikhs and religious court offices, and a museum.
In the center of the southern end of the atrium is the covered area of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Mihrab (niche showing direction of prayer) of the Mosque is located here. Al-Aqsa building (recognizable by its lead dome), was originally built nearly 1300 years ago by Muslim Caliph Al-Walid the son of Abdul Malek bin Marwan in 709 AD (the same Al-Walid who occupied Spain and made it Andalusia).
Throughout its history, Al-Aqsa was subject to successive restoration work due to damages caused by earthquakes, etc. The building now has the central nave and 6 aisles (the original covered area had 14 aisles).
The covered area of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a very simple, but large and imposing, rectangular structure. It has an area of 3500 square meters, and holds up to 5000 Muslims at prayer at one time. The Qibla facing south towards Mecca and the Rock within the Dome of the Rock are on the same central line.
There are 7 large gates to enter the Mosque's covered area, as well as 1 single door on both the eastern and western sides. There are over 100 clear and colored glass windows, 14 Arches, 27 Italian Marble columns on the eastern side, and the equivalent number of stone piers on the western side.
The outer dome was covered with Lead in 1985 replacing the Aluminum dome of 1964 in order to restore it to its original cover.
The inner dome, decorated with stucco work, dates back to the 13th century.
In accordance with tradition, men and women are permitted to pray within the covered area but in different sections, 3 times a day. The remaining two daily prayers as well as Friday noon prayers, Al-Aqsa is for men only. The covered part of Al-Aqsa Mosque was converted to a Knight's Hostel in part, and Chapel in part during the Crusader period. Restoration of Islamic atmosphere was done by Salahuddin Al-Ayyoubi.
The restoration of the subterranean Marwani Musallah (praying place) was completed in 1996. It is 4000 square meters, and was tiled in a brief 2 months entirely by volunteers. The Marwani Musallah is mistakenly believed by some to be the site of King Solomon's stables, however its construction is actually entirely 8th century Umayyad.
In the middle of the 19th century Al-Aqsa Mosque was opened for Non-Muslim visitors. For Non-Muslims, the Mosque is open during fixed times on weekday mornings and afternoons on payment of an entrance fees. The Mosque is closed to Non-Muslims on Fridays throughout the year and all Muslim holidays.
Diner and overnight at Jerusalem.

Day 4 - Jerusalem - Al Qouds (BLD)
Breakfast at the hotel, morning walking tour of the old medina, with lunch included at an Arabic local restaurant, with afternoon dedicated to another visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Dinner is included at the hotel.

Day 5- HEBRON - BETHLEHEM 
Hebron and the pools of Solomon, the Tomb of the Patriarchs - according to the Book of Genesis, the patriarch Abraham purchased the site from Ephron the Hittite as burial ground for his family after the death of his wife Sarah. Some traditions maintain that the site is the burial place of four biblical couples: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekka and Jacob and Leah.
Prayer at the Tomb of Ibrahim El Khalil Departure for Bethlehem, the site of the death of Rachel, wife of Jacob who died in having children Benjamin, place of birth of David and site of his anointing by Samuel (I Samuel 16, 1) take advantage of the city of King David then ... it is here that was born Jesus of Nazareth visit of the basilica of the Nativity covering the Cave and then the field of the shepherds, view over the desert of Judea.
Diner and overnight at Bethlehem/Jerusalem. 

Day 6 - Jerusalem
Prayer was the Mosque of El Aqsa Mosque on the Temple esplanade. Then we visit the Wall of lament - it Mabka Visit the Israel Museum and its Shrine of the book or are exposed the famous manuscripts of the Dead Sea and visit of the maquette of Jerusalem, in the second temple period.
Dinner and overnight at your hotel Jerusalem.

Day 7 - Ein Kerem  – Tel Aviv – Tal Abib
This morning departure to Ein Kerem 'the source of the vine' - Visit of the village. Then drive to Tel Aviv - Jaffa, visit of the city or the Muslim community and Jewish cohabited. Visit of the flea market and the neighborhood of artists, Visit and prayer has the Mosque Hassan Bek built in 1916 and at a few meters from the seaside. Departure with night flight. Or Dinner and overnight in your hotel in Tel Aviv.