I heard a faint sound of adzan calling me while I was walking around Souq Faleh. That was a moment that I’ve been waiting for. My imagination of praying in congregation with Qataris for the first time would come true soon. For that reason, I rushed down stairs to first floor and immediately left this modest shopping center. Goodbye Souq Faleh
Located 200 meters to southeast, it didn’t make me worry that Iqomah will overtake me. I slowly but surely treaded Al Ahmed Street, a one-lane two-way street with a parking lot lane to north.
Five minutes later I arrived. There were no signboards except for a light brown board with the lightning logo titled KAHRAMAA….Oh, that must be Qatar’s state electricity company. Very predictable.
The old mosque building looked more like a fort than a worship place. It was difficult to tell whether it was brown with faded white or white with brown plaque. But this combination gave it a classic and aged feel.
I slowly step in a short stairs in front of entrance gate and a moment later was greeted by mosque’s courtyard which was beyond my expectations, it wasn’t covered in luxurious ceramics, but left authentically covered with white desert sand.
The main building of mosque was to right of entrance gate, while a single minaret was to left, which combined with a room that didn’t know what its function. The main building itself had forty-four domes in an arrangement of eleven columns and four rows.
I kept looking for ablution room, I looked on every side of main court and never found it. I tried to wait for arrival of another congregation and follow him, because I believed that the first place he would look for was a place for ablution. It turned out that the ablution room was in the west of the building, hidden behind. Meanwhile, in the front left corner of courtyard, was a house of mosque’s imam (leader).
Now I entered the main part of mosque to pray Dzuhur, along the entrance side of main building was made from clear glass so as to made the whole mosque visible from courtyard. The mosque, which was believed to have originated in the Middle Ages, was supported by 60 giant pillars. This shows the robustness of Domes Mosque.
When viewed from above, Domes Mosque had a Letter-L shape with an area of about one and a half hectares. Built on Old Doha area with Al Ahmad Street in the north, Al Jabr Street in the east, while the west and south sides were directly adjacent to Doha Metro Souq Waqif Station.
The room itself was quite neatly arranged with a green carpet with Air Conditioner. The Domes Mosque also implied the strength of Qatar by decorating the spearheads in each dome.
Then, I struggled a bit by walking to find a cheap but decent restaurant for lunch.
I found a small typical Indian restaurant, similar to “warteg (warung tegal)” in Indonesia. I ordered a portion of Indian style’s rice and chicken fry.
