Islam

 It would be silly for me to get into a big description of what Islam is in my blog when there are many, much more informed sources than me. (One of the more interesting articles that I found dispels common misconceptions of Islam and can be found here. For a list of books on the subject, click here.) I would, however, like to describe how Islam affects life in Abu Dhabi.

I don't live near a mosque, so I rarely hear the call to prayer. Friends of mine live directly across from a mosque with the speakers for the call to prayer directly facing their front bedroom. The 5:00 am call makes that room unusable as a bedroom. While I don't think I'd like that very much, I do enjoy hearing the call to prayer, especially when the person doing it has a good voice.

Naturally there are a lot of mosques in Abu Dhabi, but for non-Muslims, the religion isn't forced upon us. There are things like laws against co-habitation of non-married couples, and laws against Muslims drinking, but on a day to day basis, I don't notice. There is even a Catholic church here with services in a dozen different languages. So while Islam is an important aspect to many of the people here and is a visible part of life here, it is by no means the oppressive regime that it is often made into by certain media outlets.