Experiencing the Greatness Of Allah swt

Amid the chilly winter Alexandria weather, sharp at 02:30 hours 28 December 2009, we, seven (Nana, ‘Afi, Muhammad Afiq, Muhammad Asri, Muhammad Aiman, Afiqah, and I) of us commenced our journey to enhance our knowledge and rejuvenate our paradigm in the path of Allah. There are two types travelling likes most by Allah swt; fulfilling the 5th tenet of Islam – the Hajj or travelling for Umrah and travelling to the path of Allah seeking for self spiritual enhancement.
Prior to that, we had our mission briefing session on 27 December at around 20:15 hours. The session was quite essential for us to synchronize our thinking, planning, informing the kids our itinerary and program, preparing our mental endurance, and most of all tuning our intention. As much as we know, anything that we do in this world is depending on our intent. And, it has to be purely for Allah Rabbul Jalil. The date 28 December was chosen mainly for two reasons; it is in conjunction with our 19th anniversary and secondly, the significant of the Awal Hijrah. The Hijrah or emigration reminded us about the emigration made by the great Messenger of Allah swt, Prophet Muhammad saw 1431 years ago from Makkah to Madinah.
Talking about our 19th Anniversary, it was a long, winding and bumpy road though before we reached where we are now. There were numbers of significant successes that we had achieved but I prefer not to mention it. Our roles are to make concerted efforts in any good things or deeds in compliance with Allah’s requirement and He shall determine the results. In other words, the results are not within our authority. Most of the time, we placed the monetary or tangible values in the equation of success. And, that is definitely not right, I mean wrong! Allah swt has mentioned few times in the Qur’an El Kareem and Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) had demonstrated it in many El Hadiths about what success really is.
Alhamdullillah salamah, we arrived at Terminal 3, Cairo International Airport around 05:35 hours, and sufficient time for us to join the Fajr Payer congregation in the new beautiful prayer hall at level 2 of the Terminal. This was my second time visiting the new Terminal 3 but, first time departing Egypt via the terminal. Equipped with modern facilities, excellent signage and information board, spacious floor area, more shopping lots and more check-in counters, my first impression was - wow…it was awesome! Around 05:50 hours, we moved to the check-in area. Before entering, I checked on the information screen the flight details that indicated us for flight MS 719: the check-in counter is Counter Number 899 and the boarding gate is Gate Number G05. It was indeed very informative. For security reasons, every passenger must pass through two main screening entrances. Unfortunately, there were no signs informing people which entrance that we must use, thus I decided asking one of the officer at the middle entrance. He replied politely, “To Amman, you have to us the other end (entrance)”. I thanked him for his polite respond. We joint the queue and after about 7 minutes, we passed through first screening entrance. Now, here came our first test!: The Counter Number 899 was actually on the other side of gate that we have entered, which was just in front of the middle entrance. There were many people (foreigners) and thus, the long queue. At least 10 check-in counters were in operation and one guy, a supervisor or senior officer I believed, coordinating the situations. It was very interesting scene to me watching this officer ‘shouting’ and yelling at his staff and other passengers to smoothen the check-in process. While in the queue, I looked at the counters’ screen. Yes, it clearly shown us the flight number MS 719 and the destination – Amman, which relieved me that I was on the right line. After a while, I asked the senior officer, “Is there any counter for me, Sir?”. He kindly replied me, “Yes…you can go there”. I went to the counter and gave the staff my documents. He greeted me politely and browsed through my documents. Minutes later, he informed me, “sorry sir, I am in charge of the domestic flight. I think you should to that counter”. He pointed me the other counter left to him. I went to the other counter obediently. The officer greeted me and took my documents. She sympathetically informed me the same thing. However, this time I told her that, “your screen indicates the flight number MS 719 and Amman, how come you said this is for domestic flight operation?” She felt guilty but kept on telling me that she was so sorry. So, I went back to the senior officer and reported him the situation. This guy, out of his guiltiness, he yelled at me,”Sir, this is for domestic flight, International flight counters are at the other side” I was stunned and tried to explain to him on the information that the airport provided, but he kept on insisting’ “please sir, this is for domestic flight”. Well, to avoid the commotion and not to spoil my excitement, I went to the other side, which was 50 meters away. Finally, to cut this part of the story short; the plane was on time, the flight was smooth, the in-flight food was not too bad as what we have expected of the EgyptAir and we finally arrived at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, Jordan at around 10:30 hours.
Friends were asking why Jordan? Why don’t you bring your family to London, Paris or other part of Europe? I have been to few parts of these places on business trips, honestly, not many significant things that have been motivating for me. Jordan is a place that treasures many Islamic histories, the stories that we have read and heard in the Qur’an, Al Hadiths and other religious books. One would be able to see and feel the greatness of the Almighty Allah Rabbul Jalil on how He had rewarded and punished those who complied with His Command via His Messengers and those who had disobeyed Him respectively. There were also many places that one could see the magnificent creations of Allah swt. Besides that, it is easier moving or backpacking around countries, that majority of their populations are Islam. With that, the theme of our trip was Experiencing the Greatness Of Allah swt.
I did not make any transportation arrangement and we decided taking two taxis to the Hotel. Along the way, to optimize our time we diverted our trip to the famous Ashabul Kahf cave or Ahli Kahfi. Through my reading, Jordan, Turkey and Syria claimed the Ashabul Kahf is in their countries. However, I am more inclined that the cave is in Amman, Jordan based on the facts provided by many scholars are in line with verses found and explained in the Qur’an El Kareem.

Located at the heart of the downtown of Amman, Sakif Asseel Street, 300 meters away from the Citadel and the Roman theater, the Amman Palace Hotel was in the midst of renovation. As we entered the reception, it was dusty and there were few laborers mobilizing their civil materials. The scene was quite scary though however, we decided to stay on after the staff kindly assured us the rooms’ conditions are good, etc. The receptionist politely explained us the situation and called his Manager to comfort us. The Manager advised us to see the rooms first before we check-in. I went up with one of his staff and finally, I told them, “I am satisfied with the rooms and will stay for one night”. Yes, it was just for one night as per my booking arrangement through http:\\www.Venere.com, which cost us 120 JD.
Room 108 and 107 shall be our based while exploring the Downtown Amman, Jordan. The story of our trip is specially dedicated to our late beloved fathers and mothers and to those who spend their time, efforts and wealth to the Path of Allah - experiencing the Greatness of Allah swt.

Chapter 18, Al Kahfi - The Cave

The cave and the Masjid could be clearly seen 3 - 4 kilometers away from the main highway. It is about 7 kilometers from the downtown Amman.

The taxi drivers (one named Mahmoud) were friendly and honest; Mahmoud showed us the way to the main entrance, which was actually the entrance of the Masjid Ahli Kahf. An old man sitting in front of the small room just after the entrance, whom I believed was the Security cum Administrator of the area, welcomed and ushered us to the cave area about 70 meters away. As we zealously approached the area, another kind of feeling clouded us. It reminded us about the Surah Al Kahf, Chapter 18 of the Holy Qur’an. The Ashabul Kahfi or Ahli Kahf was one of the top items in our priority list.

Here the story goes: Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) was challenged by the people of Makkah, who did not believe in his message and prophet hood then. The people asked him a question that they received from the Jews. The Jews told the non-believers of Makkah to ask Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) "who are the youths who disappeared, and how many were they?". The great Messenger Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) did not answer but instead, told them that he would answer the next day. The answer was revealed to Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) in a complete Surah named after the cave (Al-Kahf). The Quran revealed the exact story that the Jews knew of, and it answered the questions in a similar way with the legend they already knew. The Quran confirmed that they had slept for 300 years during which the calendar of their people was changed from solar to lunar and, as a result, the period of their sleep was 309 (lunar) years. The Quran however did not give an exact answer to how many there were. It mentioned that some people said that there are 3 or 5 or 7, in addition to one dog traditionally named Qitmir. The Jews also did not know whether there were 3 or 5 or 7, and were astonished when the Quran gave all the possibilities that had been suggested for the number of sleepers. However, the local authority named this place - Cave of the Seven Sleepers. Personally, I disagree with it because it may confuse visitors.
In verse 18 of Chapter 18, Al-Kahf (the cave), Allah swt says; “Thou wouldst have deemed them awake, whilst they were asleep, and We turned them on their right and on their left sides: their dog stretching forth his two fore-legs on the threshold: if thou hadst come up on to them, thou wouldst have certainly turned back from them in flight, and wouldst certainly have been filled with terror of them.”
The ninth verse of Surah Al Kahf touches upon this group's extraordinary situation. As the narrative unfolds, it is seen that their experiences are of an unusual and metaphysical nature. Their entire lives are full of miraculous developments. The tenth verse tells us that those young people sought refuge in the cave from the existing oppressive system, which did not allow them to express their views, tell the truth, and call to Allah's religion. Thus, they distanced themselves from their society.
Do you consider that the Companions of the Cave and Ar-Raqim were one of the most remarkable of Our Signs? When the young men took refuge in the cave and said: 'Our Lord! Bestow on us mercy directly from You and open the way for us to right guidance in our situation." Verses 9 -10, Chapter 18 - Al Kahf. The photo below claimed to be the place where tha Ahli Kahf slept.
"So We covered up their hearing (causing them to go to sleep in deep sleep) in the cave for a number of years. Then We woke them up again so that we might see which of the two groups would better calculate the time they had stayed there." Verses 11 - 12, Chapter 18 Al KahfAbove photo claimed to be the grave of the Ahli Kahfi. One could see the bones via the glass panel.
The reason for this state of sleep was their surrender to fate and peace, because Allah swt, arranges everything for the benefit of the believers.
The Qur'an also states that the number of sleepers will be known only to Allah swt and a handful of people. A couple of estimates have been mentioned regarding their true number, as per popular opinion, probably by the time of Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him), but quickly rejected as mere conjectures. Such as, they were three, fourth being the dog or they were five, sixth being the dog, etc. However, when a final count of 'seven and their dog being the eighth' is mentioned, Muslims generally consider that an approval from Allah swt about their correct number, since it is not followed by an explicit rejection of the correctness of that number. Although the very next verse states that the knowledge of their correct number stays with Allah Rabbul Jalil alone and a few select, it is taken as a reminder that despite the revelation to Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) and a legendary mention throughout history, most people do not have any first-hand evidence to support any claims regarding their correct number, if not their very existence.
"Some say they were three of them, their dog being the fourth; and others say they were five of them, their dog being the sixth,' guessing at the Unseen; yet others say they were seven of them, their dog being the eighth.' Say (O Muhammad saw) : 'My Lord knows best their number. Those who know about them are very few.' So do not enter into any argument concerning them, except in relation to what is clearly known. And do not seek the opinion of any of them regarding them." Verse 22, Chapter 18 Al Kahf

After spending nearly one hour, we hesitantly left the area with mixed feeling to the Amman Palace Hotel. Amman a unique blend of old and new, ideally located in a hilly area of north-western Jordan. The city was originally built on seven hills, but it now spans over an area of nineteen hills. The main areas of Amman gain their names from the hills and mountains. It became the capital city of Jordan in 1921.

Nana with the black robe provided by the Administrator as gesture of respect of that area?!

An Nur Al Qudus Restaurant: One of Its Kind

After settling in the room, we performed our obligation to Allah swt at the nearby Masjid, There were many Masjid in this area but the physical architectural appearance was not as good as compared to many in Egypt. However, the appearance is not important factor, but what important and does matters are the management of the function of the Masjid itself and the spiritual experience that people gain out of it. During the Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him), Masjid or Mosques were built simple (no Verses of Quran painted on the wall and no worldly arrogant structures) but distinctively served well its purpose. I will share my opinion about this matter later.

Our next item in the program list was ‘Makan’ or lunch. There were few decent restaurants within 200 meters radius of the hotel. The general theme of the downtown was not much different with what we have in Egypt perhaps in other countries. However, the people was bit conservative, well educated and extremely hospitable. Amman accommodates around 2.5 millions inhabitants comprises of the Arabs, Palestinians origin, Iraq and some South East Asians. Compared to Cairo that has 20 millions people, road traffic in Amman was not congested, which was also mainly due to good implementation of the road traffic systems and disciplined people complying with it.
The downtown area is much older and more traditional with smaller businesses producing and selling everything from fabulous jewelleries to everyday household items.

We finally arrived at the Annur Al Qudus Restaurant to fulfill our basic needs to boost the internal combustion of our body so as to enhance our energy and endurance. The staff gave us their warmth welcome and ushered us to the top floor, which was actually half-floor to me. On the way up, the customers greeted us with their sincere smile and gestures, “Ahlan wa Sahlan….welcome”.
The photo above was taken when we had our fresh fruit juices at the juices restaurant akin to what we have in Egypt.
We ordered the Arabic rice, grilled chicken, salads, ‘Aisyh’. The service was excellent – most of the waiters spoke good English, the restaurant was cleaned and pleasant. During dinner, we tried ‘Mansaf’ – National Jordanian dish made of lamb and sometime chicken cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice. The scrumptious meal cost seven (7) of us only 15 JD.

What unique about this restaurant was not the food, but its lowered ceiling, which was measured slightly less than 2 meters height? Amazing! One need to bend down or you might limboing your self to go to another side. Nevertheless, the safety features were commendable despite it cramp space.

Do you see what I mean? Muhammad Afiq, who is about 6 feet tall has to bend down a little bit to move around the restaurant. However, amid this unique architectural fact, the ambience was commendable.

Meatless chicken, anyone? What most important is the quality of the foods and the service rendered. Masalamah!.

Allahamdullillah hi lAdzi, Ad Amana wa Saqa na wa Ja'alana minal Muslimin. Amiin.

Exploring Downtown Amman

After the wonderful lunch at the amazing restaurant, we wandered around the downtown street; meeting and greeting people, learning and experiencing the hospitality of the conservative Jordanian.
The local ‘shawirma’ or slice grilled chicken or beef meat wrapped with thin bread was awesome and reasonably cheap. And, what impressed us was the hygiene factor, which was 9 out of 10.
We saw and talk with the street shoe repair ‘factories’, we went to vegetables market and bought 2 JD (almost 5 kilogram) of ‘Safandi’ akin to the Chinese Lokam or mandarin orange. All sorts of activities, shapes and wonderful colors fascinated the scenery.
Curious with what these guys (in the photo above) were selling, we politely informed him that we would like try and buy 1 JD only. However, instead of selling it, he happily gave us one piece FOC. We thanked him. A Public Showroom? Well actually, this shop is selling antiques and second-hand items. The old broken wooden wheel meant nothing to us, but to some Jordanian, it may worth few Dinars. Along the street, we saw many street vendors marketing second hand items mainly shoes, non-branded locally made clothing and household items. Believed me, their mode of operandi had attracted many customers. Not bad ah! Definitely! The effort and initiative is much better than begging around shamelessly on the street.

Alhamdullillah, the weather was on our side. We blended ourselves with the local ambience, roaming the street and negotiating with taxi drivers to visit Jerash, our next item in the agenda. Most of the people that we met spoke fair English, but with our little proficiency of Egyptian language, we managed to communicate with them fairly.

The Romantic Jerash

Next in the agenda was the 4 hours excursion to Jerash, which is about 48 kilometers north of Amman. We took two taxis that cost us 50 JD for the 4 hours ride. The idea of the excursion was actually to have sightseeing tour covering new or modern Amman and other small districts, one-third of the Northern portion of Jordan.
The structure in the above photo is called the Arch of Hadrian, built to honor the visit of Emperor Hadrian in 129 AD.
Nestled in a quiet valley between the mountains of Gilead, is the grandeur of Imperial Rome, which is the main pulling factor of this small city of 32,000 inhabitants. Its economy depends largely on tourism and secondly, agriculture, mainly the olive plantations.
The remnant of the Roman Empire reminded us about the strong influence of the Islamic reign 1431 years ago. Started humbly from the small land of Madinah El Munawarah by a humble, honest, and pious man called Muhammad saw (peace be upon him), he the Messenger of Allah swt and his 124,000 Sahabah, conqured almost two third of the world. The two biggest powers then, the Roman and Persian were arrogantly declined penetrating the Hijjaz land, mainly Makkah due to its poverty and vulgarness of the people, but eventually surrendered to the positive influence of Islam.

The beautiful greenery-beige scenery of the evergreen pine coniferous trees, olive and patches of rock formation cooled your eyes and entertained us with its textures and shapes.

We passed through the modern side of Amman, the popular one was Shmeisani and Abdail. There were many modern designed buildings, well organised and managed. I must say, it was much better than what I used to see in Cairo – crowded, not well planned and managed.

We arrived back at the modern Amman, Abdail around 17:40 hours and stopped at one of the Masjid, (unfortunately I could not recall the name of the Masjid) performing our Maghrib-'Isya prayers. One thing I observed, most of the Masjid in Jordan were well maintained or cleaned and have good facilities conforming to its customer requirement and seasons.

Al Husseini Masjid

A short stroll through the throbbing streets of the heart of downtown Amman and the glittering famous gold souq is The Grand Husseini Mosque. This Ottoman style mosque was rebuilt using striking pink-and-white stone in 1924 by the late King Abdullah I on the site of an ancient mosque built originally in 640 AD by Omar ibn Al-Khattab the 2nd Caliph of Islam.

Adventuring Amman Night Life

We arrived at our hotel around 18:20 hours. Hunger struck us all, which dragged us to the Annur Al Qudus Restaurant. We had a good rich dinner, thus motivated us to enhance the body metabolism by brisk walking exploring the downtown at night. The weather was nice – around 16 degrees Centigrade. There were less traffic and people at night though it was still early. We went to few souvenir shops selling Jordanian handicraft, mementos, etc. As usual, Nana maneuvered her route to scarf and women accessories lots and I went to rows of Money Changers, which were still opened. The kids were enjoying the atmosphere and the crowd. Alhamdullillah, they were excellent!
To me the trip was a good exposure for them to learn and experience what life is. Nothing comes easy in life and this temporary short span of time granted by the Almighty Allah swt is for us to build our “Iman” - faith that will bring us real success of our journey.
The trip was also an opportunity for us to enhance our team-family work, building our trust, and improve our gaps. Like I said earlier, the main intention of this trip was for us to learn, seeking knowledge and experiencing the Greatness of Allah swt.

We walked to the Nymphaeum – the Roman Public fountain (2nd Century AD) and right in front of it were rows of fruit vendors offering us varieties of reasonably cheap winter fruits.

That’s it, around 21:30 hours we called it a day. We retired around 22:00 hours to recover our energy for our Day 2 Agenda – trip to Petra.

Mountain Nebo and The Story of Prophet Musa as

Our first agenda today, after breakfast off course, was Mount Nebo – a place claimed to be the last destination of Prophet Musa alaihi salam (as) before he died.
The hotel’s restaurant was still in the midst of renovation, thus they served us breakfast – 2 pieces of ‘aishy’ Arabic bread with 2 pieces of packed butter and a glass of tea for each one of us, at the lobby. We are supposed to depart for Mount Nebo at 07:00 hours but due to miscommunication, the minivan arrived at 09:20 hours. This was a test by itself. Well, 10% of life is made up of what happens to you and the other 90% is decided by how we react to it. We have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The driver arrived late, which throws our whole schedule off. The other 90% is different is determined by us. Yes, we cannot control a red light, but we can control our reaction.
The two hours gap was a blessing in disguise and filled up appropriately. Ayman continued his super nap on the hotel lobby’s sofa. Nana, Asri and ‘Afi ventured the Jordanian Shawirma (sliced grilled chicken or beef wrapped with thin round bread) and Kebab along the Quraish Road; Afiq continued his sketching while looking after our luggage, and I just optimized the time with observing the characters and colors of the Jordanian around the street nearby. Despite the disappointment, it was on the other hand, interesting.

Around 09:30 hours we departed for Mount Nebo with Harir, the 7 seaters coaster driver. Married with 4 kids, Harir of Palestine origin speak good English, friendly and has vast knowledge about Jordan.
To Mount Nebo we have to go pass through Madaba, 30 km from Amman. Madaba has about 60,000 inhabitants, is the 5th populous town in Jordan. There were nothing much to see at Madaba, except the old Greek Orthodox Church, after a round at the small municipal, we went straight to Mount Nebo.
Stands at 817 meters above the sea level and 9 kilometers from Madaba, Mount Nebo now is declared as one of the holy lands for Christian. Locally known as Siyagha, the ruins were visited by the French Duc de Luynes. Interest in the site increased still further after the discovery of Egeria’s (an intrepid lady who claimed had visited the site in 384 AD) journal in 1886. In 1932, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land purchased the site of Mount Nebo and started their archaeological investigation then.
As for me, through my own reading and information gathering, there is some logical sense that this spot of Jordan was the place of Prophet Musa as and the children of Israel after the strenuous journey towards new life ended before he died.
The fact of the matter, Allah swt has asked Prophet Musa as to emigrate or travel from the dictatorship and merciless Fir’aun or Pharoah of Egypt.
Allah swt says in Chapter 20, At Tha Ha, Verse 77; “And indeed We revealed to Musa: Travel by night with ‘Ibadi (My slaves) and strike a dry path for them in the sea, fearing neither to be overtaken (by Fir’aun) nor being afraid (of drowning in the sea).”
Chapter 5, Al Maidah – The Table Spread with food, Verses 21 – 26, proofed that, after they had successfully crossed the sea, subsequently after Musa as with his followers (the Israelites) left the Mount Thur after meeting Allah swt, they headed to Palestine and reached a place before Palestine:
21 “O my people! Enter the holy land (Palestine) which Allah has assigned to you and turn not back (in flight); for then you will be returned as losers.”
22 They said: “O Musa! In (this holy land) are a people of great strength, and we shall never enter it until they leave it; when they leave, then we will enter.”
23 Two men of those who feared (Allah) on whom Allah had bestowed His Grace (they were Yusha and Kalab) said: ”Assault them through the gate; for when you are in, victory will be yours; and put your trust in Allah if you are believers indeed.”
24 They said: “O Musa! We shall never enter it as long as they are there. So go you and your Lord and fight you two, we are sitting right here.”
25 He (Musa as) said: “O my Lord! I have power only over myself and my brother, so separate us from the people who are the Fasiqun (rebellious and disobedient to Allah)!”
26 Allah swt said: “Therefore it (this holy land) is forbidden to them for forty years; in distraction they will wander through the land. So be not sorrowful over the people who are the Fasiqun.”
2 or 3 kilometers down on the west side of Mount Nebo, there is a place called Wadi Uyun Musa, claimed to be a place where Prophet Musa as had struck the rock for water. Unfortunately, we did not visit the place but only able to see it from far.

In Chapter 2, Al Baqarah – the Cow, Verses 60 – 61, Allah says;
60 “And (remember) when Musa asked for water for his people, We said: ‘strike the stone with your stick,” then gushed forth therefrom twelve springs. Each (group of) people knew its own place for water.’ Eat and drink of that which Allah has provided and do not act corruptly, making mischief on the earth.”
61 “And (remember) when you said, “O Musa! We cannot endure one kind of food. So invoke your Lord for us to bring forth for us of what the earth grows, its herbs, its cucumbers, its Fum (wheat or garlic), its lentils and its onions.” He said, “Would you exchange that which is better for that which is lower? Go you down to any town and you shall find what you want!” And they were covered with humiliation and misery, and they drew on themselves the Wrath of Allah. That was because they used to disbelieve the Ayah of Allah and killed the Prophets wrongfully. That was because they disobeyed and used to transgress the bounds (in their disobedience to Allah, i.e. commit crimes and sins).”

And in Chapter 20 At Tha Ha, Verse 80, Allah swt says;
“O Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, and We made a covenant with you on the right side of the Mount, and We sent down to you Al-Manna and quail,”

On a clear day, one would be able to see the magnificent panoramic view of Dead Sea, Jordan Valley, Bethlehem, Palestine, and as far as Nablus – 66 km away from this place. However, on that day, despite the foggy view, the atmosphere and scenery was awesome. Honestly, what bothered me or rather made me sad, until today there was no concerted efforts by wise Muslim scholars or other Muslim Graduates from any well-known Islamic Universities to do research studies about not only this story, but also other stories of the great Prophets. For instance, the story of Prophet Yusuf a.s. was clearly mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, but until today less effort being done to find out where was his place, his grave, the palace that he stayed, etc. I hope my statement was wrong though and not shame to mention here that, most of the research works of all the stories stipulated in the Holy Qur’an were done by the non-Muslims.

Anyway, honestly, what bothered me or rather made me sad, until today there was no concerted efforts by wise Muslim scholars or other Muslim Graduates from any well-known Islamic Universities to do research studies about not only this story, but also other stories of the great Prophets. For instance, the story of Prophet Yusuf a.s. was clearly mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, but until today less effort being done to find out where was his place, his grave, the palace that he stayed, etc. I hope my statement was wrong though and not shame to mention here that, most of the research works of all the stories stipulated in the Holy Qur’an were done by the non-Muslims.

The above and below photos shows the spot at the Mount Nebo claimed by the Christian and Jewish, where Prophet Musa a.s. viewed the 'promised land' before he died. The burial place is unknown.

Below is the photo of a plague showing the direction and distance of nearby places, like the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley, Nablus, the Lake Tiberias, Palestine, etc.

The admission ticket fee was 1 JD for adult and children below 12 years old is free. We met groups of Indonesians, Japanese, Italian, British and other nationalities. The facilities were pleasant and the staff hospitality was commendable. We left the place with great hope and wish that Allah swt will show us His Guide to show us the truth. Next in the queue was the well-known Dead Sea. It was indeed a worthy one-hour visit.