Humility: An Admirable Quality
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and it is the richest emirate of the seven emirates.
Abu Dhabi has enough oil wealth to sustain itself for another one hundred years and luckily for Abu Dhabi, more oil was just discovered!
When I entered Abu Dhabi’s city limits, I was met with the sight of many rather large homes and luxury car brands, but when I saw Emirati people outside, I could not tell the difference between one person’s wealth versus another person’s. Their local dress creates a sort of system of equality and, to me, I believe it fosters humility.
This sense of humility is actually central to the Islamic faith. When I asked my tour guide at the breathtakingly gorgeous Sheikh Zayed Mosque what the requirements are for a mosque, she simply responded it has to have four walls. Indeed, she was right as I saw some such mosques around the UAE that were four white walls with the words, in black ink, “Mosque,” in both English and Arabic.
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque was built primarily as a space for education about the Islamic religion for foreigners to the Middle East. Most Muslims prefer more local and therefore comparatively humble establishments.
I found this attitude admirable. Truly, in life, less is more.
Abu Dhabi has enough oil wealth to sustain itself for another one hundred years and luckily for Abu Dhabi, more oil was just discovered!
When I entered Abu Dhabi’s city limits, I was met with the sight of many rather large homes and luxury car brands, but when I saw Emirati people outside, I could not tell the difference between one person’s wealth versus another person’s. Their local dress creates a sort of system of equality and, to me, I believe it fosters humility.
This sense of humility is actually central to the Islamic faith. When I asked my tour guide at the breathtakingly gorgeous Sheikh Zayed Mosque what the requirements are for a mosque, she simply responded it has to have four walls. Indeed, she was right as I saw some such mosques around the UAE that were four white walls with the words, in black ink, “Mosque,” in both English and Arabic.
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque was built primarily as a space for education about the Islamic religion for foreigners to the Middle East. Most Muslims prefer more local and therefore comparatively humble establishments.
I found this attitude admirable. Truly, in life, less is more.