Everyone from my Grandma, to my brother-in-law, and cousins have been to Spain. Two of my Uncles lived in Spain for quite some time, while one of my Aunts was born and was raised there. So, I guess you can say my point is this...now it's my turn to go! (Insha Allah) But, as of now, I can only dream of visiting Al-Andalus. I can hardly wait, but I'm going to walk into Spain as if it's still my peoples' land, walk into the Alhambra as if it's still my peoples' palace, and walk into the Mosque of Cordoba as if it's still my peoples' place of worship...while my faith steadily grows as the Spanish people continue to rediscover their Islamic roots, alhamdulillah.
Clicky on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the pic.
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|
Pic 1: This palace is located in "Madinat Al-Zahra." My lil sister adores this city because she thinks IT'S named after HER! As a matter of fact, the city was named after the Umayyad ruler, Abdur-Rahman's fave wifey, "The City of Zahra."
Pic 2: This is a postcard of a palace (called alcazar: al-qasr in Arabic) in Seville sent from my father's brother who lived in Spain to the family (when I still wasn't in existence just yet!)
Pic 3-4: These are two more palaces located in Seville.
Pic 5: This is a glimpse of the Aljaferia palace, (which is actually a corruption of "al-Jafariyya," the name of its founder) located in Saragossa (Zaragoza).
Pic 6: This work by Hashim Ibrahim Cabrera, who currently lives in Cordoba, was given to my brother-in-law by the artist during his visit to Spain.
Visit Br. Hashim Ibrahim Cabrera's website, WebIslam (for Spanish speakers).
Pic 7-8: This is typical Islamic tilework with floral and geometrical patterns. Imagery is forbidden in Islam.