"Jordan's Masjids; You Can't Miss 'Em" by Christian Bevilacqua
Before I arrived in Amman, Jordan I had never seen such a stark display of masjids (mosques) within a single built environment. In the United States, particularly in upstate New York and in New England as I speak from experience, the presence of mosques in a single town is not teeming in number. Although the Islamic architecture of many local mosques in the U.S. may stand out within the environment of a town, these architectural feats do not seem very definitive of the space as a whole. In Jordan, this is not the case, as the minarets of the countless masjids are trademark to the Jordanian skylines, especially at night!
When I first flew into Amman, I was surprised to see what seemed like hundreds of towers illuminated a bright green dotting the sky, which demarcated where the many masjids of the city stood. This is not something that I had ever seen before at such a large scale, and I was excited to see how this looked while on the ground in Jordan.
While living in Amman and walking throughout the city in the evenings, it became clear that the illuminating of the domes and minarets of every mosque in Amman is a practice that is well-respected and followed. It is hard to miss where the nearest mosque to you is located given this attribute, as the brightness of the greenly-lit minarets that tower the streets of Amman are striking.
When I told my host family about my observations, I was met with reasons as to why. I wanted to know if this was a practice enforced by law, and how old this practice was. I was told that the illuminating of the masjids with green lights is not a practice exclusive to Amman but is something that is done all throughout Jordan and Southwest Asia. Notably, this practice is not obligatory, but it is something that has been done for “as long as I can remember” as said by my host family. Although almost always green in color, this is not a requirement either, but it is a cultural preference. It is done in line with the fact that green is the color that is used to represent Islam. I was also told that the intent of this practice was to make it easier to find the nearest mosque at night during the times for the last two prayers of the day.
As I have explored more of Jordan outside of Amman, I have come to realize that this practice is something that is widespread and almost always done. To me it is one of the most beautiful attributes to the Jordanian built environment. I look forward to the evenings where I can see the many masjids lit up boldly and in green as the sun begins to set!
While in Amman, rest assured that you will always know where to find your closest masjid.
Christian is a student at Syracuse University and studied abroad in Jordan on the Amideast Area and Arabic Language Studies program in Spring 2023.
