FINDING MASJID IN CHANIA, GREECE

Finding masjid in Chania

Talking from experience, one thing I am certain about myself is that I am devout Muslim and leaving Friday prayers is a big No No!

Once I heard that I was moving to a European country for few months I was excited. Damn my excitement went above the roof. Then, it hyped further when I was told I was going to nowhere else but the heaven next to Mediterranean sea- you guessed it- Greece.

I was to spend months in Greece and as a kid who grew up reading Greek mythological stuff including Zeus and Hercules I thanked Allah for this opportunity. I was going to a place many had dreamed of going and I was not going to visit, I was going to spend a long duration of my youth there.

Thanks to my 19th century European class, Not only did I study about ancient Greek, I had also thoroughly studied about The Turkish influence in Greece while the ottomans ruled almost more than half the world. You know when you are excited you are blind- blunt blind. You only see road not the cars or other barriers on the road. I was no exception, I left for Greece thinking there will be multiple Masjids there to pray and YES there were multiple beautiful Masjids, Masjids that at the time of their operation were grand to be considered as monuments such as the Janissaries Masjid and Masjids by the bay.

However this is 2017, and these masjids in Chania were not operational, most of them were converted into markets and museum and one into a church, The only church with a minarate in Europe.

Darn, I put my hand on head. There are Masjids but they are not operational. Added to this, I couldn’t find any Muslims in this Party town so as I could lead prayers. I couldn’t leave my Friday prayers. If I had to leave Greece because I couldn’t pray Friday prayers for 4 months straight, then sure as hell I would. I am a American Muslim and I stand with certain values, Sure enough Greece is heaven , maybe I wouldn’t get another chance to come here and spend the luxurious time, but If I don’t uphold my religious and moral principles then I was never worthy to even get this.

The next thing was to search for a Masjid in Chania, well search for an operative Masjid. Let me make myself clear, finding Masjid in a party town that is lit even in winters is like finding roses in deserts, only that you are bare foot and your water is about to run out and there are snakes everywhere. Luckily for me I am good at tracking, partly due to training, life experience from growing up in different parts of worlds and knowledge and language gained from 3 continents.

So I set forth a task to find a masjid. The first thing was to google search it. Google.gr was very useful – IN HELPING ME FIND NON WORKING MASJIDS.

It was completely useless in finding active Masjids, there was a 2016 TripAdvisor question asked by a Muslim couple who were in Chania and wanted to pray. Link to their question is as following:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g189398-i192-k9457841 Friday_Jummah_prayer_Mosque_in_Chania_Crete-Greece.html

 

 

Needless to say their question wasn’t answered, there were three comments to this question but no answer and so that was a blunt dead end for me. From that question I got the inclination that there may actually be no working Masjid in Chania.

Hell, when I further researched online there was a website called “Halal Trip” that claimed to give trip advises and guides to Muslims. It claimed to be a reputable website for Muslim travelers and the websites clearly stated and I quote “THERE ARE NO MOSQUE IN CHANIA TOWN”, you would expect a Muslim website to do some genuine in depth study for others Muslims. What the hell do these websites think Muslims are, we have been exploring the world before Columbus raped America, we mastered astronomy at an early age of our civilization, and we were told by our leaders not to assume for we can find anything if we intended and for a Islamic claiming website to state that there are no Masjid without stating that they didn’t do their PROPER research or saying maybe there may be some masjid but we didn’t BOTHER to look pissed me off to a unimaginable limit.

https://www.halaltrip.com/city-guide-details/481/chania-town/

Readers, Islam is a very flexible religion, please don’t learn about Islam from these halfhearted Islamic claiming website or Fox News. Learn from a Muslim or better from a Hard copy Quran. I’ve read Quran in English it’s basically like a guide, a very simplified one discussing about things that hit us when we step in real life, for instance it tells us Pessimism is forbidden so I didn’t give up and went on without getting bothered by this website.

I kept on digging in online – Bing, Google, Reddit, Ask, and even Yahoo – EVEN PATHETIC YAHOO! And all that search led me to an article that gave me some good news. The article named The Village of Christians and Muslims by Maria Korologue claimed that there were 1500 Muslims in a small town named Platanios – about 40 minutes from Chania. These Muslims were the immigrant who chose not to leave when the National boundaries between Turkey and Greece was being drafted in the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 (much like the Brave Sikhs of Lahore who stayed behind after the Mountbatten plan of 1947). The article was published in 2013, and not from the most reputable source – GreekReporter.com, seriously? However, it was very well detailed article and had references to some of bigger Muslim Turkish group such as Turkish Muslim Association of Kos.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/04/02/the-village-of-christians-and-Muslims/

Ever heard Beggars can’t be chooser, well here I was the Beggar to my faith, my values and this article seemed to me as the only source out there. Link to the article below

I packed my bag, requested for permission to travel there, got my Liberty buddy, mapped that town and off I went.  Me and my friend, who mind you is not a Muslim, went on to a ghost chase. My buddy had faith in me, that I could find a place of my worship and I had faith in Allah that I could find a masjid, for my mother used to say “if you desire you can search Allah as well” well this situation was no less, and these words my mother told me when I was 8 were now actually resonating in my mind. I got this, I got this, I’ll find it, I’ll find it!

We went to Platanios and drove around the place. Mashallah this town was a God given beauty, roads were finely curved, and you could see the deep blue old as Zeus- Mediterranean see from there. Driving through that small town was a gift, a pleasurable gift. However I couldn’t complete the primary objective, as I DID NOT FIND A MASJID THERE. Heartless but determined I turned the car around and decided to cruise through that town again. The article said there were around 1500 Muslims, I just DESPERATELY need to find a few to make Jumu’ah Prayers- Just a few!

This time I changed strategy though, instead of directly looking for a masjid, I was looking for a Turkish restaurants since this used to be a Turkish dominated place. My thought process was to look out for a Turkish restaurants or a grocery store, talk with the workers there and find the location of masjid. to my already bad luck, I couldn’t even locate any Turkish grocery store so, and I google mapped Turkish restaurants,

https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Restaurants-g635605-c10663-Platanias_Chania_Prefecture_Crete.html

 

There were two noticeable Turkish restaurants, named “The Well of the Turk “and “Thalassa Restaurant & Bar”  I went to both of them but the workers over there were Greek orthodox who knew how to make fantastic Turkish food learned from their ancestors. I don’t if it was the obvious passion or worry on my face that prompted the owner of “The Well of the Turk” to ask me as to why I was looking for a Masjid, I told him why and we struck a conversation. He was very nice with me, very respectful and told me that he was Impressed that I was looking for Masjid and not a place to party. I get it I am young, dress up liberal, talk liberal but I live with codes taught to me by religion and fine-tuned by my profession – Honor, Courage and Commitment, and I am committed to my religion and American constitution. If you actually read both of them closely, not just what illiterate Fox news tells you then you would know how similar these two ways of life in terms of women empowerment, equal rights and legal systems are..

I think our conversation really moved that gentlemen, he made calls for me and when I say “he made calls”, he actually made excessive amounts of calls for me. In my opinion he called majority of the churches in his home town. Let me pause and tell you guys one thing, although English is the most common language in the world – US, Britian, Australia and etc but this is not the only language and the Greeks pride themselves of their language so a huge portion or logistically speaking around 45-55 % of the Greek residents I talked to spoke little to no English and it was a communication mess completely on my side as I was a host in their country not the other way around and I was pleased that Greeks were proud of their native tongue not like Pakistan where rich languages like Punjabi, Sindhi and Baluchi are being ignore in favor of English and Urdu. So, in an essence this Turkish gentlemen was a blessing! I dint find Masjid yet but I did find another great example of humanity.

 

After he called what I assumed was every other church on island, he told me that there is a synagogue by Chania harbor that MAY again MAY have Muslim prayer services. I was happy, but sad as he did not know the address of that synagogue and our much beloved Google map wasn’t locating that synagogue. So now I was back to square root of 1 only with plus 0.0000000000001 .

I now had to find a synagogue in Chania and hope that this place offered Friday prayers, but this whole chase was based on my never ending hope. I came this far and I wasn’t going to stop. I was going to stop for the night though, I thanked that gentlemen and then me and my friend drove back to our hotel. I could tell my friend was sad that I couldn’t find a Masjid. He is not even a Muslim but he understood the significance of that to me.

 

The one good thing about American people is we care for others even though it does not relate to us- even though they are different than us. Finding a masjid had nothing to do with my friend, but my wonderful friend not only came with me but supported me every time I went to ask for masjid. Looking over my shoulder , giving me security, confidence and great company.

Next day same story, we get ready finish our work and then go on a goose chase to find a synagogue in Chania, obviously the first thing we did was to Google map it but again, Google map is not the best thing when it comes to Chania and we got some off the records searches of synagogue in Chania, most of which I had no idea if they were actually working synagogues or just another reminiscence of religious buildings of the Ottoman era.

Regardless I was optimistic to find a synagogue in the old town. So on my surety my friend and I drove to the old town once more. This time our purpose was to find a synagogue so that we can get the information about Masjid. I understand that there are severe issues between Muslims and Jews. But please ignore those who says there are issues between the followers of these two sacred religion, these are issues between the former and current governments on both sides not the religious followers. Every time, I have had a problem even in States and there was a Jew there they would help me to their best. Not only Jews, but Christians, Orthodox, Catholics and etc. have always been nice to me, there are always few insane people in every religion, but that’s a personal problem not a religious directive. No religion says GO KILL PEOPLE FOR NO REASON! Tell me one major religion that says that and I will convert and please don’t quote 5^th grade failed Fox News Host’s! Any churches I have ever set foot have never been slightly against my presence because of my religion and I make certain they know I am Muslim and I am thankful and proud of their hospitality. So again, respectfully damn those who say Christian hates Muslims or Muslim hates Jews or anything like that, it’s the governments – rich people blindly misusing us on both sides for their mere worldly profit.

Most people who don’t travel just sit home and watch propaganda news, and then start hating other religious groups,  but I have been fortunate to travel the world be it North America, Middle East, Europe or South Asia. I have yet to be told to get out of a Monastery, Church, Gurdwara or any other place of worship -simply because I am Muslim.

So in an essence I wasn’t scared, not one percent that the synagogue priest will scold me or tell me to go away. In fact I was certain he/she will help me locate a functioning Masjid, but the problem now was to look for a synagogue. Old town Chania is a beast! It is a prime example of Turkish art, Diplomacy, City Management and Architecture. The town revolves around the magnificent harbor that was developed to accommodate the merchant and naval ships voyaging in and out of Crete and so the inner town build behind the harbor had roads and streets that were nothing less than a maze and finding a place in this maze was no easy task for a local living here for years so what was I expecting?

However difficult a mission is, it could be broken down into small objective and simplified. So it was simple, we had to map the place, both in our head and on paper and then start narrowing down places that could possibly be a synagogue. Most importantly we had to break the ice and ask almost everyone if they knew there was a synagogue or an operative Masjid around the area. How could it be that a whole city that was once populated by Muslim pioneers, scholars, leaders like Küçük Hasan Pasha and Ahmed Cevad Pasha and decorated by beautiful Masjids, Monuments, Fountains and Turkish Baths be absent of ALL Muslim population and no one knows where a active Masjid is?

We parked our car and then went off the foot. Following our Maps we hit three dead end and so we Walked to the harbor literally asking every other Greek about the whereabouts of a Synagogue or an Active Masjid.

In doing so we had three major issues:

1. Most Greeks passerby we requested for location would not speak fluent English so it was hard to communicate
2. Many Greeks would point us to non-working Masjid that were now turned into museums and shops
3. It was extremely difficult to differentiate who were tourists and who were locals. We wanted to ask the much informed locals and avoid disturbing the tourist but since we could not differentiate so we were asking every one.

We went from the coast of the harbor to the inner city. The inner city is beautiful with its old Turkish fortified walls, defense and navigational structures such as the light tower and canon mounting locations. We went deep in the maze I was trying to avoid, but was certain I will encounter and so the search intensified .we asked cafe’s , square shops and ship around the once populated Masjids. No one knew where the synagogue or a working Masjid was. Then we struck gold when a BARTENDER of bar by the old church walls told me there was a synagogue by Starbucks and that they may know about Muslims prayers. What in Allah’s name were the odds that a Muslim American found out information for a synagogue and Friday prayers from a bartender in one of the busiest bar at a party cities of the world. First off all the odds of this guy understanding what I was saying were high and him telling me the place I was looking for were just astronomical.

Listen, let this be a lesson to everyone that Allah? God? Buddha whoever you pray to resides in hearts of people. Your occupation does not define your faith. Occupation and faith is by choice and they could be very ironic to each other but they will still work. Had I been one of the super conservative Muslims who would deny setting foot in a bar to find information for synagogue/Friday prayers, I would still be lost in the limbo looking for it. That one big problem with Muslim generation of old era, we especially American Muslim don’t integrate ourselves to our society. We hold one of the highest positions in societies, ranging from nuclear engineers to software developers and doctors but when it comes to taking charge and leading our nation we trace our roots back to our immigrated societies like Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan etc. Screw that! Quran does not tell us to be loyal to India, Pakistan, or our tribes. It tells us to be loyal to our Allah and our employer and as by definition of modern law you are ultimately employer to country you are citizen of.  Then be it India, Pakistan or United States.

So I humbly request those Muslim who says US is not their home simply because they were not born here or the country is pre-dominantly Christian, to wake up and take responsibility and develop this country as their own and show the world what real Islam means for after all we reside in the beacon of hope and Islam is a fire that never ends. True that real color of that fire is distorted by the smoke around it, but we need to shine it work harder and allow the brightness of the fire to pass though the smoke and reach the people in an essence tell the world Islam is not ISIS Islam is peace.

Never the less, we mapped Starbucks in old town Chania. Google map was very good at helping us locate Starbucks. However the synagogue was not exactly right next to the Starbucks it was in the vicinity of that area. So began another search to find a synagogue. This time I kept the question short to asking for synagogue. I had realized that broken English works better here than a formulated one. So I made my phrase. ”

” synagogue, Jewish church ?” maybe it was rude to do that, but three days of experience in Greece had told me to keep things simple , no matter how difficult the task was, and mind you this was a difficult task.  No answer no answer any answer. a mall where my friend wanted to buy some clothes, followed by no answers no answer , same people who gave us no answer asking us if we found something , few more no answer and then bam answer after answer.   I think as we closed the distance to the synagogue we met people who were aware of that and we started getting directions to the synagogue.

 

It was closed to the Starbucks, but it was hidden to a point that it felt as the safest place in the world and you know the saying when people say you can run but you can’t hide. Well in the case of this synagogue you could hide – 100% hide and nobody would be able to find you unless you have someone like me who is desperate to a point determined to not give up easily.

 

We found the synagogue, a sacred place of worship hiding within the inner city, it may be difficult to comprehend, it was a 15th century synagogue build during the Turkish time as Islam was one of the most religiously tolerant religion of that world at the time of their peak and they wanted the Jewish followers to be feel free in their administrated land.  I went inside the synagogue, introduced myself to their Rabia and then filled him in on the findings I got from the locals nearby. He listened to all what I had to say, and then told me that he will call his high priest tomorrow who will be working here to help me.

 

We left for the night and came back the next day. That’s where I met what I assumed was their chief priest and their management. I told them the same thing I told the other priest and yes they told me that they do know a Muslim. In fact they know a Muslim imam and that although there is no masjid there was a place where Muslims would gather and pray. As soon as he told me that there was a place, I could not hold tears my back. I understand that our corrupted machismo society prawn on men crying, but f-u-c-k them , these were tears of joy, of an accomplishment that I had made, of hope that my mother had told me I could find anything even Allah if I desired to and of finding a Masjid for future Muslims who visit Chania. These were tears of success, a success that depended partly on me, partly on my friend and partly on my work to allow me search for a masjid. This was a multi-cultural team effort and although I was doing all the field work, I was being supported by my work, friends and family all of who were religiously, culturally, and ethnically different from me. SO YES DIVERSITY WORKS. Works like a well-oiled machine accomplishing what many told me was impossible.

Moving on, the priest told called the imam and then imam said he was excited to meet me and show me the prayer place. Meanwhile the imam was on his way, the priest and I struck a good conversation, asking where we were all from and who gave us this address. I told him the whole story, told him I where I was born and some key points about my life. He told me how this synagogue represented the religious tolerance the Turks had during their peak, and he was so proud that a synagogue was able to help a Muslim find his prayer worship. in essence by providing me with information on Muslims in Chania , this synagogue acted as what ottomans acted to the Jews at the time of their height – a reference place.

So one basic good Islamic deed done by early Muslims now helped another Muslim centuries after they did that. How many years would that be? 2017 – 1419 = somewhere around 589 years. See this is the beauty of true Islam, swab done by early Muslims ended up helping me and I am going to help others. The love and respect I got at that synagogue is a direct result of good actions committed by early Muslims.

As our conversation grew, I told him that I would write about it and how he and his synagogue helped me. He asked me if I wanted to record the synagogue . Now this is the same person who few minutes ago told a group of tourist not to take picture or record and there are multiple signs that says no photography or videography allowed. But he let me record it. I was not going to give up an opportunity to record one of the oldest synagogue so I took out my phone and recorded it with great details. Going through their structures that were old but sturdy and browsing scriptures that were centuries old older than the establishment of this 15 century synagogue. this was pure enlightenment, I actually felt how it would have felt in an old melting pot of the middle ages Europe and the best thing was I felt how being a respected Muslim would feel at that time.

 

Soon after the recording was done, the imam came. We exchanged Salam and he took me and my friend to the Masjid.  All 30 minutes before Friday azan. So I guess my mother was right you could find Allah if you wish to and I learned a valuable lesson that god is in the heart of the people not in sculptures, idols, scriptures book and temples. But in the heart of people all who led to the masjid