When the Prophet was 40, he came here. It was the 27th of Ramadan,
which is the night of Power.
Because this place is high he was able to see Mecca from above,
so he was able to see his society from above
and think deeply about it and worship God.
This is the cave of Hira - the Prophet used to worship here.
This is where Gabriel came down and brought the Revelation with him.
Read! In the name of your Lord who createth
Createth man from a clot
Read! And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous
Who teacheth by the pen
Teacheth man that which he knew not
We Bedouins live like this in the desert
as we've always lived, from the very beginning.
We live the same as our forefathers and ancestors.
Our spirit is the same as their spirit.
I am proud and treasure this way of life.
You are not afraid
because you are preserving your honor,
your way of life, your land, and the Bedouin life.
We can see that the decorative detailing of the facade is entirely classical
but inside it's Eastern.
This ceiling is unbelievably detailed.
It's like it's carved from wood - but it's not.
It's one single piece of stone weighing over 30 tons.
In the middle is the sun, which is the symbol of the God Baal.
It represents light, blessing, and goodness.
Surrounding it is a pattern of intersecting lines
which we would call Arabesque today.
It was finished when Palmyra became the trade capital of the whole world.
After the Romans destroyed Petra all the trade routes
and all the treasures of world trade poured into Palmyra,
So, an extremely wealthy aristocratic class emerged
and these unique edifaces were completed.
When she heard of the terrible fate of her people and city
she took the poison hidden in the ring on her finger
and killed herself.
There are five pillars of Islam:
That you bear witness that there is no God but Allah
and that the Prophet Mohammed is his servant and messenger
Then to perform prayers,
then to give alms or zakat,
then to fast in Ramadan,
and then to undertake the pilgraimage to the House of God,
for those whom God has given the means.
These are the five pillars of Islam.
Although the Quran came in the Arabic language,
it wasn't just for the Arab people.
It was intended for the whole of the human population.
Because of that, every Muslim felt a responsibility
and they tried every possible way to explain Islam to others,
and to transport God's message.
All around here there used to be a market which surrounded a Roman temple.
and inside the temple there was the cella, or the inner sanctum.
This wall here is the outer wall of the Roman temple
The wall has not changed but the use of the building has changed
from a Roman temple to a Byzantine church.
The Mosque was here on the eastern side
and the church was on the wastern side
and the citizens of Damascus, both Muslims and Christians
came through the southern gate
and each went to their respective place of worship.
Muslims to their Mosque, Christians to their church.
This situation continued for about 70 years.
In the time of Caliph A-Walid
when the Islamic empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to China
Damascus was a major capital with a large Muslim population
so there was a need to build a major monument
that would not only reflect the religious needs of the city,
but would also express the power and authority of the state.
It was inevitable that this building had to be built.
No expense was spared and it became the prototype
that was repeated in all the mosques of the Muslim world
from the Levant to North Africa and Andalucia.