BY IBRAHIM ADDAHAN
YEMEN TIMES, IBB
IDYT_IBB@HOTMAIL.COM
Jibla is one of Yemen's historical cities that have been fascinating tourists and visitors from all over the world. Wherever you visit Jibla you cannot miss visiting Queen Arwa mosque, where you will discover its beauty and unique architecture.
Queen Arwa mosque is located in Jibla in which the Queen Arwa Bent Ahmed Assolaihi ruled the whole Yemen about 79 years from Jibla.
The big mosque at Jibla, built by Queen Arwa, is a marvel of ancient Yemeni architecture. The entire construction is suffused with an austere beauty, and the minaret towering over the mosque for many centuries is pristine in its appearance and function.
The dome still keeps the glory of the kingdom as it was in the days of the elegant queen. The thick compound walls and the cellar-like passages and corridors of the mosque take you straight back to the days of Arwa, and you feel as if you are in the corridors of history itself.
You feel like getting in touch with the very Yemeni soul. The spirited words of the people in charge of the mosque to express their brotherhood to visitors are exhilarating. The bathrooms with running water from the natural hot-spring and the different temperature in different rooms make us feel wonder about the unique construction of the ancient mosque.
When you reach the big mosque at Jibla, you are sure to be astonished by the attractive design of the mosque. You cannot but remember Queen Arwa Bent Ahmed Assolaihi, who built that mosque in 480 Hegira. The two minarets of the mosque from a wonderful view as they are standing in majesty and grandeur behind that mosque.
The mosque has the capacity for more than 1000 worshippers. It mosque consists of two floors. The first floor is empty and nothing is there expect the rats and snakes. The second floor from the mosque in which it contains a library. This library contains many manuscripts of different sciences, but unfortunately most of these manuscripts are lost due to the carelessness.
At the back of the mosque there are a number of classrooms. These classrooms are used to teach the Holy Qur'an. Many scholars and intellectuals have graduated from this mosque. Graduates of the mosque have good knowledge of the Holy Qur'an, its sciences, Hadiths (Prophet Mohammed's traditions) and faith and its fundamentals, jurisprudence and Arabic language and its arts, etc.
Besides, you will be surprised as you look at the beautiful decorations on the walls and the ceiling of the mosque, especially those on the dome, in the middle ceiling.
Inside the mosque near to the left of the corner of the mosque there is a small room called Makam al-Saidh Arwa, a place where Queen Arwa used to pray. There is also a rosary which contains one thousands and one beads. People used it for praying and asking God for mercy and forgiveness that is when the land is dry there is no rain.
Some parts of the mosque have been destroyed by the authorities. For instance the pool and the bathrooms have a different shape they were in the past. In the past the pool and the bathrooms were distinguished with a unique architecture. Thus, the inhabitants of Jibla and the visitors get angry when they look to the new shape of some parts of the mosque. The mosque became distorted by the modern building. In fact they are burning our ancient heritage and civilization by experts in order to protect the old variegations.
Had these ancient mosques with their beautiful variegations been in any other country, they would have given them the attention they deserve and promote them into a major tourist attraction.
Queen Arwa Mosque and other historical landmarks are in need of urgent attention and renovation because they reflect the excellence of our civilization, traditions of ancient Yemeni people who could engrave beautiful artistry on the walls of mosques. They proved their mettle in the field of ancient architecture and decoration. However, authorities concerned say that their resources being limited, they don't have adequate means to preserve their ancient historical landmarks. What a pity.
Finally, I can say that the one who does not have a past does not have present nor future. To make a prosperous future, we have to preserve our past, our history and our identity.

Professor Vitaly Naumkin, a specialist in Arabic studies, has occupied several posts such as Chairman of the Russian Center for Political and Strategic Studies and Chairman of the Arabic Studies Center at the Orient Institute. He is also the Editor-in Chief of the East Magazine, (Sharq), and advisor at the National Russian Security Council and a political analyst.
He lived here in Yemen for several years and wrote a number of books and dozens of research papers, essays which deal with the history of modern and ancient Yemen.
The majority of his research and studies have focused on Socotra Island.
To know more about the Prof. Vitaly Naumkin, and his opinion of the current developments in the Middle East, Mohammed Bin Sallam, political analyst of the Yemen Times, met him.
He asked him first about Yemeni-Russian relations. "The Yemeni-Russian relationship is firmly established since the 1920s and most of the Russians have worked in Yemen."
As opposed to this, thousands of Yemenis have also studied, visited or perhaps gone into businesses," he said.
As a researcher at the Russian Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Vitaly has written a number of essays and articles. He has also participated in Yemen's history-related symposiums along with the current issues in the world in general, and Yemen-Arab-Russian issues in particular.
"As for Yemen's history, I have written a lot of essays and I have still preoccupied myself in Yemeni-related issues. I have still been interested in Yemeni ancient history and other studies conducted about Yemen," he said.
New book to be released
"Next year, a new book on the armed struggle against the British colonization in the south of Yemen will be published," he noted.
In addition to this, Vitaly Naumkin has several studies on Socatra Island.
Three books of the Socotra have been written in English and Russian. They revolve around the social and historical aspects of the island.
"A number of studies have been also conducted on Yafa'e. I have gathered a number of documents and found that this area has buried treasure of antiquities," he commented. "I have also several studies on the Islam's philosophy and all these studies are in Russian."
As a superpower and its relations with other countries, Vitaly Naumkin said that Russia wasn't in need to go back to its former state. "As a matter of fact, Russia is now a superpower. The former era has finished and Russia never thinks of retrogressing," he said.
"President Putin will see that he is a worldly-wise leader who also thinks to modernize Russia which could economically and culturally compete with other superpowers," he noted.
"Frankly speaking, there are countries like the US that exceed Russia from economical prospectives. Despite of difficulties and the economic hardships encountered by Russia in 1990s, it has begun to tackle its crises. It has become clear that during the Putin's reign, there is tangible evidence of economic boost during the recent years," he added.
Russia and Middle East issues
Concerning the imminent US strike against Iraq "I don't think that Russia is far away from the Arab issues. Russia opposes any US-led strike against Iraq or overthrowing Arafat. There are extensive diplomatic efforts to settle this issue," he declared.
As for the Palestinian issue, "The majority of the Russian sympathize with the Palestinian. They are against their torture, and mass killings and in favor of liberating the occupied territories from the Israeli occupation," he said.
At the same time, Russia has a major responsibility within the framework of the international legitimacy and as one of the peace process sponsor. It has given commitments to be performed and therefore must cooperate with the US, the European countries, the UN and then with Israel

Thomas Froese
Gotta love the humour here. A recent foray of mine in this space lamented the loss of my neighbourhood qat market, and went on to note why qat will become the new #1 weed worldwide. I suggested it would actually unify the world, kind of like Coke. You know, 'I'd like to teach the world to chew, in perfect harmony.'
That was my tongue in my cheek. Congratulations to all of you who knew that. Only one reader was a bit fuzzy on it, and contacted me to earnestly point out the evils of qat.
Okay now. Humour is spelled with a 'u' if you're from Canada, and some Canucks, that's slang for Canadians, enjoy using it liberally: kind of like how the Brits and Auzies spread that horrendous marmite and vegemite on their bread.
So like a good afternoon qat chew, here comes another little yarn. Ready?
Jean's gone
My wife, at the time of this writing, is gone for a few days, and you know, I'm getting hungry. Some friends have had pity on me and invited me for a meal here and there, but I think rather than doing any more battle with my kitchen stove, I'd rather just get kidnapped.
Indeed, Yemen is among the best places on Earth to get snatched. The thing about kidnapping here, though, is that it's a kind of cultural education. No, really. How often can you see a semi-automatic Kalashnikof so close?
I understand kidnappers here are usually tribal folk and often get tourists eager to see Yemen's ancient sites. Some roads in Mareb seem like they're kidnapping alleys.
My research shows that in the last five years, 114 foreign tourists and 43 expatriate workers have been nabbed across Yemen. Italians go missing most often, followed by French and Germans. Kidnapped Americans are down the list at just nine. Canadians are barely on the map.
Of the 114, five died, including one British-Canadian, killed in an unusual 1998 incident. Apparently at least one kidnapper was executed for that. But 109 hostages have walked free, most after just a few days. And in five years, some 350,000 tourists have visited Yemen. So, tell me, what's the risk?
A liberating approach
About 30,000 kidnappings now occur around the world annually. So, I think, the Yemeni do have things under control. And I honestly believe, they also have the most liberating approach. A parliamentarian, a few years ago, put it this way.
"Kidnapping is part of Yemen tourism. It's an adventure for tourists, because they'll end up learning about customs of the tribes as well as their good hospitality."
I couldn't agree more. And I also can see the thinking of Yemen's tribes. Hey, what would you use to negotiate if you wanted decent roads, water and health-centers, or maybe the release of your brother, innocent as he may be, from jail?
But most of all, I'm in the corner of Italian tourist Giorgio Bonanomi. He couldn't be happier. "Too bad it's not possible to organize holidays like this. It was fantastic," he said, after his kidnappers fed him lamb and exotic fruits.
I've heard that one tourist company owner went so far to even set aside $11,000 Cdn monthly for customer ransoms. Hey, bring the wife and kids. Tourism here needs it. It's lost about $1.5 billion since 9/11.
Chinese accountants, French honeymooners and Polish diplomats have all been snagged by Yemen's hospitable tribesmen. For my money, though, I want to go with a bunch of Germans. Having a German passport with Berlin as my birthplace will help. So will the blonde hair and blue eyes.
Indeed, Germans are big here, and as a German-Canadian I'm happy to hear Ambassador Werner Zimprich recently announce $55 million Cdn in German aid this year.
More so, I'm happy to see that in addition to expatriate workers, Germans visit for festivals to share poetry, food and, even, uhum, beer, a rather uncommon commodity in this part of the world. I'm not a big drinker myself. In fact, I really frown upon it. Apple juice all-around.
But like the parliamentary speaker said, it's about cultural exchange. I peeked in at recent Octoberfest celebrations at a swanky hotel here. I won't name it, but its name starts with an S, ends with an N, and has H-E-R-A-T-O in between.
Spreading cheer
I saw not only kegs of you-know-what, and an oom-pah-bah band from Bavaria, but Yemeni running around in green felt hats and Alpine leather shorts. I couldn't wait for everyone to yodel. The point is gangs of kidnapped Germans could spread that kind of cheer across Yemen's countryside.
And all just in time for Eid.
I have only one fear. U.S. President Bush. He's already slapped around German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for not supporting America's plans for Iraq. What if Germans now spread, uh, cheer through Yemen and some eventually reaches Baghdad? Oh, the consequences.
Anyway, wearing a ball cap and runners apparently boosts the odds of getting picked up. I'd better get ready. If you see Jean upon her return, tell her not to worry. The stove is turned off.
Bound voyage.

Thomas Froese
(140765@sympatico.ca) is an
editor with the Yemen Times.