Last stop on the tour was a visit to one of the oldest mosques in Cairo. The women in the group had to enter through a separate entrance where we gave in our shoes & were provided with a bright green flowing robe to don prior to entering. We all did as instructed & with the hoods over our heads, not only was it really bloody hot, but we also looked like a group of cultists - very humorous. The other tourists were even taking photos of us! The atmosphere inside the mosque was wonderfully serene - it seemed like a nice place to hang out & reflect. The women’s area is completely cordoned off from the men’s by wooden partitions & is considerably smaller. Seemingly, being able to see the women would be too much of a distraction for the men who may not then be able to concentrate on their prayers.
Kris & I asked several questions about the way Muslims treat women, which was handled quite sensitively by our Muslim male host. Standing in the sun, fully covered, in weather approaching winter & we were all still boiling hot from being covered up to such an extent. I can only imagine what it would be like to do this all day every day, often wearing black clothes. And all the Egyptian women here are covered - I haven’t seen one that isn’t. They probably couldn’t stand the lurid stares of the Egyptian men here either, many of whom oggle at any piece of flesh they can see.
