A spiritual experience in the Great Mosque of Xi'an, China

A spiritual experience in the Great Mosque of Xi'an, China. As a Muslim, if you plan to go to China, make the city of Xi'an as one of the tourist destinations because it is located the oldest mosque in the whole of mainland China, the Great Mosque of Xi'an. Located in Chang'an town or better known as Xi'an City, which is in the middle of mainland China, about one thousand Km from Beijing with a travel time of 1.5 hours and by train can be reached in 10 hours. Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi province, formerly called Chang'an, Huajue District, about 120 km west of Mount Huashan, one of the five famous mountains in China. Xi'an is also the center of the 12 dynasties that existed in the state.

For Muslims, mainly from Indonesia, the existence of this mosque has an emotional bond purported because it was built by Admiral Cheng Ho, the Chinese explorer of Islamic religion during the Ming dynasty known for his action to eradicate pirates in South China.The journey around the world until also to Indonesia and Admiral Cheng Ho left traces in several cities in Indonesia so that by Muslim people of Chinese descent established several mosques by taking the name as a tribute to the figure One of the people, the Cheng Ho Mosque of Palembang, the Cheng Ho Mosque and the Cheng Ho Mosque in Pasuruan.

To get to the Great Mosque, we had to walk through the trade area which is like the atmosphere in Chinatown in general, there is a souvenir shop, there is a dry food store, and there are eating stalls. It is exciting to see the appearance of the men who wear white peci and women wearing the hijab. It is certain that the food stalls in the Area provide a halal menu and get closer to the mosque; the atmosphere is getting quieter.

Every time it passed with several men who paid attention to our arrival, their faces were instantly smiling once we said the greeting with Assalammualaikum, which was spontaneously answered.

We arrived at the mosque gate and were amazed by the beautiful interior of the building. The Great Mosque of Xi'an is built with a floor plan resembling a complex of Chinese temples with several pavilions with a whole complex surrounded by wall fence is quite high and divided into four parts, and each section is connected to the gate.

The mosque has such architecture as traditional Chinese temples, with many courtyards and pagodas. But the deeper it will feel the nuance of Islam because the walls are filled with Arabic and Chinese calligraphy. The mosque also overlooks Makkah and is a Muslim believer.

A man sat down on the pole while keeping the Koran when we passed the yard with a flower garden in front of him. There are five courtyards that all overlook the prayer room. Each patio has its pavilion and gates.Xi'an was once the capital during the Ming dynasty, and the trade took place. From here, it starts trading the silk line to the foreign or commonly called Silk Road. There was no denying, acculturation occurred, and the Islamic religion spread by the many Arab and Persian merchants came to China through that line. The Great Mosque itself was built around the year 742.

Standing above an area of 12,000-13,000 square meters, the building itself has an area of more than 6000 m2. The mosque area is rectangular and extends from east to west, which is divided into four regions. The first Area in the form of a 9-meter tall wooden gate made in the 17th century is faced with a full wall with clay carving decoration and is decorated with roofs from a shiny precarious pile. On the two sides are decorated with porcelain antic, which is valuable from the era of the Ming and Qing dynasty.

The second Area consists of three interconnected and four-pillar stone doors. Visitors who pass by this Area are greeted by the inscription found at the top of the first door with The Court of Heaven or Taman paradise.In the third Area, there is the oldest building in the complex in the form of imperial space with Arabic stone lettering. Mosque priest explaining the calculation of the day based on moon circulation. In the center of the courtyard stood the tower resembles a pagoda with three roofs.

This tower, in addition to the place of Muazine, has the Azan also for the Area for self-introspection. In the south of the space, there is a reception room and a place where handwriting Qur'an is made during the Ming dynasty and a Holy Land map originating from the Qing dynasty.

The fourth Area is a large room for prayer that can accommodate about 1000 people. This space is decorated with three levels of roofing patterned carved grass and flowers. The walls of the room made of wood are the holy verses of the Qur'an, complete with Chinese and Arabic captions.

This part of the prayer room is astounding, and inviting admiration amazed. Prostrate on the softness of the blue carpet with a quiet atmosphere makes us feel grateful to worship in a mosque that is already thousands of years old and become an unforgettable experience of a lifetime. The special visit to Xi'an makes us have an impressive spiritual experience because it will always recommend friends, relatives, and Muslims to visit The Great Mosque of Xi'an.