By: Anwar Haidar - Minister of Culture Khaled Al-Rowaishan unveiled efforts on the part of his ministry to put the historic town of Zabid, located in western Yemen, on the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)’s program as the Islamic culture capital.
In a statement to almotamar.net yesterday, Al-Rowaishan said a manuscript center is going to be opened in Zabid within one month.
Attending the inauguration ceremony of Zabid’s public library and forum, the minister pinpointed the tremendous cultural heritage of the town.
“It is the metropolis of the Arab world because it enshrines a variety of costumes, dances, architectural styles unmatched by any other town around the world,” he said.
With magnificently metaphorical language, he added, “Here Zabid comes with history peeping from its window, shaking hands with us. No warmth but the warmth of its people’s hearts.”
Zabid is one of the most outstanding historic Yemeni cities. It hosted many scholars and clerics and provided educational services. Many scholars and judges graduated in this town and benefited the Muslim world with their scholastic production. Besides that, Zabid used to be a center for trade and handcrafts.
Zabid is also famous for its mosques and madrasas to which knowledge seekers came from around Yemen and the Muslim World, as it was an intellectual enlightenment cynosure.
Zabid lies in the southern part of Hodeidah province, some18 kms to the east of the Red Sea’s coast. It was named after the stream of Zabid that runs down to the Red Sea.
Some of the buildings in Zabid date back to the era of Al-Ziyadi State in the 9th Century A.D. It contains many landmarks such as the Grand Mosque, Al-Asha’ir Mosque, an old library, the citadel, an old wall and four gates.
In the contemporary era, Zabid has been included, along with other three Yemeni cities, on the UNESCO’s list in 1993 before it was listed among the endangered World Heritage Sites.