Designed by Italian architect Mario Rossi, the Mosque was dedicated in 1957 President Dwight Eisenhower in attendance. Egypt sent the specialists who wrote the Qu’ranic verses adorning the Mosque’s walls and ceiling. The tiles came from Turkey along with craftsmen to install them. The centre also contains a library and classrooms where Islam and Arabic Studies are taught.
Other Mosques include Masjidush-Shura, Ahmadiyya and the Supreme Learning Centre. And the Muslim Society of Washington DC aims to develop a vibrant Muslim community. To this end it sponsors programmes such as Life Planning, Time Management and Home Ownership, all geared towards economic development, social welfare and education. Cookouts and sports events are among the family friendly events held too.
Halal dining is not hard to find as DC is home to a wide range of Muslims, many of whom are prominent in the local community. What you will taste is a melting pot of Bangla fish curries, Sudanese kebabs, Lebanese schwarmas and Desi delights. Recommended are El Khartoum and Mama Ayesha’s in Adams Morgan New Dynasty in Dupont Circle and Café Divan in Georgetown. Busboys and poets is part bookstore, part café, part full-time restaurant. It serves traditional North American food and is especially popular for breakfast and brunch. A community gathering place it was created by Iraqi artist Anas Shanal.
As Chesapeake Bay is nearby, DC is a great place for seafood lovers. The Maine Avenue Fish Market is legendary and all along Maryland’s northern shore fine fish restaurants can be found. Overlooking the Marina and the Potomac River The Mandarin Oriental’s Sou’Wester restaurant is a fine fish food place where you can dine in air conditioned cool. Here juicy salmon steaks and succulent crab chowder are the order of the day.
Lying in the shadow of the Capitol, the Library of Congress is the world’s largest library. Here visitors can use books in the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room which is housed in the Thomas Jefferson building. Take a photo ID to get a reader’s pass, a process which takes about 10 – 15 minutes. Here you can enter a world of marvelous material covering Islam, the Arab World, North Africa, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, the Caucusus and Central Asia in the Near East section.
The room also has custody of several non Roman alphabet manuscripts of the region including the Holy Qu’ran in Arabic. There are also English language versions including a rare copy which belonged to Thomas Jefferson. Of interest to Arabic speakers are the 32 Islamic manuscripts from Mali. They are written in different styles of Arabic developed in Mali and West Africa.
Time now to explore the other highlights of DC, many of which can be found in and around the Mall. Across from the Jefferson Library, the Capitol offers visitors a free tour. Along the Mall and Pensylvannia Avenue are the Smithsonian Institution museums, many of which are in stately Greek Revival style in marble.
The Smithsonian is the world’s largest research and museum complex with 19 to choose from. The National Air and Space Museum includes the must-see Apollo II and the Wright Brothers’ craft), the kids’ favourite National Museum of Natural History (skeletons, dinosaurs) and the one I like best – the National Museum of the American Indian. It is a great introduction to the Iroquois, Navajo, Sioux and Cherokee tribes. And there is an excellent ground floor restaurant which serves native dishes.
Next door the US Botanic Gardens provide a shady escape from the heat in summer. Other attractions in the area include the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshorn Museum, the Freer Gallery and the Corocan Gallery of Art. The White House is best seen at night when it is illuminated. The Washington Monument, the tallest building in the area and the Lincoln Memorial are must-sees as is the Jefferson Memorial in the Tidal Basin. This area beside the Potomac  comes into its own in April when it becomes a landscape of white and pink cherry blossom. There is even a spring festival to celebrate this.
So many are DC’s sights and museums that it is not possible to see them all even if you stay two weeks. Some have limited admission so go early to ensure entry.  Tourmobiles offer hop-on, hop-off buses which go just about everywhere, even offering river cruises
On the accommodation front there are several options. In the luxury category The Jefferson is a 96-room boutique hotel set within a 1920s building. It is said to be DC’s top address and the hotel’s elegant restaurant, the Plume, is among the finest. Here the great and the good come to sample lobster thermidor with herbed fingerlings or prime beef with truffled potato mousseline. Overlooking Lafayette Square the Italian Renaissance style Hay-Adams features antiques a-plenty and ornate ceilings. The hotel is made up of the homes of writer John Hay and Harvard professor HenryAdams. During the late 1800s it was the gathering place of the literati including authors Mark Twain and Henry James. Today it is the meeting place of the cream of DC’s society.
If you plan to spend much time in the Smithsonian and other museums the Mandarin Oriental just south of The Mall is reputed to be one of the world’s top ten hotels. Here you can enjoy Asian style tea in the Empress lounge which opens onto a pretty garden or relax in the spa, which at over 10,000 sq ft is one of DC’s largest. Along with a state of the art fitness centre there is also an indoor pool which has an outdoor sunbathing area – a boon in summer.
In the mid-range category the Swiss inn offers air conditioned cool with TV, kitchenette and bath. Brickseller Inn offers simple rooms, some with ensuite bathrooms near Dupont Circle. For budget travellers Washington International Student Center in Adams Morgan is the place to go.
Time now to head over to Georgetown to the west. A former native American settlement, the area was granted to Ninian Beall who called it Rock of Dunbarton. By the mid 18th century Scottish immigrants renamed it George Town and it grew wealthy as a flour and tobacco port.Charming houses and cobblestone streets attracted wealthy young families in the 1950s and even today, Georgetown, as it is now known, has a quietly different feel from the rest of DC. Along M street and Wisconsin Avenue there are fashionable cafes, restaurants and shops housed in 200 year old buildings. Don’t miss the historic C & O Canal boat tour and Washington Harbor. Other places of interest include the Old Post Office, Tudor Place (Federal style architecture), the Bliss Collection (carvings, paintings, jewellery, sculpture, musical instruments and more) and Dunbarton Oaks. The latter is a redbrick Georgian mansion in wooded surroundings. It was the site of a meeting which led to the founding of the UN in 1945. In Georgetown the chic contemporary Capella Washington DC hotel is a good choice if you want to be a little removed from the frenetic city centre or are visiting children studying at university there. Guests are assigned a personal assistant who can arrange anything from airport logistics to after hours shopping. Located beside the canal, the hotel offers an open air rooftop infinity pool plus lounge, fitness centre and spa. It is also fun to dine beside the water in the Grill Room – either indoors or out. If you have time to spare consider a day trip or two. You can travel to the following places, explore them and return to DC in time for dinner. All can be reached by public transport too.Top of the list is George Washington’s Virginia home, Mount Vernon. This gracious 19 room mansion on the banks of the Potomac River offers a taste of rural gentility from a bygone era. Next, Anapolis, Maryland’s historic capital, has 18th century architecture, a pretty harbour, and great seafood from Chesapeake Bay. And charming villages dot the waterfront at the Eastern Shore. In Baltimore (where you could easily spend three days) the action centres on the Inner Harbour. It is home to the enormous Maritime Museum and National Aquarium.
Closer to the capital is Alexandria where you will find Arlington Cemetery, Alexandria Black History Museum and the Air and Space Museum Annexe. The latter showcases the SR-71 Blackbird (the world’s fastest jet), Space Shuttle discovery and more. Finally Harper’s Ferry is an alluring settlement with steep cobblestone streets lying the the shadow of the Shendandoah Mountains. The lower town is something of an open air museum and beyond are hiking trails and suitable spots for cycling, rafting and kayaking.

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