The history of Islam mentions a fascinating road which helped for many years the believers to perform the mandatory pilgrimage, a religious duty for each Muslim who can afford it: the Hajj. We’re talking about Darb Zuybada, the most famous pilgrimage trail in the islamic history, beginning from Iraq’s Kufa to Hejaz, nowadays part of modern Saudi Arabia. The road was named after Zuybada, the wife of famous caliph Harun Al Rashid. It is important to be mentioned that the road wasn’t just a way to reach the holy Islamic city of Mecca, was helping as well in creating opportunities for trading and networking between Muslims around the entire region. Like this, we can see that Baghdad-Kufa-Mecca was a significant route for exchanging spiritual ideas, socialising, finding more about other cultures and business making. Another city to be mentioned as being crossed by Darb Zuybada is the city of Najaf, a notable destination for Muslims, especially for the Shi’as. Queen Zubayda invested and supported the infrastructure of the road, realizing its potential of connecting nations. Even so, according to history, Darb Zuybada lost its glory days and status after the fall of Baghdad, today only the books describing what was once the most important route inside the Arab world to the holy city of Mecca. In 2015, the remainings of Darb Zuybada were proposed to be included on the Unesco World Heritage list.
Arabica...taste of Orient 