Moments of Enchantment; Dar al Islam in Abiquiú

M-O-E number 181, Dar Al-Islam. Moments of Enchantment brought to you by the New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs. To New Mexicans, the dramatic maces and buttes of Abeku call to mind the works of the late world-renowned painter, George O'Keefe. But this celebrated landscape has also been the home of many devoted religious settlements, more in a moment. The Northern New Mexico community of Abeku was the birthplace of Padre Martinas, the strong-willed Catholic priest of Taos and Archbishop Lamy-Fame. Today, the area's religious mosaic continues with the Christ and the Desert Monastery and the Presbyterian Ghost Reg, both offering spiritual serenity in their individual ways. The area is also home to the Muslim settlement of Dar Al-Islam, the place of peace or surrender. The gleaming white walls and domes of the Islamic mosque and schools hit high on Amesa

above the lush green valley of the Rio Chama. In 1980, architect Hassan Fathi and an entourage of master builders journeyed to Abeku from Egypt. Their mission was to demonstrate the use of Adobe in domes, vaults, and rounded architectural forms. The mosque was created in less than a year, a masterpiece of fluid in gentle lines, fitting quietly into the Abeku environment, a rural outpost of Islam, here in the United States. To learn more about Dar Al-Islam and the religious history of Abeku, visit the community and the area, located about 20 miles north of Espanolba, New Mexico. Moments of Enchantment brought to you by the New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs. For Moments of Enchantment, I'm David Griffin.