DUBAI: The Gulf state of the United Arab Emirates has a battle on its hands to protect some of Islam's earliest mosques from greedy property developers and over zealous restorers.

Scholars say they have come across derelict mosques of ingenious simplicity in the UAE, which are a world away from the elaborate structures found in most Muslim cities today.

The buildings reveal a distinctly Arabian style which survived to the early 20th century, before the UAE became the developed urban society it is today with a taste for grander places of worship.

But after three decades of rapid change in the Emirates, where most locals formerly lived in small fishing villages or desert settlements, restoration expert Abdel-Sattar al-Azzawi said he detects a new interest in the region's architectural heritage.

"Now young Emiratis want to know about their history and buildings," he said. Azzawi oversees the preservation of traditional old mosques and houses in the city of Sharjah. It has been a fight to protect this architectural heritage from greedy developers.

"They (real estate developers) just look at the money. They say it's a waste of time, why don't I build tower blocks instead?" he said from his office in the heart of Sharjah's restored "heritage area", which is surrounded by high-rises. But his fight to save the city's historical buildings has had some success, at least in Sharjah where the local ruling Sheikh is supportive.

DRIFTWOOD MOSQUE: Recent archaeological finds in the UAE have helped pinpoint the features of Islam's earliest mosques which emerged in the Arabian peninsula. "I found a mosque built entirely out of driftwood on Marawa Island. I've never seen anything like it," London-based archaeologist Geoffrey King told a recent conference.