July 31st: in Jeddah at Al-Harthy Hotel
Okay so I'm inshaAllah uploading more pics from my time spent in Jeddah. Below is my journal entry from July 31st. I hope that many of you are writing down your own goals, as I did, throughout reading this blog. My hope was that all of you could feel just a little bit of what I felt and are able to virtually experience the tours and lecture as I provide some reflections and inshaAllah insight on what I gained. I'm not including everything from my journals, as some things are really personal, but I am including a significant amount. Please forgive me for my shortcomings and my often lack of depthness in explaining things, as sometimes, certain things are very difficult to explain, let alone fathom. Khayr inshaAllah, here's the journal entry followed by some more pointers of how we can implement things. Oh by the way, to all you readers, feel free to drop some comments! I would love to hear any insight that you alls have, or any suggestions/comments! If you have any questions, feel free to ask as well, and inshaAllah I will try my best to answer them!
Alhamdulillah we made it to Jeddah. After a night of going in and out of sleep, we stepped off the plane old school style by going down stairs, taking a shuttle, and then entering the actual airport. SubhanAllah I could feel the intense heat just by exiting the airplane, but alhamdulillah there was a breeze! I could already sense the culture shock many had warned me of, as all the sisters were loading their heavy suitcases onto carts as Saudi airport workers sat and did nothing; rather, they actually watched us! What happened to the beauty of brotherhood and sisterhood that's in our beautiful deen? The customs process didn't take very long, although I wondered what the worker was thinking-- I mean c'mon there were about 30 US girls whose mahram was Shaykh Hamza Yusuf! [I took a picture of this to upload-- I will inshaAllah forever have in my passport that Hamza Yusuf was my mahram!] We loaded our air conditioned buses, and Imam Zaid and his wife ended up being on the same bus as me! We tried overhearing his conversation with some of the Rihla organizers, but to no avail. I looked in the sky and tried letting things sink in-- I had finally made it to Saudi alhamdulillah, and subhanAllah, I faintly saw "Allah" written in Arabic! I remembered the clear picture a sister had taken upon her return from the rihla at which time she saw Allah very distinctly captured in the sky.
I tried to get Lynn to ask Imam Zaid a question we had-- whether or not our first du`as upon seeing the ka`bah are only granted on the very first visit, or if it happens upon every visit. Unfortunately, none of us had the courage to ask, but she later found out that alhamdulillah, it's upon every visit! However, I knew no matter what- especially the first visit would be sooooo amazing! It was a 30 minute bus ride from the airport to the hotel, where we were welcomed with very sweet mango tang-- something that would be appearing at every meal with our food. Before I delve into that, it was interesting to observe the scenery while on the bus ride from the airport. Shops had names written both in Arabic and in English; shops of the same genre are clumped together (I wondered whether or not monopolies existed in this country? I understand that in America, gas stations tend to be close together, as are fast food restaurants where these places compete for their customers). I remembered stories of how business would go back in the day in Madinah where store-owners would fulfill a certain quota of selling goods that would provide enough money that sufficed their families of basic food, clothing, and shelter. At which time, they would close for the day so that other business owners would be able to also have their share of earnings-- subhanAllah only under Islam would that happen! I noticed a lot of people- predominantly male-- taking breaks either from selling or buying to congregate to pray! This was so beautiful and this was my first taste of how beautiful it would be to live in a Muslim country.
I originally thought Jeddah would be a safe place to venture out in, seeing how there were even many niqabis with children out without a man. We later found out that Jeddah is like the New York of Saudi, thus, none of us were allowed to go out of the hotel, especially those without mahrams. Shaykh Hamza was our mahram and many of us joked around that as soon as he came, he should escort us out so we can all buy niqabs. He had to stay back in the U.S. until his sister's visa was approved.
We arrived at the hotel at around 8 in the evening. I was paranoid of drinking the juice as I realized water was mixed in it. I've heard about a lot of horror water drinking experiences in third world countries, and although Saudi is not 3rd world, I still wanted to be careful. However, seeing that I was really thirsty and my body needed some sugar, I decided to have a couple of sips. We then got our room keys, sorted out the drama of being able to stay with my sister (which we later had to finish), and then went down for dinner. Alhamdulillah the food and dessert selection was good (nothing like what we've eaten at normal deen intensives); rather it was buffet style with a wide array of American and European style desserts, and American and desi style entrees. My sister had warned me about eating fruits and vegetables that could have been cut without prior washing, so I avoided eating all the healthy stuff basically. Little did I realize that it's when I really can't have it, that I actually want to eat it! Although we were able to steer clear of eating "suspicious" foods and drinks, I later found out that our soda had ice in it! We can only pray that we don't get sick. After dinner, I took a shower and went to sleep at about 12 or 1 AM. I couldn't really tell as for some reason, there are no clocks in the hotel room, let alone irons! But there's a qibla sign! I guess people over here just know the time depending on when they hear the adhaan. I wondered-- is it bi`dah to use clocks? (just kidding) The bathroom was an interesting site-- a toilet and then an extra toilet-looking sink to wash oneself in-- what was the point of 2 different things? I don't really know.
I got up for fajr at 4:30 in the morning upon a wake up call, prayed and went back to bed because I was so tired from the jet lag, and from being awake practically the whole night, and there wasn't a morning class so I got away with sleeping. My brother called at around 6 AM and my sister picked up-- but boy was that early to call! I don't really know what they conversed about, and quite frankly, I don't think my sister made any sense. Anyway, we were supposed to eat breakfast at 7 AM, but none of us got up! We slept till noon, got ready for lunch, and then a quick orientation session. Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi isn't here either! Alhamdulillah though, we were able to pray and rest, and 2 ghetto buses were going on a tour of Jeddah, so I decided to catch it. We left at about 5 PM, and it was comedy.... no one follows the lanes on the road, there's honking galore (and I don't know how people know who's honking at whom), a LOT of McDonald's and Burger Kings... Jeddah is next to the Red Sea and we were able to swing by the beach to observe highly decorated camels that were adorned to give rides for people as their leisure beachwalk activity-- that and ATV riding. (and if you know me, you know that I have always wanted to go ATV riding! what's the proper name for it again? oh yeah.. sand duning... whatever). I was sitting in the front of the bus and tried conversing with our Bangladeshi driver. I busted out with my broken Urdu but it didn't work. Some of the sisters next to me also tried, but it wasn't flying well. Who would have thought that you go to Saudi thinking you realy need to know Arabic, and you end up needing to know Urdu! One of the uncles on our bus decided he would go up to sit in the driver seat and give us a tour of the city. So he convered with the driver in Urdu, and he translated in order to provide us with some comedy commentary! We ended up taking a lot of pictures of masajid (even a decapitation masjid-- gross!), one of the prince's palaces, and lo and behold.. the grave of Eve (Hawa ra)!! How Saudis know she's buried here remains a mystery to me, but subhanAllah! We weren't able to get out anywhere, but we appreciated having this tour. Hey we even got to see a Chuck-E-Cheese and other western influenced stores. It was kind of sad seeing the effects of globalization-- especially with all the "drama" depicted on TV of how Middle East Muslims "see" and "feel" towards the west. But I won't ellaborate on this just yet.
We reurned from the tour, prayed maghrib, and had dinner. The UK crowd and Canadians arrived alhamdulillah. We found out there is a change in the schedule for tomorrow since Shaykh Hamza and Shaykh Muhammad aren't here, but inshaAllah the other lectures start!
Things to implement:
1) Carry a masbahah/subh/tasbih/prayer beads (whatever you would like to call it) with you 24/7 (yes even in your sleep). Be in constant dhikr; don't lose a second. Having troubles going to sleep? Do dhikr! Insha'Allah this will help us such that dhikr is on our tongue, and eventually gets into our hearts and in our limbs such that on the day the Angel of Death takes our soul, we leave this world uttering the shahada and preaching the Oneness of our Lord: la illaha ill Allah!
2) Take yourself to account before you are taken to account: Every night, literally right down what you accomplished that day. Somehow mark areas in which you did something displeasing to Allah, times you wasted, or time that you would like to improve on. Reflect upon ways you want to improve and what you would like to do differently the following day. Insha'Allah this can help us become better people one day at a time, and also save us from being accountable of these things on the Day of Judgment. After all, follow up a bad deed with a good deed and it will wipe the previous deed away! Aren't Islam and Allah amazing?!
Alhamdulillah we made it to Jeddah. After a night of going in and out of sleep, we stepped off the plane old school style by going down stairs, taking a shuttle, and then entering the actual airport. SubhanAllah I could feel the intense heat just by exiting the airplane, but alhamdulillah there was a breeze! I could already sense the culture shock many had warned me of, as all the sisters were loading their heavy suitcases onto carts as Saudi airport workers sat and did nothing; rather, they actually watched us! What happened to the beauty of brotherhood and sisterhood that's in our beautiful deen? The customs process didn't take very long, although I wondered what the worker was thinking-- I mean c'mon there were about 30 US girls whose mahram was Shaykh Hamza Yusuf! [I took a picture of this to upload-- I will inshaAllah forever have in my passport that Hamza Yusuf was my mahram!] We loaded our air conditioned buses, and Imam Zaid and his wife ended up being on the same bus as me! We tried overhearing his conversation with some of the Rihla organizers, but to no avail. I looked in the sky and tried letting things sink in-- I had finally made it to Saudi alhamdulillah, and subhanAllah, I faintly saw "Allah" written in Arabic! I remembered the clear picture a sister had taken upon her return from the rihla at which time she saw Allah very distinctly captured in the sky.
I tried to get Lynn to ask Imam Zaid a question we had-- whether or not our first du`as upon seeing the ka`bah are only granted on the very first visit, or if it happens upon every visit. Unfortunately, none of us had the courage to ask, but she later found out that alhamdulillah, it's upon every visit! However, I knew no matter what- especially the first visit would be sooooo amazing! It was a 30 minute bus ride from the airport to the hotel, where we were welcomed with very sweet mango tang-- something that would be appearing at every meal with our food. Before I delve into that, it was interesting to observe the scenery while on the bus ride from the airport. Shops had names written both in Arabic and in English; shops of the same genre are clumped together (I wondered whether or not monopolies existed in this country? I understand that in America, gas stations tend to be close together, as are fast food restaurants where these places compete for their customers). I remembered stories of how business would go back in the day in Madinah where store-owners would fulfill a certain quota of selling goods that would provide enough money that sufficed their families of basic food, clothing, and shelter. At which time, they would close for the day so that other business owners would be able to also have their share of earnings-- subhanAllah only under Islam would that happen! I noticed a lot of people- predominantly male-- taking breaks either from selling or buying to congregate to pray! This was so beautiful and this was my first taste of how beautiful it would be to live in a Muslim country.
I originally thought Jeddah would be a safe place to venture out in, seeing how there were even many niqabis with children out without a man. We later found out that Jeddah is like the New York of Saudi, thus, none of us were allowed to go out of the hotel, especially those without mahrams. Shaykh Hamza was our mahram and many of us joked around that as soon as he came, he should escort us out so we can all buy niqabs. He had to stay back in the U.S. until his sister's visa was approved.
We arrived at the hotel at around 8 in the evening. I was paranoid of drinking the juice as I realized water was mixed in it. I've heard about a lot of horror water drinking experiences in third world countries, and although Saudi is not 3rd world, I still wanted to be careful. However, seeing that I was really thirsty and my body needed some sugar, I decided to have a couple of sips. We then got our room keys, sorted out the drama of being able to stay with my sister (which we later had to finish), and then went down for dinner. Alhamdulillah the food and dessert selection was good (nothing like what we've eaten at normal deen intensives); rather it was buffet style with a wide array of American and European style desserts, and American and desi style entrees. My sister had warned me about eating fruits and vegetables that could have been cut without prior washing, so I avoided eating all the healthy stuff basically. Little did I realize that it's when I really can't have it, that I actually want to eat it! Although we were able to steer clear of eating "suspicious" foods and drinks, I later found out that our soda had ice in it! We can only pray that we don't get sick. After dinner, I took a shower and went to sleep at about 12 or 1 AM. I couldn't really tell as for some reason, there are no clocks in the hotel room, let alone irons! But there's a qibla sign! I guess people over here just know the time depending on when they hear the adhaan. I wondered-- is it bi`dah to use clocks? (just kidding) The bathroom was an interesting site-- a toilet and then an extra toilet-looking sink to wash oneself in-- what was the point of 2 different things? I don't really know.
I got up for fajr at 4:30 in the morning upon a wake up call, prayed and went back to bed because I was so tired from the jet lag, and from being awake practically the whole night, and there wasn't a morning class so I got away with sleeping. My brother called at around 6 AM and my sister picked up-- but boy was that early to call! I don't really know what they conversed about, and quite frankly, I don't think my sister made any sense. Anyway, we were supposed to eat breakfast at 7 AM, but none of us got up! We slept till noon, got ready for lunch, and then a quick orientation session. Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi isn't here either! Alhamdulillah though, we were able to pray and rest, and 2 ghetto buses were going on a tour of Jeddah, so I decided to catch it. We left at about 5 PM, and it was comedy.... no one follows the lanes on the road, there's honking galore (and I don't know how people know who's honking at whom), a LOT of McDonald's and Burger Kings... Jeddah is next to the Red Sea and we were able to swing by the beach to observe highly decorated camels that were adorned to give rides for people as their leisure beachwalk activity-- that and ATV riding. (and if you know me, you know that I have always wanted to go ATV riding! what's the proper name for it again? oh yeah.. sand duning... whatever). I was sitting in the front of the bus and tried conversing with our Bangladeshi driver. I busted out with my broken Urdu but it didn't work. Some of the sisters next to me also tried, but it wasn't flying well. Who would have thought that you go to Saudi thinking you realy need to know Arabic, and you end up needing to know Urdu! One of the uncles on our bus decided he would go up to sit in the driver seat and give us a tour of the city. So he convered with the driver in Urdu, and he translated in order to provide us with some comedy commentary! We ended up taking a lot of pictures of masajid (even a decapitation masjid-- gross!), one of the prince's palaces, and lo and behold.. the grave of Eve (Hawa ra)!! How Saudis know she's buried here remains a mystery to me, but subhanAllah! We weren't able to get out anywhere, but we appreciated having this tour. Hey we even got to see a Chuck-E-Cheese and other western influenced stores. It was kind of sad seeing the effects of globalization-- especially with all the "drama" depicted on TV of how Middle East Muslims "see" and "feel" towards the west. But I won't ellaborate on this just yet.
We reurned from the tour, prayed maghrib, and had dinner. The UK crowd and Canadians arrived alhamdulillah. We found out there is a change in the schedule for tomorrow since Shaykh Hamza and Shaykh Muhammad aren't here, but inshaAllah the other lectures start!
Things to implement:
1) Carry a masbahah/subh/tasbih/prayer beads (whatever you would like to call it) with you 24/7 (yes even in your sleep). Be in constant dhikr; don't lose a second. Having troubles going to sleep? Do dhikr! Insha'Allah this will help us such that dhikr is on our tongue, and eventually gets into our hearts and in our limbs such that on the day the Angel of Death takes our soul, we leave this world uttering the shahada and preaching the Oneness of our Lord: la illaha ill Allah!
2) Take yourself to account before you are taken to account: Every night, literally right down what you accomplished that day. Somehow mark areas in which you did something displeasing to Allah, times you wasted, or time that you would like to improve on. Reflect upon ways you want to improve and what you would like to do differently the following day. Insha'Allah this can help us become better people one day at a time, and also save us from being accountable of these things on the Day of Judgment. After all, follow up a bad deed with a good deed and it will wipe the previous deed away! Aren't Islam and Allah amazing?!
posted by Ruby at 7:01 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home