Stranger in this Dunya

Please update!

2008-09-11T15:46:00.006+03:00

Just a request for anybody who links to this blog or who has the page bookmarked; please update to the new address which is http://strangerinthisdunya.wordpress.com/

All posts and comments from this blog have been imported to Wordpress and I have been making regular new posts at the new address so please come and visit and bookmark!

Look forward to seeing you.

اهلاً و سهلاً و مرحباً بكم

I'm moving! Wordpress...

2008-08-22T22:59:00.005+03:00

I've been wishing I'd made my blog over at Wordpress for a while now because I like some of the features that are not offered at Blogger including password protecting selected posts. I discovered today that it is possible to import all old posts and comments from Blogger over to Wordpress which I have now done. I've also added all my links to the blogroll there so please visit:

http://strangerinthisdunya.wordpress.com/

Fragility of this Life

2008-08-22T16:05:00.002+03:00

Do you sometimes stop for a moment and consider the fragility of this life? That what Allah عز و جل gave so easily, He can take in the blinking of an eye? Our time in this life and the hour, no, even the minute of our death have already been written by Allah, عز و جل and yet we continue our lives procrastinating and leaving things for tomorrow or next week or next year when we have no knowledge about whether we will even be alive at those times.

Indeed we belong to Allah and to him is the (ultimate) return.

Every soul will taste of death. Then unto Us ye will be returned. (Qur'an 29:57)

Abdullah Ibn Umar used to say: "If you survive till the evening, do not expect to be alive in the morning, and if you survive till the morning, do not expect to be alive in the evening." (Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 76, Number 425)

Preparation in Makkah for influx of pilgrims

2008-08-20T21:34:00.003+03:00

Looks like there has been an enormous amount of preparation going on in Makkah for the large number of visitors expected during the holy month of Ramadan:

Makkah city braces for huge influx of pilgrims
Badea Abu Al-Naja , Arab News

MAKKAH: Municipal authorities have made all arrangements for the huge influx of pilgrims and visitors to holy city during Ramadan, Mayor of Makkah Osama Al-Bar announced yesterday.
He said the municipality has formulated a comprehensive plan for its work during the fasting month, including the intensification of the activities of the municipality’s branches, particularly in connection with cleanliness, environment observation and close monitoring the markets to check prices[...]

I wonder how it will be this year in the Haram area since I hear there is a lot of demolishing and extending going on... I wonder if chaos can be avoided.

Huge numbers of people flock to Makkah during Ramadan, particularly during the last 10 days since it was said by the Prophet Muhammad ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) that the reward for an Umra performed during Ramadan is the same as the reward for a Hajj (although Hajj is still incumbent on those who perform Umra during Ramadan).

The Prophet said, "Perform 'Umra in the month ofRamadan, (as it is equivalent to Hajj or Hajj with me (in reward)." (Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 29,
Number 86)

Comfort food: Tomato soup

2008-08-20T19:59:00.001+03:00

I always remember Heinz baked beans on toast and Heinz cream of tomato soup at lunchtimes when I was growing up so now they are a kind of comfort food for me. I love to overcook the beans so they become a little mushy and then pour the beans with their steaming orangey tomato sauce over a couple of slices of buttered toast and then... indulge! Or a tin of tomato soup heated until bubbly and then enjoyed with fresh hunks of bakery bread to dip in. Hardly haute cuisine but it really is comfort food!

I can't always find my Heinz tomato soup here in Saudi and besides I do prefer to make things from scratch these days and avoid all the hydrogenated fats and monosodium glutamate and other nasties that can be lurking in the food in the name of preservation or flavour enhancing.

I have an ill child at the moment who is not eating much but is craving mummy's tomato soup so today was the perfect day for a little soup making and bread baking. :)

Soups are so easy to make and are often overlooked despite all the nutritional benefit that can be found in them. Tomato soup of course would be a wonderful thing to make in Algeria right now with the fields overflowing with ruby red tomatoes bursting with flavour and the price is low.

The ingredients for a small batch of soup to serve 2 people:

1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 bayleaf
1/2 teaspoon dried basil (if you have fresh, it would be better chopped finely and added at the end of cooking)
6 medium tomatoes
splash of balsamic vinegar
splash of Worcestershire sauce
salt as required
generous pinch of sugar
2 teaspoons tomato paste
water - I used very little since tomatoes contain a high percentage of water... I think 500ml is enough but check the consistency and add to your preference

1. Chop the onion and garlic and saute in a tablespoon of olive oil along with the bayleaf and dry basil.

2. Meanwhile place the tomatoes into a pan of almost boiling water and leave for a couple of minutes. Drain the water and pluge the tomatoes into cold water. Remove the skins, deseed the tomatoes and then chop roughly.

3. When the onions have started to soften and become translucent add the tomatoes and salt. Leave on a low to medium heat, stirring every so often until the liquid from the tomatoes has almost dried up and then add the balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, sugar and a little water to make the mixture look soupy. Leave to simmer so all the flavours blend together.

4. Allow to cool a little before blitzing in the blender or liquidiser and return to a gentle heat. Taste to see if it needs a little more sugar to remove acidity or salt to season.

5. Just before serving pour in a little cream and swirl around. You can also sprinkle over a little freshly shaved Permesan just before serving and some chopped, fresh basil.

Solitude

2008-08-19T21:50:00.001+03:00

A big thing that motherhood and having five children around me has taught me is to value 'me time'; to relish solitude since it is something I get so rarely. It seems such a beautiful luxury when there is no sound at all in the house, when the older children are at school and the younger ones sleeping or if it is late in the evening and everyone sleeping.

Remember how the messenger of Allah ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ) used to retire to the cave of hira for a time of solitude and reflection:

A'isha, the wife of the Apostle of Allah ( صلى الله عليه و سلم ), reported: The first (form) with which was started the revelation to the Messenger of Allah was the true vision in sleep. And he did not see any vision but it came like the bright gleam of dawn. Thenceforth solitude became dear to him and he used to seclude himself in the cave of Hira' [...] (Bukhari, Book 001, Number 0301)

Ibn Taymiyyah, Allah yarhamahu, once said:

"What can my enemies do to me? My Paradise is in my heart. Wherever I go it is with me. My murder is martyrdom. My Imprisonment is solitude with
Allah. And my exile is tourism."

and:

"At times, it is necessary for the worshipper to be isolated from others in order to pray, remember Allah, recite the Qur'an and evaluate himself and his deeds. Also isolation allows one to supplicate, seek forgiveness, stay away from evil and so on."

Do you enjoy your own company? Do you take advantage of your moments of solitude?

Time to reflect...

5 minute meals

2008-08-17T16:12:00.000+03:00

Pasta: so quick, easy and versatile.

My three girls all wanted different 'sauces' with their pasta today but it was very quick and easy. Here are three simple things to do with pasta.

Boil pasta in salted water.

Meanwhile to make a tomato sauce, quickly fry 1 grated clove of garlic in a small pan, add half a can of chopped tomatoes, a sprinkle of sea salt, and some dried herbs. I used a little crushed bayleaf, Pasta seasoning and dried crushed basil.

Chop up 50g mortadella into tiny cubes.

Grate 50g cheddar cheese.

Version #1 was pasta mixed into the tomato sauce with some cubes of mortadella added and then cheese sprinkled over the top.

Version #2 was pasta mixed into the tomato sauce with a little grated cheese sprinkled over.

Version #3 was pasta with a cheese triangle melted and a splash of water to help the cheese melt, the remaining cubes of mortadella stirred through and a generous helping of grated cheese over the top.

Later when my son woke up hungry, version #4 was pasta with a small knob of margarine, cubed mortadella - reheated in the microwave and then grated cheese sprinkled over - that was a 2 minute meal!

What could be simpler?!

What's in a name?

2008-08-15T17:24:00.000+03:00

I have been Muslim for about 16 years and changing my name is something I have always been in two minds about. I was just a teenager when I accepted Islam and at the time it never occurred to me to change my name but over the years, meeting other convert sisters some of whom have changed their name it is something I have often thought about.

The reasons I did not change my name were:

When I first accepted Islam it didn't occur to me
I wanted to keep the name my mother chose for me out of respect to her
I felt being outwardly Muslim, i.e. wearing hijab, yet having a very obviously Western name would be a good way of showing non-Muslims that Islam is not just for Arabs and Asians
Keeping in mind that my name doesn't have any unislamic undertones, I didn't feel it was necessary to change my name to a 'foreign' name.

As mentioned though, the topic of name changing is one I mull over from time to time with the occasional sense of regret and I wonder if having a muslim name would give me a feeling of a stronger Islamic identity.

I say muslim name rather than Arabic name since I don't see the point in changing ones name from some perfectly acceptable non-muslim name to something like Jamilah (which means beautiful) or Wardah (which means Rose).

I found a few hadith relating to the subject and it seems that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) only changed new Muslim's names when they had an objectionable meaning or a meaning unbecoming to the person. An objectionable name could be an unislamic name such as Shaytan (Satan) or Abdul Shaytan (Servant of Satan), a name that implies that person has bad qualities such as Al-Munba'ith (one who lies), a name which is for Allah alone such as Malik Al-Mulook (King of Kings) or a name that gives a person too much prestige such as Barrah (piety).

Narrated AbudDarda': The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: On the Day of Resurrection you will be called by your names and by your father's names, so give yourselves good names. (Sunan Abu Dawud: Book 41; number 4930)

Narrated AbuWahb, Hazn ibn AbuWahb: The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) asked: What is your name? He replied: Hazn (rugged). He said: You are Sahl (smooth). He said: No, smooth is trodden upon and disgraced. Sa'id said: I then thought that ruggedness would remain among us after it. AbuDawud said: The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) changed the names al-'As, Aziz, Atalah, Shaytan, al-Hakam, Ghurab, Hubab, and Shihab and called him Hisham. He changed the name Harb (war) and called him Silm (peace). He changed the name al-Munba'ith (one who lies) and called him al-Mudtaji' (one who stands up). He changed the name of a land Afrah (barren) and called it Khadrah (green). He changed the name Shi'b ad-Dalalah (the mountain path of a stray), the name of a mountain path and called it Shi'b al-Huda (mountain path of guidance). He changed the name Banu az-Zinyah (children of fornication) and called them Banu ar-Rushdah (children of those who are on the right path), and changed the name Banu Mughwiyah (children of a woman who allures and goes astray), and called them Banu Rushdah (children of a woman who is on the right path). AbuDawud said: I omitted the chains of these for the sake of brevity. (Sunan Abu Dawud: Book 41; Number 4938)

Narrated Al-Musaiyab: That his father (Hazn bin Wahb) went to the Prophet and the Prophet asked (him), "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Hazn." The Prophet said, "You are Sahl." Hazn said, "I will not change the name with which my father has named me." Ibn Al-Musaiyab added: We have had roughness (in character) ever since. (Bukhari: Volume 8, Book 73, Number 209)

Narrated Abu Huraira: Zainab's original name was "Barrah," but it was said' "By that she is giving herself the prestige of piety." So the Prophet changed her name to Zainab. (Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 212)

I'd like to ask those reading this who are also converts to Islam (or reverts if you refer that term), did you change your name? If yes, why? If no, why not? Do you have any regrets about changing or not changing your name? Do you think you gained anything from changing your name?

Taking a bath on Fridays - hadith

2008-08-15T11:38:00.004+03:00

About taking a bath on Friday before Jumu'uah prayer:

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: Allah's Apostle said, "The taking of a bath on Friday is compulsory for every Muslim who has attained the age of puberty." (Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 13, Number 20:)

Narrated Abu Huraira that the Prophet said, "It is Allah's right on every Muslim that he should take a bath (at least) once in seven days." (Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 13, Number 21)

Narrated Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet) The people used to come from their abodes and from Al-'Awali (i.e. outskirts of Medina up to a distance of four miles or more from Medina). They used to pass through dust and used to be drenched with sweat and covered with dust; so sweat used to trickle from them. One of them came to Allah's Apostle who was in my house. The Prophet said to him, "I wish that you keep yourself clean on this day of yours (i.e. take a bath)." (Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 13, Number 25)

Narrated Yahya bin Said: I asked 'Amra about taking a bath on Fridays. She replied, " Aisha said, 'The people used to work (for their livelihood) and whenever they went for the Jumua prayer, they used to go to the mosque in the same shape as they had been in work. So they were asked to take a bath on Friday.' " (Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 13, Number 26)

What can you do in 5 minutes?

2008-08-14T17:00:00.001+03:00

A few random things that only take 5 minutes. What other suggestions do you have?

Pray 2 rak'at nafl at any time of the day or night

Read a page or two from the Qur'an in Arabic or your mother tongue

Take 5 minutes out from a hectic day putting your feet up and enjoying a cup of tea

Something that worked for me this week: the bedroom dd10 and dd7 share was m-e-s-s-y and they made no headway on the tidying, I was only hearing whinging. Soooo, I set the timer for 5 minutes and told them to tidy intensively for just 5 minutes and see how much they could do. The bedroom was almost tidy by the time the alarm sounded. 5 minutes well used.

Make some silent dhikr

Cyclone clean one room; pick up any things on the floor, quickly dust surfaces, spray some air freshener, plump up the cushions.

Email a friend you haven't been in contact with for a while

Read a short story to your child

Recite As-Salat An Nabi: A person who calls for blessings on me once, Allah sends down mercies on him ten times, ten of his sins will be remitted and he is raised ten degrees.

We often complain that we don't have enough time in the day but there are so many things that require a mere 5 minutes.

Sidi Fredj, Algeria

2008-08-14T01:24:00.001+03:00

Sidi Fredj, Algeria, originally uploaded by Umm Ibrahim.

I caught the Flickr bug and have started uploading a few photographs and thought I would test out the 'blog this' function for pictures so here goes...

Oh, and you can find my Flickr photostream here.

Pondering Ramadan

2008-08-12T13:50:00.004+03:00

It's already the 11th Sha'ban and with Ramadan a matter of only a couple of weeks or so away it's time to start preparing to welcome this blessed month and consider what I want to achieve this Ramadan.

All over the net I have been reading articles about Ramadan and how to be prepared; Oum Anas and Umm Raiyaan have written some nice pieces on looking forward to Ramadan that have made me think more.

First and foremost of course, I hope to be able to fast all of Ramadan as quickly as possible; any days I miss due to ha'id I intend to make up immediately during Shawwal and if there is time I also intend to fast the 6 days of Shawwal.

"Whoever observes the Ramadan fast and follows it with six days of fast in Shawwal, it is as if he has fasted Dahr (the whole year)." (Bukhari)

Read the whole Qur'an in English, one juz (thirtieth) per day. M. A. Abdel Haleem's translation will be my copy of choice, chosen for ease of reading, minimal footnotes, absence of exessive explanations in parentheses and the smooth way that the text flows. This translation has great reviews even from non-muslims. I will make this my bedtime reading.

Aim to read at least half the Qur'an in Arabic. I still struggle with reading in Arabic those parts of the Qur'an which I have not memorised so I am setting myself a more realistic goal. In order to read the whole Qur'an in Arabic during the month of Ramadan I would have to read 6 pages after each daily prayer; I have set myself the task of 3 pages after each daily prayer...

Pray Taraweeh at home with my older daughters
Narrated Abu Huraira:

I heard Allah's Apostle saying regarding Ramadan, "Whoever prayed at night in it (the month of Ramadan)out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." (Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 226)

Be prepared with the cooking, get iftar (meal to break the fast) cooked early in the day and... keep it simple!

Go on umra towards the end of Ramadan if possible.

The Prophet said, "Perform 'Umra in the month of
Ramadan, (as it is equivalent to Hajj or Hajj with me (in reward)." (Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 29, Number 86)

Insha'Allah we all have a healthy and blessed Ramadan.

More traditional craft stuff!

2008-08-11T10:31:00.000+03:00

More traditional crafty stuff...

The turquoise set that I want but we didn't get because we don't know how to get it home intact. :( There were far more pieces than this though; there were also couscous dish, oval fish plates, laban jug and mugs, large serving plates, beautiful latticed fruit bowl. I'm so disappointed! I now wish we'd bought it and brought it back a few pieces at a time, leaving the rest at my in-laws to collect later!

And some traditional Kabylie jewellery:

Home comforts

2008-08-10T17:41:00.003+03:00

For me, it's always nice to get home after being away for any period of time and this time was no exception. I was in Algeria for just over 5 weeks and we were all so happy and relieved to step in the front door last night.

It was a good journey; the first leg of the journey was from Algiers to Istanbul and took just over 3 hours. The airport in Istanbul is fairly cosy but well equipped so the first thing we did was to go to the prayer room and do our Zuhr and Asr prayers. After that we freshened up, changed baby's nappy and then went back to the prayer room to wait 10 minutes for Maghrib prayer and we joined our Maghrib and Isha prayer. After that we made our way to the lounge and it wasn't long before we boarded our onward flight to Riyadh. The plane was almost empty so I was able to move and have 3 seats to myself and lay baby down next to me instead of juggling her and my food when dinner was served. It was a nice meal which I was able to enjoy for once!

Our arrival in Riyadh was smooth too, the airport was quiet, no queues and long waiting at immigration so we got through to baggage arrivals quickly and since the plane was less than half full, the luggage came quickly.

A truly hassle-free journey and I think I have DD12 and DD10 to thank for making so much du'a and reminding me to do so too that day and the days beforehand!

Back to quite a mess and a very warm, dusty house but I am so happy to see my washing machine, tumble dryer, Comfort fabric conditioner that makes the clothes smell so delicious (!) and my bed. Also nice to have air-conditioning and not feel sweaty and melty all the time... Algeria is nowhere near as hot as Riyadh but the humidity knocks me out. Nice not to have 3 brothers-in-law and 2 teen nephews about the place too which means I don't have to live in my abaya and hijab.

It's the little things I appreciate after being away from home. We had a good stay in Algeria, it was nice to see the family but it's nice to be home.

Hammam Melouane

2008-08-08T17:58:00.002+03:00

Hammam Melouane is a small town at the foot of the Blidean Atlas mountains; 37km south west of Algiers. Hammam is the Arabic for baths and it is the presence of the baths with thermal spring water that gives the town it's name.

The drive from Algiers to Hammam Melouane is a beautiful one; as you turn inland away from the coast the scenery quickly becomes mountainous and you drive past fields upon fields of olive trees, apricot trees, orange groves already bearing tiny green spheres which will grow and become ripe by December, fig trees which have already been harvested for the first batch of larger figs - the smaller sweeter ones will come later, grape vines and prickly pear cacti which are interestingly named in Algerian although I am unsure as to why: they are called Qarnous Nasaara (Pears of the Christians) or Hindi (Indian).

As you enter the town of Hammam Melouane, you drive along a narrow road through the mountains and arrive in a populated valley with green mountains rising on all sides; these mountains are covered in snow during the winter.

If you pass right through the town, you will come to another mountain road and the stream which comes from higher in the mountains and people enjoy bathing there.

The actual hammam, Station Thermale, is reasonably priced at 120Dinars (6Riyals/75p) for adults and 60Dinars for children. The men's section is to one side and ladies' section to the other side. There are private rooms with a chair and bath so there's no need for communal bathing.

The water is hot and salty and full of minerals, rare gases, nitrogen, magnesium and iron. It is especially recommended for those with any kind of rheumatism; illnesses of the bones; joint pain; problems with the intestines, liver, pancreas and kidneys; circulation problems in addition to other conditions.

It is not recommended for those in the final stages of cancer, those with advanced tuberculosis and those with acute infections. *

On the main road through the town there is a busy street market and shops selling seasonal fruits, traditional clayware and other souvenirs and novelties.

Friday Hadith

2008-08-08T10:40:00.002+03:00

A couple of hadith relating to Jumu'ah

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "When the Imam is delivering the Khutba, and you ask your companion to keep quiet and listen, then no doubt you have done an evil act." (Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 13, Number 56)

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) talked about Friday and said, "There is an hour (opportune time) on Friday and if a Muslim gets it while praying and asks something from Allah, then Allah will definitely meet his demand." And he (the Prophet) pointed out the shortness of that time with his hands. (Bukhari:Volume 2, Book 13, Number 57)

Traditional Algerian crafts

2008-08-07T07:13:00.001+03:00

I love all the traditional Algerian/North African handicrafts - there's just too much that I want to buy! We went to a market this week for a browse and there was just so much to see and at such reasonable prices.

The traditional clay dinner services were gorgeous; the one I want is like the orange and lime ones in the pic below but in turquoise. The plate with a pyramid lid is for serving cous cous and the lidded bowl beneath that is for shorba (soup).

The clay plates in the photo below are tagines for baking traditional Algerian semoline bread, matlou'. There is the type with a plain base or the spotted one has a patterned base so the underneath of the bread comes out with a nice pattern.

Clay couscousieres... the bottom part is for making the stew and the top part is a steamer for the couscous, it has holes in it.

Beautiful, intricate woollen woven rugs:

Random tiling that you see around the place on walls and even around the outside tap in my in-laws house. This was just a tiled area on a wall and you buy this sort of thing framed to hang at home:

La Grande Poste

2008-08-06T11:58:00.001+03:00

This beautiful piece of Arabesque architecture surprisingly is La Grande Poste in central Algiers and was built in 1910.

The steps you can see leading down in the photograph below lead to the metro station although Algiers is still awaiting completion of that project.

Hijab shopping

2008-08-05T12:20:00.001+03:00

I find our hijab shopping expeditions more successful here in Algeria than in Saudi. My 12 year old daughter prefers to wear the 2 piece slip-on hijabs which are hard to find in Saudi in anything other than black or white low quality polycotton. For around about the same price I pay in Saudi, I am able to find nice quality fabric hijabs in various designs and colours.

There is Sajeda hijab and abaya shop just near to the Amir AbdelKader monument and another shop called Qasr Al-Muhajabaat just before the Quick hamburger restaurant on La Rue Larbi Ben Mhidi both stocking a variety of hijabs priced at 350-500 Dinar (20Dinars = 1Riyal/160Dinar = £1). The navy hijabs we bought for school from Qasr Al-Muhajabaat were 350 each or 500 for 2. The same shop also had some 'Buy 1 get 1 free' offers.

My daughter chose a few hijabs including the one below.

Amir Abdelkader

2008-08-04T12:33:00.001+03:00

Briefly, Amir Abdel Kader was, "... a political and military leader who led a struggle against the French invasion in the mid-nineteenth century, for which he is seen by the Algerians as their national hero." He lived from 1808 - 1883 and died in Damascus.

The monument below is a statue of the Amir and stands in Algiers on the Rue Larbi.

Algeria's first international fast food restaurant, 'Quick' is right next to the monument along with other icecream shops and cafes.

Oh yes, and we did go into Quick as dd12 was desperate for a cheeseburger (kids!). It was packed in there contrary to what I had heard about the place being unpopular and too expensive. A Double cheeseburger with french fries and a Coke was 270Dinars (13.5Riyals; £1.70) - maybe a little expensive by Algerian standards but in line with the price in Saudi and Europe.

Ketchaoua mosque

2008-08-03T12:40:00.002+03:00

I have posted photographs of various mosques in Saudi Arabia and UAE but none of any mosques in Algeria yet so here are two which are very close together and both in the capital, Algiers. We went to Algiers during the week and our walk started from the Rue de la Lyre where the Ketchaoua mosque is situated.

Ketchaoua mosque (pronounced 'Ketchowa') which is at the foot of the Casbah has quite an interesting history. It was mosque then cathedral and then later, mosque once again. Originally it was built by the Ottomans but was coverted into a cathedral during French colonial times; it was restored back to a mosque in 1962.

"The Ketchaoua mosque (Djamaa Ketchaoua جامع كتشاوة), at the foot of the Casbah, was before independence in 1962 the cathedral of St Philippe, itself made in 1845 from a mosque dating from 1612. " *

The mosque has some very beautiful architecture as can be seen in the photographs I managed to snap.

You can just see the mosque in the picture below; there are crowds of people because the street just near to the mosque is the site of a popular market selling dates, clothing and other items.

Looking in the other direction you can see the Masjid El-kabir; it is the oldest mosque in Algiers apparently dating back to at least 1097.

M'hadjeb

2008-08-03T04:09:00.002+03:00

Yesterday morning I sat with my sister-in-law for practical lessons in how to make M'hadjeb. It's something I have wanted to learn to make for a long time now so it's about time! M'hadjeb is similar in principle to the Pakistani/Indian Paratha in that it is a flat chapatti type of bread with a filling; in the case of M'hadjeb though, the dough is made from semolina rather than regular flour.

It is a very economical recipe at this time of year since semolina is a staple of North Africa and onions, tomatoes and peppers are in season and are cheap. Tomatoes are around 10Dinars/kilo (50halala/kg; 7p/kg)

The filling is made from equal quantities of chopped onions and peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes. Sauté the onions until soft, add salt and the tomatoes, some chopped green pepper if desired and you can also add chili powder or caraway seed if you like. Cook until reduced and rich in flavour.

For the dough, pour semolina of medium coarseness into a large bowl - for my trial run I just used about 1 kilo of semolina and a teaspoon of salt. Pour on some tepid water and mix briskly with the hands and add enough water to obtain a dough that comes together and is kneadable.

Turn the dough out onto the table and start kneading and keep sprinkling with drops of water and pummeling, stretching and kneading. You probably need to sprinkle with water every minute. Knead really well for at least half an hour. We kneaded for about 20 minutes, covered and refrigerated and then continued in the morning for another 15 minutes.

You should finally have a soft, elastic dough that is quite sticky. You'll find that it is easy to knead but if you leave it for a moment, it sticks to the work surface. To test, break off a small piece and stretch into a rectangle, it should stretch easily and become quite sheer.

Form the dough into even sized balls, about the size of a tennis ball.

Oil the table and your hands and then take one piece of dough and with the hands smooth out and flatten the dough into a large square/rectangle. Holes don't matter too much but try to make it as even as possible and avoid very thick areas. Stretch any thick edges.

Bring the top edge down and fold to the middle of the square and then add a tablespoon of the filling and spread out to cover what will be the middle section.

Next, fold up the bottom edge, then the left side over as far as the final edge of the filling and then the right side. Pat down gently and make sure none of the filling is oozing out. Sprinkle with oil.

Carefully lift up the M'hadjeb and place on the hot plate which should be set over a medium to high heat.

Turn over with a palette knife and cook evenly on both sides.

They can also be made with no filling, and then sprinkled with sugar and eaten with coffee; these are Ma'aarek.

I'm hoping that these instructions will be an adequate reminder for me when I get back home in order to replicate what I made yesterday!

Cherchell

2008-08-01T11:06:00.009+03:00

Cherchell Port

We took a drive along the coast to Cherchell during the week. It was a two and a half hour drive through some beautiful scenery: the Mediterranean sea to the right and fertile, green hills to the left. After Tipaza the road to Cherchell turned inland and the landscape became more lush: fields growing tomatoes, figs, plums and lots more besides. There were children at the sides of the roads selling baskets of freshly picked produce such as prickly pears and tomatoes.

My 4 year old son was delighted every time we drove past donkeys which are used quite a lot for labour in the area.

The actual town of Cherchell is quite old and run down like most towns I have visited in Algeria but it has a long and rich history dating back to 1500BC and the Ancient Egyptians. However it is best known for it's Roman ruins and the modern name Cherchell is the 'Berberisation' of the Roman name for the town, Caesarea.

The Masjid Er-Rahmane is quite a strange building built in the style of the Pantheon complete with Romanesque pillars.

We also drove past a Roman aquaduct coming back out of Cherchell going back to Tipaza but I missed the opportunity to photograph it. See a photograph here. Amazingly intact piece of architecture.

Hijab in Algeria

2008-07-31T21:18:00.000+03:00

It's quite a change being in Algeria after Saudi Arabia as regards the hijab and abaya. Wherever you see a lot of women in Saudi, it is a sea of black. The abaya shops are just a variation of black in different designs but I have noticed that black, particularly head to toe black, is really uncommon in Algeria. If a woman wears a black abaya she will usually wear a colourful head scarf. Abayas (long flowing coat-like garment) come in all colours here and are usually completed with a contrasting head scarf.

Whilst it is still not common, I have noticed over the past 7 years that more and more ladies are wearing the Algerian Djelbab which is similar to the Saudi head abaya or Iranian chador. Unlike the Saudi and Iranian counterparts they are generally not black but brown, navy or green and almost always with a white scarf underneath - sometimes with niqab, most often without. The lady on the right of the photograph below is wearing the Algerian Djelbab in sage green with a white scarf underneath.

Eating fruits in season

2008-07-31T11:50:00.000+03:00

One of the great things about Algeria is the fruit & veg and the fact that everything is eaten only when in season. There are no big supermarkets bringing in lorryloads of produce imported from faraway countries. No pale, half ripe tomatoes or hard tasteless peaches; everything is eaten in season and bursting with juiciness and flavour.

We went to the market this week and were tempted by so many of the wonderful fruits available at this time of year. There are all varieties of plums including Victoria plums, yellow plums, Greengages; figs, prickly pears, peaches, grapes and pears.

Among the vegetables particularly popular at this time of year are big beefsteak tomatoes, plum tomatoes, green peppers and olives of different varieties. They make simple but delicious salads: Just slice the tomatoes, scatter over a few olives and then a sprinkling of salt. The peppers are chargrilled, peeled and sliced and then eaten simply drizzled with olive oil and scooped up with bread or made into Chakchouka with the addition of chopped grilled tomatoes and crushed garlic.

Mechanics in Algeria

2008-07-30T21:03:00.000+03:00

Gotta give it to the car mechanics here in Algeria...they must be good judging by the age of some of the cars you see on the road with the engine actually running and propelling the car forwards!

The Renault 4 in the pic below was a 1967 model (older than me, LOL) and I snapped the pic just before it drove off. It was obviously a very successful model of car as I have seen older on the roads, I also saw an 1959 model I think.

Oh, the beautiful countryside!

2008-07-29T21:00:00.008+03:00

So this is the dream: a little country house in the countryside somewhere outside of Algiers or in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

If that little country house happened to be in Algeria then add a couple of sheep, a few chickens, some fruit trees like fig, apricot, lemon etc, maybe some vines and I'd be a very happy bunny; I really am a country gal at heart. :)

We went for a late afternoon drive at the weekend, that beautiful part of the day when the sky is a rich blue and the sunlight falls on the trees and fields in such a way as to intensify the greenness.

We drove past green valleys, apricot groves, fields of grape vines...

Fields of tomatoes:

Beautiful scenery:

Prickly pears that just seem to grow wild at the road side:

They are just coming into season; they need to take on an orangey tinge on their skin before they are ready. The ones in the photo are still too green:

Housing problem in Algiers

2008-07-25T21:11:00.004+03:00

Just when I was thanking Allah for the rizq He has bestowed upon us and the fact that I am blessed with a house for just my husband, our children and myself, I realised that life could be far more difficult than it is for my husband’s family.

His family lives in a small town about half an hour from Algiers, the capital of Algeria. There are his mum, eldest sister and teenage son; two brothers both married with small children and another brother newly married with no children. One brother is waiting to move into his own appartment when the building work is complete. His moving should make a big difference but even now, whilst it might not seem ideal in my eyes, everyone has their own space and some degree of privacy. They cook and eat together but they have somewhere to escape to in the evening if they want to watch tv together or get the children off to sleep.

There are 4 rooms occupied plus the kitchen, bathroom/toilet, hamam (Turkish style toilet) 2 spare rooms and a hall-come-lounge and of course the blessing of living in the countryside: the small courtyard/veranda for the children to play.

For many people however, the reality is totally different. Pictured above are some of the housing tower blocks commonly seen in Algiers and the surrounding area. The housing generally comprises of 2 bedrooms, a salon, kitchen and bathroom. I found it cramped staying in one of these appartments with my husband and 5 children... imagine however if it were 3 or 4 families or more living in an appartment such as this. Maybe an aged mother and father with a couple of unmarried daughters at home as well as 3 or 4 married sons with their wives and children living at home... all somehow, unbelievably squeezed into a 2 bedroom appartment.

It is no wonder there are so many men who take to sitting out in the streets for the best part of the day and evening chatting or sitting in the coffee houses.

I love the value that is given to the family in Arabic and Asian countries but it seems that there are real housing and social problems that need to be urgently addressed by the government. Government housing is being built around Algiers including in this small town where I am currently staying but not at the rate that is required and not fast enough.

Tipaza - Roman remains

2008-07-24T14:29:00.001+03:00

Tipaza is about an hour and a half's drive from Algiers or 70km and the drive along the coastal road is a pleasant one with tree covered hills to the left and the Mediterranean to the right.

Tipaza was originally founded by the Phoenicians and later the emperor Claudius made it into a Roman military colony and thereafter a Municipium. There are remains of an amphitheatre, churches and temples and graveyards among other things.

The entrance fee is 20DA (15p) for adults and 10DA for children. You can stroll around the remains, some of which are well shaded by trees including olive trees and even sit looking out at the Mediterranean since the ruins extend down to the rocky sea front and along the coast.

Map of the area (click on image to enlarge):

The forum:

Some of the original mosaic tiling we found covered by sand. This tiling was in the ruins of one of the temples:

More tiling in one of the basilicas:

Allee that extends down towards the seafront:

View from within towards the bay:

Judicial court:

Jumu'ah

2008-07-18T18:09:00.007+03:00

Narrated Salman-Al-Farsi:

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "Whoever takes a bath on Friday, purifies himself as much as he can, then uses his (hair) oil or perfumes himself with the scent of his house, then proceeds (for the Jumua prayer) and does not separate two persons sitting together (in the mosque), then prays as much as (Allah has) written for him and then remains silent while the Imam is delivering the Khutba, his sins in-between the present and the last Friday would be forgiven." [Bukhari, vol 2, bk 13]

I love summer Jumu'ahs in Algeria; it's the outdoorsie life, hearing the adhan and Qur'an from the masjid, the rush of people taking their showers according to the sunnah before going along to the masjid for prayer which gives a nice feeling.

The morning was relaxed; we drank our coffee outside on the veranda as usual and as midday approached we could the melodious sound of Qur'an wafting from the loudspeakers of the mosque. That's something I remember from my trip to Jerusalem a short while before I accepted Islam. I remember sitting in a little Arab cafe, sipping on strong Turkish coffee and wondering what the beautiful sound was that I could hear. The cafe owner sat down with us and explained that it was Friday, a special day in Islam and that the imam was reciting surah Maryam from the Qur'an.

So today, my husband dressed into a white gandoura (thobe like dress) and set off for the mosque to listen to the khutbah and pray and now as I sit here typing I hear sound of the asr adhan ringing out from the masjid and calling the faithful to prayer for a third time today. :-)

A blessed Yawm al-Jumu'ah to each one of you.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) talked about Friday and said, "There is an hour (opportune time) on Friday and if a Muslim gets it while praying and asks something from Allah, then Allah will definitely meet his demand." And he (the Prophet) pointed out the shortness of that time with his hands" [Bukhari, vol 2, bk 13]

An Algerian Wedding, part 2

2008-07-17T13:29:00.001+03:00

On the morning of the wedding, Thursday 10th, everyone was up bright and early. There were borek: Algerian style spring rolls, to be fried as well as Mhancha (North African sweet which is filo-type pastry filled with almond and formed into a spiral) to be cooked.

Everyone had to get along to the salon to have their hair styled and if they wished, their make up applied. After seeing some of the wild make-up and scary eyes in the salon, I decided against it and applied my own when I got home! There was quite a wait in the salon since several ladies from the village invited to the wedding were also there getting a style and blow-dry.

My girls had their put up into pretty chignons and then hair glitter and lots of lacquer were applied, my own hair was trimmed and blow dried. When we finally arrived home it was time to get out the make-up and our party outfits and get ready to leave the house.

The wedding cortege - van with the duff and pipe players followed by cars filled with family members - left the village at 2pm for the drive into Algiers to collect the bride.

En route there was plenty car horn blowing and duff and pipe playing. As the cortege turned into the road where the bride and her family lived all the horns were blasting and the duff and pipes were in full swing. The cars parked and some of the men from the bride's family were distributing much needed bottles of gazeuse (fizzy pop) and wrapped plates of petits fours made by the family. My sisters-in-law entered the house to give salaams (greetings of peace traditionally given by Muslims) and help the bride down to the wedding car.

My 4 year old son was over-awed when he saw a 'princess' getting int0 the car next to us! She was wearing a traditional Western white wedding dress and looked every bit the fairy tale princess.

The wedding cortege set off once again to the salle des fetes (party hall) and whe we arrived there was plenty of yoi-yoi-yoi-yoi-yoi'ing (shrill celebratory cry) from the ladies as the bride entered the hall and went to the front to sit on the 'stage'. After a short while the bride disappeared to the changing room to change out of her white dress into another evening dress.

According to the tradition of Algeria, the bride changed seven times into different dresses, some of them evening dresses and some of them more traditional including one heavily emboidered Kabylie dress. In between changes and yoi-yoi-yoi'ing the guests were served cold drinks, borek, coffee, Mhancha and petits fours.

When the bride had finally changed back into her white dress the groom and some other men came into the wedding hall - completely without warning I might add. Fortunately I was well away from the door and had enought time to grab my khimar and put it on.

Rings were exchanged, photographs taken, kisses from grandmothers and then some dancing before people began to disperse.

The bride and groom came back to the village the next day and it was several days before the last of our house guests had left.

An Algerian wedding, part 1

2008-07-15T20:24:00.014+03:00

We arrived in Algeria when the preparations for my youngest brother-in-law's wedding were well underway and the big day was almost upon us.

All the petits fours to give out to guests had already been prepared and placed onto little plates and inside decorated plastic bags. Necessary arrangements for the parties had been made and invitations dispatched.

In the photograph above you can seen some of the bagged up petits fours, ready to be given out and below you can see a selection of the petits fours, all made with ground almonds as is typical for weddings and celebrations. From the top, clockwise there is Qnidlat which is ground almond inside a delicate, fluted pastry case; Fanid which is two rings of almond dough gently baked and decorated with sugar roses; a modern marzipan creation decorated with sugar and marzipan roses; and figues which is a marzipan fig filled with lightly roasted, ground almond.

Everything culminated in a party mainly for the ladies on Thursday 10th although there was also a meal for the men at the in-laws' house on the Monday just before that. Around four hundred men were expected so there was plenty of work to be done.

On Sunday, two brothers-in-law and my sister-in-law's teenage son went off quite early to slaughter six sheep so there would be enough meat for the couscous the next day. When they arrived home, they brought the sheep's heads, stomachs etc which had to be cleaned immediately. The stomach, or as it is called here Dwara, is completely not to my taste but is considered a delicacy by many here and is prepared in a tomato based sauce with chickpeas. So the Dwara was cleaned, par-boiled and saved for the day after the men's party.

Several kilos of chickpeas also needed to be soaked overnight so they would be ready for cooking the next day.

A few friends of my sister-in-law arrived in the late afternoon to assist with the mammoth cooking task the next day - ladies who were evidently experts in mass cooking operations!

Everyone was up bright and early on Monday and there was a feeling of excitement in the air. There were around 20 kilos of turnips to be peeled and sliced, bags of onions to cry over as we peeled them and prepared them to go in the food processor to be chopped, the ready chopped meat had to be strung together to make it easier to get in and out of the pots before the cooking could commence.

The stew was cooked in enormous couscousieres and the couscous was steamed until light and fluffy.

Meanwhile downstairs the men were arranging the tables and chairs and the guests started to arrive at around 7pm.

Given the limited space and the fact that there were only 50 chairs I was wondering what the arrangement was; if the men had been given different times to arrive for example. As it turned out, the men would come in in groups of fifty, eat fairly fast and then leave with their gift of a small plate of the petits fours then there would be a quick clean up and then the next group would enter.

The men made a party for themselves out in the street while they waited and after they had eaten. There were two men with the duff (traditional Arabic drums) and one playing a traditional Algerian pipe and they played a jaunty, albeit repetitive tune to which some of the men danced while others clapped along.

The next morning, a huge clean up operation was in full swing before preparations for the ladies' party could begin and that would be the highlight of the wedding...

Breakfast, Algerian style

2008-07-15T12:02:00.012+03:00

Since it's summer in Algeria now and there's not much chance of rain, breakfast can be enjoyed al fresco or rather as the Algerians would say, barra.

There is not a bowl of Cheerios or cornflakes in sight but rather there is baguette fresh from the boulangerie, homemade apricot jam, homemade biscuits and of course freshly brewed coffee and hot milk.

Despite the fact that the French rule ended in the early 1960's, there is still quite a mix of east and west in Algeria and a French influence remains. Although Algeria has it's own fair share of delicious breads made with either semolina or flour or both, the French baguette is ever-present at the meal table. It is enjoyed with jam, dipped in coffee, used to mop up soups and stews or simply filled with cheese.

The biscuits in the photograph below are maqrout al-assal, a variation of the well known Arab-wide maqrout. They are made with course semolina, smen (clarified butter), orange flower water and are filled with softened date then deep fried and soaked in honey.

So, here we are

2008-07-14T11:13:00.002+03:00

So, we finally arrived in Algeria midday on the 3rd July; the journey was smooth enough, the children were well behaved and it was a relief finally to touch down on Algerian soil.

Unfortunately that's when things became more difficult. Nothing major but it wasn't easy waiting well over an hour in the queue for passport control with five children, my 7 year old was getting ill (turned out to be chicken pox), my 4 year was miserable from not having had enough sleep and my 1.5 year old was just hot and wanted me to breastfeed her.

We eventually got through passport control and had a long wait for our luggage so it was a true relief when we got through customs and found my sister-in-law and two brothers-in-law waiting for us.

We arrived when preparations for the wedding of my youngest brother-in-law were full steam ahead but now the last of the guests have left and the house is slowly getting back to some kind of normality.

Algeria here we come!

2008-07-02T09:22:00.003+03:00

So far, most of my blog posts have been about Saudi Arabia and more specifically, Riyadh.

However, from next week if all goes well with my internet connection I shall blogging from Algeria! I will be visiting my husband's home country for an extended stay; it will be my longest stay yet which I am very excited about yet at the same time quite nervous.

So, from today it will be goodbye Saudi Arabia and I look forward to blogging about my experiences in Algeria and sharing some photographs.

Panini (with focaccia bread)

2008-07-01T13:00:00.006+03:00

Something else to do with that wonderful focaccia bread: paninis.

Make the dough and then divide in half and roll out to fit two baking trays. Cover and leave to rise for about 1/2 hour and bake at 350 F until cooked.

Cut each flat loaf into about 6 squares and split each piece in half. Fill with your preferred filling. In those pictured below I spread Philadelphia on one half and mayonnaise on the other half, added a scattering of drained, tinned tuna, chopped olives, chopped tomatoes and a little grated Gouda cheese.

Sandwich together and place in the heated sandwich maker with griddle irons for a couple of minutes until the filling is warmed and the bread is slightly toasted, as in the photo. Yummmm!

Photo post: Riyadh New & Old

2008-06-30T08:15:00.000+03:00

I took a little trip from my home in the north of Riyadh to the souq in the south on Friday afternoon and took lots of photos as we were driving, so I thought a photo post would be in order!

The Faisalia Tower, Olaya, Riyadh

King Fahd Road, Faisalia Tower appearing behind trees

Mamlaka Tower with Faisalia in the distance

Houses in the older part of Riyadh - Dirah

Orange building ahead with a tower on the corner is the Qasr al Hukm - Law courts

Behind the Law courts, the Grand Mosque of Riyadh can be found along with what is commonly known to the expats as 'Chop Chop' square. This is where the hudud punishments are carried out.

The Law courts

Masmak Fortress which I believe now houses a museum

View back towards the Law courts and Grand Mosque

Driving towards Bat-ha

There are more souqs at Bat-ha but predominantly for men. It is not advisable for women to go alone or in the evening when it is very busy.

The nice greenery that you find in the older part of Riyadh

Busy traffic heading back into newer Riyadh

The spaceship type building you can see on the left hand side of the photo is the Ministry of the Interior.

Gold shop at Owais, a souq in northern Riyadh

Check out the huge necklaces on display!

Watermelons for sale at Owais

Haram abayas & 50 degrees!

2008-06-28T14:47:00.005+03:00

The temperature in Riyadh actually hit 50 degrees centigrade yesterday afternoon - meltdown!

We made a quick trip down to the souq at Dirah which is the old town centre. Sign posts pointing you to 'Wasat Al-Madinah' (Town centre) which not take you to Olaya where the Mamlaka and Faisalia towers are situated along with all the designer shops but rather to the old town.

We wanted to buy a new abaya for my eldest daughter plus a couple of other bits and pieces. We didn't manage to buy an abaya at that souq though after all... When we arrived we had some trouble finding abaya shops and then noticed abaya vendors wrapping sheets around their stocks and closing up shop. I thought my watch was wrong and it must be almost time for maghrib prayer... wrong, it was only 4:30pm.

It turned out that the mutaween were around and were 'raiding' abaya shops. The objectionable items in question? Abayas with embroidery or diamante. The couple of abaya shops remaining open had only 100% plain black abayas on display and any embellished abayas had been quickly whisked away.

It was a bit of a wasted trip all the way down there but I did manage to take plenty of photos of the area showing the contrast being new Riyadh and old Riyadh - photo post coming soon!

Forwarded email - hoaxes

2008-06-25T13:53:00.002+03:00

Forwarded trash in my email inbox from people who really should have enough brain to know better, is one of my pet peeves. These include emails that promise big freebies or cash if you forward the email to all your friends or a specified number of people; bogus health warnings etcetera.

I urge people to read about hoax spotting at the two following websites:

How to Spot an Email Hoax

Guide to Recognising Hoaxes

When I receive too-good-to-be-true emails or emails warning about certain products or giving 'alternative' health advice, I generally pick out a few keywords from the text, type them into the Google search box along with the word 'hoax'. If the email is indeed a hoax, a link to the article at urbanlegends or hoaxslayer will show up in the results.

So people please, stop clogging your friends' inboxes with pointless rubbish and do your homework before hitting the forward button. It only takes up 1 minute of your time!

Riyadh at night

2008-06-20T00:59:00.001+03:00

A couple of photographs of Riyadh by night.

This first photo is Tahlia Street (Champs Elysees of Riyadh!) which is just off Olaya Street.

The following photo shows The Faisalia tower which is on Olaya Street; it looks very pretty all lit up at night.

Da list

2008-06-19T16:50:00.003+03:00

Inspired by 'Da List' on Ammena's blog who was in turn inspired by Molly, I have decided to make my list of things I would and would not miss in the event of leaving Saudi Arabia.

Things I’ll miss and not miss when we finally leave Saudi Arabia. Things in green I will miss, things in red I most certainly will NOT miss!

1. Adhan!
The shops staying closed for over half an hour for every prayer and the shops being closed between zuhr and asr which is generally 4 hours.

2. Going out shopping or for any other activity and having a mosque or prayer room in the vicinity
Having to rush and go to the mall in the morning if I want to go anywhere apart from the supermarket as the mall shops will be closed between zuhr and asr and then it will be really hectic in the evening especially after isha.

3. Going out in Abaya/hijab/niqab and feeling just like everyone else, not different
Being stared at when I start to speak to my children because I look like everyone else but don’t sound like everyone else.
My pretty, hijab-wearing 12 year old being gawped at by perverted weirdos.

4. Living on a compound where the children can go out and play freely
Having to listen to moronic, bigoted compound politics… well actually I just try to stay out of the way and ignore it as much as possible

5. Having a decent sized, spacious home
Trying to clean it!

6. Halal food everywhere, not worry about pork or alcohol
Nothing not to miss here!

7. Going out to eat where everything is halal and no bar in sight
Again nothing not to miss! Actually… having to get into the restaurant right after isha prayer before the restaurant really fills up

8. Being able to do exciting things like driving to Makkah, Madinah or UAE
Having to leave all the driving to dh and some of our trip within KSA are approaching 1000KM which is a LOT for one person.

9. Being in the close vicinity of other countries like Oman, Yemen, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain
Having to get a stupid exit-reentry visa every time we want to leave the country so unless we have a 6 month exit-reentry there can be no spontaneous, “Hey! Let’s go to Bahrain!” We decided at last minute to go to Al-Khobar recently and would’ve loved to drive that little bit further to Qatar or Bahrain but… no exit-reentry visa!

10. Having to rely on taxi drivers who seem to speak no known language fluently and getting stranded at some location for a period of time while I try to rearrange return transport due to misunderstandings. Grrr!
Where's the positive for that?!

11. The sales - they really are fab here! Bargains galore and sadly enough, am very much looking forward to getting back from Algeria to browse the sales in August!
Nothing not to miss about that is there?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few additions from my two eldest daughters.

DD2 (10) says, "I will NOT miss:

The stupid maniacs who crash everyday

The people who do that annoying gesture and go “shway shway

How only men can work in malls and supermarkets and women can't

Having to get the school bus to school every day."

DD1 (12) says, "Things I WILL miss:

My friends

Compound - having freedom

People wearing abayas and being fully covered

My school

The fact there is a swimming pool, shop, recreation centre two minutes away from home

The sun

Another wasted day...

2008-06-18T10:42:00.002+03:00

I overslept today and didn't wake up until 7:15am which meant that the children missed the school bus. Of course 7:15 would have allowed us 45 minutes to get ready and get to school if I could drive - but I can't! I have had a British driving licence for about 17 years, the car is sitting out on the driveway going nowhere, the fuel tank is full, the keys are in the cabinet... and I am not allowed to drive it because I am in Saudi Arabia which prohibits women from from driving.

This is just another of those annoying days where I feel the need to rant because I have the children home for no apparent reason. *sigh*

Yesterday being able to drive would have come in very useful too when a friend phoned me at 7am almost crying in pain but instead she had to wait four hours for a compound driver to become available to take her to the hospital to get checked over.

I wonder what other incidences in this country turn into major emergencies because women cannot drive themselves to the dr at the first sign of a problem or when their children injure themselves...

Saudi woman detained for driving

2008-06-16T19:38:00.006+03:00

It will be interesting to see how this story pans out:

Saudi woman detained for violating driving ban

Agencies, Published: June 15, 2008, 23:44

Riyadh: Saudi police have detained a woman for violating rules banning women from driving in the country, a newspaper said on Sunday. The woman from Buraida north of Riyadh was stopped by a police patrol after driving 10km to collect her husband, Al Hayat newspaper said. The woman's "legal guardian" - her husband - was required to sign a declaration that he would not allow her to drive again, it said. It was not immediately clear if she was released or would face legal action.

UPDATE 30/06/08: Interesting post from American_Bedu about the women in Riyadh who took to the roads in 1991 and the outcry that ensued and the repercussions on the families of these women.

Sand, sand, sand!

2008-06-16T18:34:00.006+03:00

The title sums up the conditions in Riyadh right now. The sky is a gloomy shade of off-orange and sand is all around having been transferred by the wind from here:

to here:

Yes, that's the car windscreen with a good couple of inches of sand on it just since yesterday afternoon. Everything else is covered with sand too: the doorsteps, the table and chairs outside, the kids' bikes parked outside the house, even my bathroom now needs a top to bottom clean as the bathroom window was not securely closed and blew open.

This weather has also brought with it sore eyes which have me running for the eye bath liquids and planning a camomile teabag treatment before bedtime.

If you go outside the sand and generally dustiness sticks in the throat resulting in coughing and for those already asthmatic, the suffering would be worse.

I now understand why the foreign labourers who work outside have shmaghs wrapped around their face much in the fashion of the Touareg of the Sahara - it keeps the sand out of the nostrils and airways. Good thinking!

Such is the weather of the desert and these bouts of dusty and sandy weather occur at any time during the year giving the feeling of gloom just as the persistent grey clouds do in the UK.

Aubergines and peppers...

2008-06-13T22:30:00.008+03:00

Now what to do with all the aubergines (eggplant) and peppers (capsicum) that hubby found on special offer?!

I decided to make them into salad. First I put the washed peppers and aubergines on the barbeque and turned them occasionally until the aubergines were soft and the peppers blackened in parts and blistered. I also put a bulb of garlic on the bbq to see how it would turn out.

Another aubergine I sliced; also peeled a sliced a butternut squash, tossed in oil and then cooked on the griddle until soft.

I chopped up the sliced aubergine and sliced butternut , placed on a plate, sprinkled over some crumbled feta, homemade French dressing and chopped fresh parsley.

Once the barbequed aubergines were cooled I peeled them and mashed them roughly, added the peeled and chopped peppers, a couple of cloves of garlic finely grated, a splash of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, the juice of half a lemon and then gave it a good stir...

Delicious served on toasted baguette or ciabatta... I was too hungry to toast the bread though!

Self-saucing Chocolate Pudding (with photos)

2008-06-12T20:40:00.003+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Thought I'd share this wonderfully delicious and simple recipe for self-saucing chocolate pudding. It is always a hit with the children and is greedily devoured within minutes.

For the sponge:

1/4 cup margarine
1/2 sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self raising flour or 1 cup plain/all purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk

For the sauce:

1/2 cup light brown sugar (I use Hawaiian Turbinado)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
300ml (1 cup + 1/4 cup) hot water

Cream together the margarine and sugar and then beat in the egg and vanilla.
Add the flour and cocoa and mix as well as possible before adding the milk and mixing until smooth.
Spoon the sponge batter into a greased ovenproof dish or pyrex bowl.
Mix all the sauce ingredients in a jug and then carefully pour this over the sponge batter. It will look like something went horribly wrong but what will happen is that the cake will rise above the sauce and the sauce will thicken at the bottom of the dish under the cake.

Bake at 350 deg F/180 deg C/Gas mark 4 for about 40 mins. The cake will be spongy and will bounce back if you touch it and you will be able to see some of the sauce bubbling up the sides of the dish.
Leave for 10 mins or so cool a little and then serve. Add a scoop of ice cream if you like and enjoy!

Egyptian gas deal with Israel

2008-06-10T00:40:00.007+03:00

Why am I still shocked when I see things like this on the news? For transcription of the main points of interest in the video, see below.

Amr El-Kahky, Al-Jazeera reporter: "Egpyt is to provide Israel with 100 to 150 million cubic feet of gas per day at a favourable price that is said to be $2 per cubic foot, a price well below the market benchmark of $14. The contract runs for 15 years and is renewable. The gas should reach the Israeli port of Ashkelon through northern Sinai through a hundred kilometre long pipeline under the Mediterranean. Egypt has recently started exporting gas to Jordan through another pipeline. Syria waits its turn on the completion of building their pipeline. The deals with those countries allow Egypt to charge the market rate and make a reasonable profit but the deal with Israel does not."

Tharwat Shalabi, oil reporter: "Egypt bowed under Israeli pressure to accept exporting gas at this low price but it is rejected by the public. Yet Egypt is comitted to providing Israel with energy under the Camp David peace accord. It stopped exporting oil and now has to replace it with gas."

The man who made the deal is oil minister, Sameh Fahmi and it is said that, "He has been keeping quiet about the details of the Israeli arrangement and has refused any interviews on the subject. Critics say the decision to go ahead came from the president's office; now the government is trying to renegotiate the price but it will still be well below the world benchmark"

Yehya Al-Gamal: "Exporting this energy only strengthens their military machine and participates in supressing the Palestinian people. It's not about the price of gas, it's whether we should export it to them in the first place."

Two things for today...

2008-06-08T13:58:00.012+03:00

Haven't really cooked anything special for the past week or so. We have eaten out, hubby has cooked, we have eaten leftovers and the kids are craving some yummy pudding so I have decided it's high time I make something! So today I have decided on making a filled bread plait.

For the bread you need:

330ml (1 1/3 cups + 2 extra teaspoons) warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
480g (3 cups) strong plain flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

Place all ingredients into breadmaker in the order listed and use pizza or dough setting (it will only knead and prove the dough, it won't bake it).

When the cycle is finished, remove dough from bread pan, divide into two equal portions and place on floured baking trays. Roll out to fit the trays, place filling in the middle third of the dough, using a knife or pizza cutter cut slits as far as the filling as shown below.

(The filling I used in the pic below was chopped leftover tandoori chicken, Kiri cheese softened with a little yogurt and a sprinkle of mint added and grated Cheddar. Today I will probably use chopped mortadella, olives if I have some, chopped tomato and grated Cheddar or Gouda)

'Plait' the bread by drawing a piece of dough from the left, then the right, then left until you have finished, tuck the last couple of pieces in tidily.

Sprinkle with black seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds... whatever takes your fancy.

Leave to rise for about an hour and then bake at 350F until golden brown and hollow sounding.

Should come out looking something like this:

Note: The above method is for making the bread with instant yeast. Check the type of yeast that you have and check the instructions. If you have the yeast that comes in tiny balls, you will probably need to mix it with a little lukewarm water and some sugar to activate the yeast before adding it to your flour.

The pudding I am hoping to create is Nigella Lawson's Marshmallowy Chocolate Mousse that I found on Soulafa's Absolutely Delicious blog.

The ingredients are:

1+1/2 cups mini marshmallows

4 tablespoons( 1/2 stick) soft butter

9 oz best quality semisweet chocolate chopped into small pieces

1/4 cup hot water from a recently boiled kettle

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

It looks quite quick and easy to make... verdict will be from the kids later!

Update

Verdict: Didn't turn out very moussey but maybe that's because I'm not sure we have 'heavy double cream' here so I just used whipping cream which was perhaps too light.

Sadly the children found it much too rich and I'm told they prefer 'normal' chocolate pudding: the self-saucing type of chocolate cake pudding. Oh well! I tried!

About Istikhaarah du'a

2008-06-07T12:59:00.006+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

“Ordain for me whatever is good for me, and make me satisfied with it”

What is Istikhaarah du’a?

Also spelled istikhara, istikharah and istikhaara.

Istikhaarah du’a is the du’a (or supplication) of guidance – we pray 2 raka’at of prayer and after that recite the du’a taught to us by the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم ) imploring Allah, عز و جل, for guidance on that matter. Istikhaarah is prescribed when there is matter about which one is hesitant.

Istikhara (Arabic) means to ask Allah to guide one to the right thing concerning any affair in one's life, especially when one has to choose between two permissible alternatives. A traveller should consult good righteous persons before setting out on a journey, because Allah says, "And consult them (O Prophet) in affairs (of moment)," (Qur'an 3.159) and one of the characteristics of the believers is that "they (conduct) their affairs by mutual consultation" (Qur'an42.38).

Qatadah said, "Every people who seek the pleasure of Allah and consult with one another are guided to the best course in their affairs." 1

When to pray istikhaarah...

Istikhaarah is to be prayed when one is faced with a decision of whether or not to do something or when faced with a choice of two things.

Ibn Hijr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, commenting on this hadeeth [hadith of Jaabir bin Abdullah seen below]:
“Istikhaarah is a word which means asking Allaah to help one make a choice, meaning choosing the best of two things where one needs to choose one of them.
Concerning the phrase ‘The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه و سلم ) used to teach us to make istikhaarah in all things,’ Ibn Abi Jamrah said: ‘It is a general phrase which refers to something specific. With regard to matters that are waajib (obligatory) or mustahabb (liked or encouraged), there is no need for istikhaarah to decide whether to do them, and with regard to matters that are haraam (forbidden) or makrooh (disliked), there is no need for istikhaarah to decide whether to avoid them. The issue of istikhaarah is confined to matters that are mubaah (allowed), or in mustahabb matters when there is a decision to be made as to which one should be given priority.’ I say: it refers to both great and small matters, and probably an insignificant issue could form the groundwork for a big issue. 2

How to pray istikhaarah?

For this purpose one should pray two non-obligatory raka'at of prayer, even if they are of the regular sunnah prayers or a prayer for entering the mosque, and so on, during any time of the day or night. One should recite in them whatever one wishes of the Qur'an, after reciting al-Fatihah. Then one should praise Allah and invoke blessings upon the Prophet, peace be upon him. After this one should supplicate to Allah with the following supplication, which Jabir Ibn 'Abdullah has reported from the Prophet, peace be upon him, when he related, "The Prophet, صلى الله عليه و سلم , taught us how to make Istikharah in all (our) affairs… 3

‘Let him pray two rak’ahs of non-obligatory prayer.’ This is mentioned to make it clear that it does not mean fajr prayer, for example. Al-Nawawi said in al-Adhkaar: He can pray istikaarah after two rak’ahs of regular sunnah prayer done at zuhr for example, or after two rak’ahs of any naafil prayers whether they are regularly performed or not… It seems to be the case that if he made the intention to pray istikhaarah at the same time as intending to pray that particular prayer, this is fine, but not if he did not have this intention. 4

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah : The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم ) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Quran. He said, "If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two Rakat prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the
prayer): -- 'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa as'alaka min fadlika al-'azlm Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta'lamu Wala a'lamu, Wa anta 'allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta'lam anna hadha-l-amra Khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati amri (or 'ajili amri wa'ajilihi)Faqdirhu wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati amri (or fi'ajili amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.' (O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, and make me satisfied with it). The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need. (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 6841; similar reports are also recorded by al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa’i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah and Ahmad) 5

The Arabic text of the du’a

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمَكَ، وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظِيمِ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلَا أَقْدِرُ، وَتَعْلَمُ، وَلَا أَعْلَمُ، وَأَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ- خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي- عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ- فَاقْدُرْهُ لِي وَيَسِّرْهُ لِي ثُمَّ بَارِكْ لِي فِيهِ، وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ شَرٌّ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي- عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ- فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي وَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ وَاقْدُرْ لِيَ الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرْضِنِي بِهِ

Hadith regarding istikhaarah

Sa' d ibn Waqas reported that the Prophet, صلى الله عليه و سلم , said, "Istikhaarah (seeking guidance from Allah) is one of the distinct favours (of Allah) upon man, and a good fortune for the son of Adam is to be pleased with the judgment of Allah. And a misfortune of the son of Adam is his failure to make istikhaarah (seeking Allah's guidance), and a misfortune for the son of Adam is his displeasure with the judgment of Allah." 6

What to do after istikhaarah regarding the matter prayed about…

Whoever is sincere in turning to his Lord and delegating his affairs to Him, and prays istikhaarah for guidance in some of his affairs, should go ahead and do it. If it becomes easy for him, this is a sign that it is good for him, but if he is stopped and it becomes difficult, then he should forget about it, and he should realize that being prevented from doing it is good in sha Allaah. 7

An-Nawawi holds that "after making istikharah, a person must do what he is wholeheartedly inclined to do and feels good about doing and should not insist on doing what he had desired to do before making the istikharah. And if his feelings change, he should leave what he had intended to do, for otherwise he is not leaving the choice to Allah, and would not be honest in seeking aid from Allah's power and knowledge. Sincerity in seeking Allah's choice, means that one should completely abandon what one desired oneself." 8

Can I pray Istikhaarah at times when prayer is forbidden?

If there is a pressing need to perform istikhaarah and it is a time when prayer is usually forbidden, for example between asr and maghrib, then the person may make istikhaarah prayer. For example, if asr has passed and the person wishes to travel before maghrib but it uncertain, he may make istikhaarah immediately. However where the need is not urgent, for example if the intended travel is after maghrib, the person should wait.

Istikhaarah prayer may be performed at the time when prayer is not allowed with regard to something that is immediate and cannot be delayed until the time when prayer is permitted. 9

Dreams after istikhaarah?

Many people think that following istikhaarah there has to be a dream or a feeling of ease in the heart, and so on, but that is not the case. Even if no such thing happens when a person has prayed istikhaarah and done his best to find out what is best for him, such as consulting people, examining the issue and asking those who have experience, then he goes ahead and does it, then it is hoped that this will be what is best for him, even if he does not feel at ease in his heart in the beginning.
…
Ibn al-Haaj al-Maaliki said:
Some of them pray istikhaarah as prescribed in sharee’ah and then wait until they see a dream from which they will decide whether they should go ahead and do whatever they prayed istikhaarah about or not, or until someone else sees a dream for them. This does not count for anything, because the infallible one (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us to pray istikhaarah and consult others, not to rely on what is seen in dreams. 10

On a personal note, please be encouraged to pray istikhaarah prayer before making big decisions and at times of uncertainty and don’t leave it as a last resort. Through praying istikhaarah prayer one can be at peace with the decisions one has made and avoid regrets.

Ibn Taimiyyah said, "He who seeks guidance from the Creator and consults the creatures will never regret it." 11

1. Fiqh us-Sunnah, vol 4

2. Islam Q&A question number 2217

3. Fiqh us-Sunnah, vol 4

4. Islam Q&A question number 2217

5. USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim texts, Bukhari, vol 21

6. Fiqh us-Sunnah, vol 4

7. Islam Q&A question number 83709

8. Fiqh us-Sunnah, vol 4

9. Islam Q&A question number 41697

10. Islam Q&A question number 72255

11. Fiqh us-Sunnah, vol 4

Journey through the desert...

2008-06-04T14:35:00.008+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Photos from our recent road trip from Al-Khobar (east coast of KSA) back to Riyadh. Notice the pale coloured sand near to Al-Khobar which gradually changes until the sand around the Riyadh area is the vivid orange variety. A journey from the the east to the west of Saudi Arabia will show you so many variations on the one thing: desert. Pale sand in the east, orange sand in Najd (Riyadh), black volcanic soil around Madinah.

In this first photo you can just about see some Bedouin tents:

The long road through the desert taking you to the east coast (Al-Khobar, Dammam, Jubail):

Camels eating the scant vegetation that can be found:

A couple of sand dune pics:

Not sure what this is just outside of Riyadh but it looks very much like some kind of camel market... Lots of small enclosures of camels and trucks:

Just waffling...

2008-05-27T15:45:00.004+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I have had my toasted sandwich maker for a while now; it has 3 sets of plates for making toasted sandwiches (croques monsieur), grilling meat and making waffles. It is only recently though that I decided to try out the waffle irons and actually make waffles that I used to enjoy in the UK so much! It was well worth it and the children love to have them for breakfast and in their school lunchboxes.

You need:

1.75 cups plain (all-purpose) flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1.5 cups milk

3 eggs seperated

7 tablespoons oil (105ml)

(1 cup = 250ml)

Sift the dry ingreds into a bowl, add the egg yolks, oil and milk to the dry ingreds and beat well to ensure there are no lumps. Give it a quick beat with electric beaters if it looks too lumpy.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and then carefully fold into the batter.

Lightly grease and heat up the waffle iron and then using a soup ladle, pour about 1 ladleful into the waffle area. Cook for 4 or 5 mins until golden.

Delicious with golden syrup (my personal favourite), Nutella, jam and loads more! Keep them in a tub in the fridge and if you like them a bit crispy just pop them in the toaster for a couple of minutes before eating.

Chocolate cream eclairs

2008-05-12T21:00:00.009+03:00

A delicious recipe for chocolate coated, cream filled eclairs.

Ingredients for the choux pastry:

2 cups water
3/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cups strong all-purpose flour, sifted
6 eggs

1. Place water and butter into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and throw in the flour in one go and beat well until dough comes away from the edges of the pan.

3. Allow to cool a little and then using and electric whisk beat in the eggs two at a time until you have a smooth and shiny mixture as in the photo below.

4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a plain, wide tip. My bag has a plastic end on which to screw on metal tips so I just left it with no tip and piped like that.

5. Grease a cookie sheet and then sprinkle on a little water.

6. Pipe eclairs 2 inches long onto the cookie sheet as below.

7. Bake in an oven preheated to 375F for about 25 mins: until they are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before filling and icing.

8. For the filling you make a creme patissiere or simply whisk 300ml whipping cream with a little sugar. Spoon the whipped cream into the piping bag. Make a small slit in the side of each eclair and pipe in a little of the cream.

9. Now for the frosting:

4 tablespoons butter/margarine

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup icing/confectioners sugar

Melt the milk and butter together and then stir in the sifted sugar and cocoa and mix well. Allow to cool and then carefully spoon onto the top of each eclair. Refrigerate to allow the frosting to set and then let the kids loose!

If you want to make creme patissiere the recipe is as follows:

2 eggs

4 tablespoons caster sugar

2 tablespoons corn flour

1 1/4 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

Beat the eggs and sugar until creamy, add the cornflour. Heat the milk until not quite boiling then pour over the egg mixture beating constantly. Transfer to saucepan and cook on gentle heat, stirring constantly until thick. Stir in vanilla and remove from heat. When cooled pipe into eclairs as above.

A poem to share

2008-05-11T00:03:00.004+03:00

A poem by Nigerian poet and author Ben Okri that I would like to share. It is a poem I first read back in the early 90's. The beauty of his words and the wisdom contained in the poem have stayed with me. :)

To an English Friend in Africa

Be grateful for freedom
To see other dreams.
Bless your loneliness as much as you drank
Of your former companionships.
All that you are experiencing now
Will become moods of future joys
So bless it all.
Do not think your ways superior
To another's
Do not venture to judge
But see things with fresh and open eyes
Do not condemn
But praise what you can
And when you can't be silent.

Time is now a gift for you
A gift of freedom
To think and remember and understand
The ever perplexing past
And to re-create yourself anew
In order to transform time.

Live while you are alive.
Learn the ways of silence and wisdom
Learn to act, learn a new speech
Learn to be what you are in the seed of your spirit
Learn to free yourself from all things that have moulded you
And which limit your secret and undiscovered road.

Remember that all things which happen
To you are raw materials
Endlessly fertile
Endlessly yielding of thoughts that could change
Your life and go on doing for ever.

Never forget to pray and be thankful
For all the things good or bad on the rich road;
For everything is changeable
So long as you live while you are alive.

Fear not, but be full of light and love;
Fear not but be alert and receptive;
Fear not but act decisively when you should;
Fear not, but know when to stop;
Fear not for you are loved by me;
Fear not, for death is not the real terror,
But life -magically - is.

Be joyful in your silence
Be strong in your patience
Do not try to wrestle with the universe
But be sometimes like water or air
Sometimes like fire

Live slowly, think slowly, for time is a mystery.
Never forget that love
Requires that you be
The greatest person you are capable of being,
Self-generating and strong and gentle-
Your own hero and star.

Love demands the best in us
To always and in time overcome the worst
And lowest in our souls.
Love the world wisely.

It is love alone that is the greatest weapon
And the deepest and hardest secret.

So fear not, my friend.
The darkness is gentler than you think.
Be grateful for the manifold
Dreams of creation
And the many ways of unnumbered peoples.

Be grateful for life as you live it.
And may a wonderful light
Always guide you on the unfolding road.

March 1991 Ben Okri

I think the author pretty much summed up how we should behave as Muslims although I doubt that he realises it. ;)

Tagged #2 'Let's Hope'

2008-05-03T14:58:00.009+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

LET'S HOPE!

Tagged by: American Muslima Writer

Rules:

1. ON your blog, post the Rules & 10 things you have HOPE for in your life.
2. LINK Tag 10 people (we want hope to spread people!) and LINK the person who tagged you.
3. Comment/Notify the 10 People they've been tagged.

10 Things I HOPE for in my life:

1. I hope to avoid the punishment of the grave and reach Jannah

2. I hope to be able to bring up my children worshipping and loving Allah and being contented in their deen

3. I hope to have a family that always maintains strong ties wherever we may be on this earth

4. I hope to be able to settle down eventually in some nice quiet rural location, whether in the UK, Algeria or elsewhere and be able to concentrate on my deen

5. I hope to be able to perform Hajj and I hope for that to be a life-changing experience for the better that never leaves me

6. I hope to be able to become more eloquent and able to explain myself so I can make better, more effective dawa to my family

7. I hope to learn more Qur'an, become more fluent in my reading of Qur'an and to be able to more fully implement what I read into my and my family's life

8. I hope to see the day where Muslims are able to stand up for themselves more effectively and unashamedly and make their voices heard

9. I hope to be able to behave in such a way as to be a good example of Islam to others: my children and strangers alike

10. I hope always to grow in my faith and improve myself

I'll tag 5 people:

Aliyah Let's Hope

Ammena Let's Hope

Digital Niqabi Let's Hope

Sonya Let's Hope

Umm Yehiya Let's Hope

Update June 3rd: Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who I tagged for obliging and making a list also! Follow the 'Let's Hope' link next to the names above to see the list on the other blogs.

Rains in Riyadh...

2008-05-02T14:15:00.007+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

It rained yesterday afternoon! OK, so admittedly it wasn't exactly a torrential downpour however, coming from the UK where rains are frequent (and not always entirely welcome), there was a certain charm to be had, sitting in the car stuck in weekend traffic with the rain drops coming down on the windscreen and the skies changing from the sandstorm orange we have become accustomed to of late to a more UK-reminiscent grey. =)

Funny the things you miss when you are away from your own country - sometimes it can be the very things you thought you were escaping from that (metaphorically speaking) 'brighten your day'!

Edited to add: More rain today, not a lot but still... ;) A bit of thunder and lightening too, yay!

Saudi inflation hits record 9.6%

2008-04-28T13:29:00.005+03:00

Saudi inflation hits record 9.6%

Inflation has set a record of 9.6 percent in Saudi Arabia in March due to sharp
rises in rents and the price of food, an official new agency says....

Tell me about it! Ugh... ever rising prices. Although many compound rents have increased by at least 50% and are continuing to rise.

Things to do in Riyadh # 1

2008-04-28T12:56:00.002+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

With Riyadh temperatures soaring to 50 degrees celcius and more in the summer months, families have to find indoor activities and you will find that the vast majority of Riyadh's numerous shopping malls will have children's play areas incorporated. The one pictured below is at the fairly new Hayat Mall in Riyadh and has a good variety of games for children of all ages - merry-go-rounds, trampolines and trains for the littlies, a decent roller coaster and ice rink for the older children among other things. It all makes for a welcome afternoon out together. Better to go in the afternoon and leave by isha prayer as isha is when the malls and play areas become particularly busy.

My 12, 10, 7 and 4 year olds all enjoyed having a go at the sand art where you choose a picture and piece by piece peel off the backing paper to reveal a sticky section on which to apply different coloured sands.

The food court and prayer rooms are not far off as usual so it is easy and convenient to pause to pray maghrib and to take a break for food. An array of different fast food choices including the ever present McD's, Chinese, Lebanese, Pizza and a very nice new Spanish food outlet selling filled baguettes. Our choice was chicken and Brie.... yummy all round!

And of course, the children always like to finish off the outing with an icecream so yay for Baskin' Robbins! Of course there are also the doughnut vendors such as House of Donut and the newly opened Krispy Kreme as well as cafes for the grown ups to sip on a Latte - noone is left out. :)

Doughnuts!

2008-04-28T11:09:00.007+03:00

A big thanks to fellow blogger Rainbow in the Grey Sky for her perfect recipe for doughnuts!

I followed her recipe exactly and then after they were cooked and rolled in sugar, I used a cake icing piper and pushed a hole into the side of each doughnut and squirted in some jam or some Nutella chocolate spread. Absolutely delicious and so light and airy! An absolute hit with the family especially the husband who seemed to be reeling in shock at my cooking success all evening! Nothing I have cooked has ever had that effect, lol!

Such an easy thing to make, especially if you have a breadmaker to do the kneading and rising stages for you. If you love doughnuts, I urge you to try the recipe!

Saudi Blogger Fouad released...

2008-04-27T13:15:00.004+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The Saudi blogging community woke up to good news today: Early this morning Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan was released from the Jeddah prison where he has spent the past 5 months (137 days) without charges. All that official statements said about the reason for his arrest and subsequent detention was that he had, "violated regulations".

According to Fouad's family and friends, he is out of and prison and is well... alhamdu Lillah.

Read more here.

Women (not) driving in Saudi Arabia

2008-04-25T18:30:00.001+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I know it's an old issue and an old rant but I have been realising more and more lately how much potential danger women in Saudi Arabia are placed in just because we are not permitted to drive here.

There is some skewed reasoning in this country that bans women from driving but allows them them to use family drivers and taxis to get about. Since we are not allowed to drive, ideally our husbands would drop us everywhere we need to go but realistically this is not possible in many cases, most husbands have a full time job to hold down as well as taxiing the family to and from various appointments. Children need to be dropped at and collected from school, many women work outside of the home and need to get to their place of employment, food provisions need to be bought from the supermarket, women and children need to visit the doctor or dentist from time to time and so on and so forth.

As a general rule I don't take taxis but there are times when the rule has to be broken; times when my husband isn't even in the country and I have urgent appointments, sick children etc. At these times I am forced to take a taxi to my destination but how can I be sure of the trustworthiness of the driver? Recently I have heard many warnings about the dangers of using taxis which is really alarming. I have read reports of cheap labour from certain countries and how those countries are allowing ex-convicts straight from jail to take up menial jobs in Saudi Arabia.

I know I don't particularly relish the idea of driving in Riyadh but I do look forward to the day when women are permitted to drive and go about their daily business without having to rely on men and without obstacles blocking the way.

Global food shortage?

2008-04-12T23:40:00.005+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The past couple of years or so have seen a steady increase in once stable food prices in Saudi Arabia but lately we have seen vegetable and staple food prices jumping in price and the past couple of months has seen some very drastic price increases or food shortages. One friend living in Jeddah remarked that she was having difficulty finding flour. News channels and websites have been reporting about global food shortages caused by a variety of factors including urabanisation which leaves less arable land, growing middle classes in developing countries making greater demand on a variety of foods, the use of wheat as a bio-fuel and so forth...

Here are some interesting articles from the bbc website to ponder.

Rice prices 'to keep on rising'

The price of rice has risen by as much as 70% during the past year, with
increases accelerating in recent weeks...

...and prices are set to keep on rising.

The growing appetite among Asia's burgeoning urban middle class, especially in
India and China, for meat and dairy products is also leading to less land for
rice production.

In a bid to solve food problems in India, India has implemented a rice export ban on all non-Basmati rice which is having repercussions in the Middle East since rice is also very widely eaten here. Prices are risely quite drastically (Asian states feel rice pinch) and some goverments are subsidising rice and some companies are helping by selling rice at cost price. But for how long can they sustain this?

Gulf and Arab residents feel the pinch of rising prices

The cost of food: facts and figures

Families' shopping list

On top of all this there is a warning about a potential water shortage in the coming decades if the Middle East does not start tackling the problem of water wastage.

Interesting to note that 1000-2000 litres of water are needed to produce just 1 kilo of wheat and 10,000-13,000 litres of water are needed to produce 1 kilo of beef. *

Tagged: Six Word Memoir

2008-04-09T14:25:00.007+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Thanks for the tag American Muslima Writer! It was a hard one!

The Rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post
4. Tag six more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

Perpetually Run Ragged By Crazy Kids!

I tag:

Ummihabibati (aka Rainbow in the Grey Sky)

Power cut for Khushoo'

2008-04-09T13:28:00.007+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

A couple of days ago we had a power cut... it happens every so often and not for a few minutes or so like in the UK but for at least an hour. The last power cut was for about an hour and a half. But this is not a rant. :)

All the kids were home doing their own thing when suddenly... the tv went off, the air conditioning stopped, the washing machine cut out, the fridge stopped humming. All was silent apart from the kids asking what had happened and was it a power cut. Bliss!

Fortunately it was coming on for 5pm when this happened so there was about an hour of daylight left and the children could still see to play. Maghrib approached though and still no electricity. Our water works on a pump so no leccy means no water... I have an old 5 litre zamzam bottle full of tap water put aside for such incidences so I was able to pour some into a bowl for our wudu'. It was a lovely feeling peacefully making wudu' on the back doorstep from a bowl of water and the only sounds to be heard were the birds fleeing to the trees as they do at dusk and of course, a chorus of adhans from the local vicinity.

That maghrib I prayed was the best prayer I have prayed in a while, with the highest degree of khushoo' in a while! The house was peaceful; there were no thoughts in my head of what needed to be done after prayer since no electricity means no cooking, no washing, no ironing and so forth... It was just me and my Creator and Maghrib salah alhamdu Lillah.

I must confess to feeling quite disappointed when the electricity came on a few minutes after I had prayed but the children enjoyed going around the house blowing out the candles. :)

A little Barakah...

2008-04-04T11:44:00.005+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

We ate out yesterday and very nice it was too. The prices in the restaurant we went to are excellent; there are not many places where a family of 7 can choose a wide selection off the menu (hummus, mutabbel, Turkish bread, kibbeh, salad, open shawarma, chicken shish tawouk, lamb chops, chicken soup, lentil soup and drink freshly squeezed orange and pomegranate juice for just 120Riyals (c. $32 or £16)!

As we preparing to leave hubby noticed a sign inside the restaurant which mentioned that lots of places are increasing their prices but they do not intend to.

The closing sentence, referring to profit, said (in Arabic): A little bit with Barakah (Allah's blessings) is better than a lot with greed.

Beautiful! No wonder it's one of our regular places to go with the kids! Far better than McDonalds and Pizza Hut!

Some mosques... Saudi Arabia & UAE

2008-04-01T14:33:00.019+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

A quick photo post of some of the mosques I have photographed recently in Saudi Arabia and UAE...

Small masjid near Riyadh centre ... I just loved the simplicity of this masjid and the figure of the man who can be seen praying

Big masjid on the road out of Riyadh towards Kharj. This masjid has all the space and facilities for washing the dead and performing janazah prayer.

As before

Masjid towards the north of Riyadh... sandy skies in Riyadh!

Sharjah, UAE (next to Radisson hotel)... the masjid, carpark and road which is not in photo were jampacked with worshippers for the Eid ul-Adha prayer

Sharjah, UAE

Umm Al-Qaiwaim, UAE

Village mosque, Ramss, Ra's Al-Khaimah, UAE

Part of Masjid Al-Nabi, Madinah by night

Looking down an alley towards Masjid al-Nabi

Bougainvillea

2008-03-29T16:07:00.007+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Bougainvillea can be seen flourishing all over the Mediterranean and Middle East and with good reason too! This thorny bush with woody, twisted trunks can survive very harsh conditions and times of drought. I have 3 Bougainvillea bushes in back yard which rarely feel the raindrops on their leaves and papery blooms yet they are still going amazingly strong! We have barely had any rain in Riyadh this year and I have a terrible tendency to forget to water plants... the Bougainvilleas were already in flower but not looking particularly spectactular. Hubby did his manly weekend thing of cleaning off the BBQ and outside table and chairs and gave the bushes a good watering too... the results were breathtaking. By the next day the Bougainvilleas were in the fullest of bloom. It's now a joy to stand at the kitchen sink and wash the dishes whilst looking out at this carnival of colour!

They really are wonderful plants; an absolute burst of bright pink which attracts the butterflies, the leaves are a welcome hiding spot for the lizards and the cats gratefully accept the opportunity to sleep in the shade at the foot of the bush.

Picnic time in Riyadh

2008-03-29T13:25:00.008+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Picnic in the UK and picnic in Riyadh seem to mean something completely different!

Since being in Riyadh we have taken the kids out for a picnic to a few different spots that we thought the kids would appreciate... Dir'iyyah which is very close to us and has nice grassy areas; Salam Park towards the south of the city which also has grassy areas, a boating lake and some play equipment.

Salam Park Lake

We've even been out to the desert a few times although admittedly the addition of sand to the sandwiches can be a bit irritating on the teeth! Once we were forced to stop by the road en route to Makkah as it was Ramadan, we were fasting and maghrib had arrived. It wasn't too comfortable sitting on the rocky roadside even on our rug but it was a welcome relief to eat our iftar and then sip on the hot tea we had prepared before leaving.

In the UK we like to go to nice beauty spots for summer picnics too.

Wales... beautiful!

Here in Riyadh though I have noticed that the locals will stop anywhere for a picnic. And I mean ANYWHERE! On a Wednesday evening which is the beginning of the weekend here you will see people stopped at the side of the road with the rug spread out on the dust and a family sitting enjoying a flask of Arabic coffee. Open areas near to us that have been smoothed out ready for building will often have families picnicking, enjoying the slightly more temperate conditions at this time of year and there will be boys partaking in a game of footy. The desert is very popular at this time of year too.

Who'd've thought that the Ikea car park would become the local picnicking spot for people that side of Riyadh though?! We exited the mall next door to Ikea on Thursday evening and there was a very distinct odour of barbecue in the air. I joked that it seemed that someone was having a barbecue in the car park... dh and I then racked our brains trying to think what grill restaurant there could be in the mall. Suddenly we noticed smoke gently billowing in the air just behind a parked car... there was indeed a family in the car park who'd brought all their BBQ equipment not to mention meat with them! How strange I thought that someone would want to have a BBQ in the car park! As we exited the car park though we noticed that there were many families either sitting with flasks of coffee or even with the BBQ and it was not something strange at all!

Ikea, Riyadh

Trying to get mummsie

2008-03-24T21:19:00.010+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I haven't been on the internet so much lately, partly because I have been finding it so slow and frustrating and partly because I have been enjoying getting more mummsie around the house and with my kids! OK, so even after 15 years of marriage and 5 kids this doesn't always come naturally so I am happy with progress!

Have turned into a baking queen what with cakes and bread and trying to make healthy snacks. These Focaccia plaits filled with tinned tuna, hard boiled eggs and cheese were among yesterday's offerings:

Today I thought the kids would enjoy trying to make microwave meringues; something I remember doing when I was kid (yuh... many years ago! ha ha!). They didn't turn out quite as superb as I hoped, however there really was instant gratification for the kids. They crowded around the microwave, excitedly watching the tiny balls of mixture puff and rise into comparatively huge meringues! The next fun part was melting chocolate, chopping strawberries and whisking cream with which to decorate the pink, sugary mounds we had created. We served the meringues with a healthy strawberry and banana smoothie. Yummm!

Now with all this mummsie-ness going on, it can be a bit difficult having a 4 year old and 1 year around my feet wanting to 'help'. A few days ago, I got creative once again and made playdough -whoo hoo! Simple recipe, wonderful results.

All you need is:
1 cup plain flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
few drops of food colouring of your choice
*Even add glitter to make some really fun playdough

Throw all ingredients into a pan and heat gently and stir until you have a dough starting to come together. When you can stir no more, turn out onto a floured board and tentatively (so as not to burn your hands) begin to kneed into a soft malleable dough. When it has sufficiently cooled, hand over to the kids!

They start off rolling...

Cutting out shapes and making cute patterns... (This is 7 year old daughter's effort)

After a while 4 year old son started investigating the drawers for more 'tools' and discovered the garlic press.... yum, worms! (Or was is spaghetti?!)

Blogger problems

2008-03-10T19:11:00.001+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Aaaargh! Is it my slow internet connection or is it Blogger that is the problem??! When I try to make a new post there are no text editing options available which mean no aligning, coloured fonts, hyperlinks etcetera. Even the 'save now' button is not working so I can't come back to a post later and edit! My ISP drives me crazy at the best of times but today it seems to have become really bad.

Aaaargh again!

Janadriyah

2008-03-05T00:04:00.011+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

According to the Arriyadh.com website, it's that time of year once again... the yearly cultural festival at Janadriyah will be starting this weekend. The event will boast such spectacles as camel racing, traditional dancing and special features this year which will highlight Turkish culture.

The festival is scheduled to run for two weeks from 5th March and March 17th, 18th and 19th have been earmarked as family days.

The last time I was able to attend the cultural festival was 2 years ago. It takes place at an ideal time of year when the weather is not too hot and one can enjoy strolling around the traditional style souqs watching artisans at work, exploring the displays of traditional costumes, jewellry and such-like as well as watching the traditional method of drawing water from a well: with a camel pulling the ropes attached the buckets.

There are many vendors there selling an enormous array of spices, ouds and bukhours, metal-, wood- and potteryware as well as Arabic snacks.

I bought this little terracotta vase for only 10 Riyals on my last visit there.

For more photos (not my own), click here.

Ĥisba and the Mutawwa - Ethical Institutions in Islam

2008-03-01T00:02:00.005+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Lately the religious police or ‘Mutawween’ have received significant press coverage. Not only are they are highly controversial figures, there is a certain amount of disdain felt for them. It is not my aim to discuss whether the role they perform in Saudi society is a good one or a bad one but would like to bring to the forefront the historical position of this ethical institution in Islam.

The most important of the ethical institutions in Islam is Ĥisba, from which todays Mutawwa is derived. Their intended role is to perform advisory services in modern society from an Islamic perspective.

Lexical root: حسب ĥasaba to calculate
Definition: Ĥisba حسبة is a meritorious action and is defined as endeavouring to acquire reward from Allah by the application of various forms of good in the right way, that is to say, the insistence of good and affirmation of what is right; the enjoining on others not to do a bad deed or neglect a good deed – fi sabilillah, for the sake of Allah, عز و جل.

Enjoining good and forbidding evil (or haram) is prescribed in the Holy Qur'an and is further advocated in the sayings of the Prophet, upon him be peace and from Umar, the second rightly guided caliph or successor to the leadership of the Islamic Ummah. From the following verse from the Qur’an and hadith which follows it can be deduced that ĥisba is incumbent upon Muslims whether that is physical or verbal ĥisba and where these cannot be achieved, the ĥisba of the heart.

Let there arise from you a group calling to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. It is these who are successful."(Qur'an 3:104)

On the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, may Allah be please with him, the Prophet, peace be upon him said, “Whosoever of you sees an evil action let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so then with his heart and that is the weakest of faith.” (Muslim)

‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Oh people, practise ĥisba in all your deeds, since any one of you who intended his actions to be ĥisba will have double reward.”

‘Umar, as well as enjoining ĥisba on others, practised ĥisba on himself and remonstrated on his own soul. He sought to humiliate himself when he was preaching and his soul felt above everyone else’s. It is said that his ring was inscribed with the words, “Death suffices as an admonition oh ‘Umar.”

According to 6th Century Hegira writer Al-Farrā’ there are different divisions of ĥisba:

1. Ĥisba or remonstration on the soul
2. Ĥisba of others categorised as follows: i) elders or superiors ii) equals iii) younger or inferior

It is generally accepted that we exercise number 1 and also number 2 in categories ii) and iii) provided that it does not lead the person to do greater evil. If we provoke someone or are rude the person may do something even worse or rebel. However, remonstration is obligatory on the person who has authority.

As for number 2, category i) (remonstrating on superiors or elders) – this is far more difficult...

How does one practise ĥisba on superiors without offending? Tact is obviously of key importance. Let us take as an example the two grandsons of the Prophet, peace be upon him, Hassan and Hussein. They once saw an old man performing wudu’ incorrectly. They knew that if they were not tactful he could either ignore them or thrash them. After much deliberation they devised a plan and went to the old man and said, “Oh uncle, tell us which one of us performs wudu’ the best.” They both stood before and carefully performed wudu’ whereupon he said, “Both of you do wudu’ better than me and I have learned a lot from you.”

Ĥisba as an institution

The muĥtasib is the person who applies ĥisba. This became an administrative post as well as being highly meritorious after approximately 200 years of Islamic state. The institution of Ĥisba was headed by the muĥtasib and controlled morals and ethics within society, such as the market place. Weights and measures would have been regularly checked to prevent fraudulent practices. The public highway was also checked as were health and hygiene. The responsibilities of the muĥtasib covered every aspect of day-to-day life; strictures/remonstrations were required to be made upon:

The effeminate
Teachers
Those pretending to be poor
Women and children
Those selling food, drink and medicine
Those who play
Judges and their assistants
Those who manage the graveyards
Preachers in the mosques
The person who makes an oath to anyone other than Allah
Those who swear
On relations between parents and children
Relations between neighbours
Those who expose themselves
Travellers
Ahl al-kitab (people of the book)
Doctors (the Hippocratic oath was enforced)
Chefs
Marriage partners

It must be borne in mind however that for the muĥtasib certain ethical conditions must be fulfilled:

That he does as he prescribes (i.e. ‘practise what you preach’)
When he practises ĥisba, it should be intended to be a meritorious action, fi sabilillah
He should enjoin out of knowledge and understanding of the laws of Islam.The Muĥtasib can remonstrate on others but he cannot jail him or flog him – these actions are for the courts. The muĥtasib must be kind, tender and patient.

Furthermore sincerity is vital:

When correcting the mistakes of others, it is essential that one’s intention be to earn the pleasure of Allaah, not to demonstrate one's superiority or to vent one’s anger or to impress others. 1

Al-Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali had outlined TEN degrees of al-muhtasib's
actions. These should be applied gradually with great care and consideration.
Seeking knowledge of the forbidden (Al-Monkar) without spying nor
forcingothers to solicit secret information. Here al-Muhtasib is not a
trespasser.
To inform the violator of the forbidden lest he/she is then ignorant about
the wrongdoing. The right to know is imperative before applying any punishment.
To forbid verbally, say, advising not to do.
To obstruct the forbidden through preaching, advice and fearing
thepunishment of Allah (God).
To chide or to scold with strong wording, not vulgar, this may bepracticed
after Al-Muhtasib being a kind and discreet reminder.
To affect change manually, like forcing a man not to wear silly clothing,
orbreaking a jar of wine, or pulling the aggressor out of a house which is not
his... etc. The purpose here is to get rid of the forbidden physically.
Threatening with things may become worse in the near future, if the
aggressor is not reprimanded.
Applying physical punishment without using any weapon so as to avoid
anydamage or any bleeding.
To use suitable weapons indicating that serious actions that might
takeplace.
To enforce regulations by resorting to a cadre of police.
Although the above measures are carried out by Al-Muhtasib, he is required not to choose a stronger punishment unless a milder one is either ineffective or seems to carry no weight to the person already admonished. This is because al-Muhtasib operates in a system of checks and balances. His actions should not involve a greater mischief than the one he wants to forestall. 2

Let us end with a final anecdote. Nuri was a mystic in Islam (fl. 6th Century Hegira). He discovered that someone was shipping bottles of something suspicious, upon smashing one of the bottles he discovered that it was wine. He was then told that the wine belonged to the caliph. The muĥtasib proceeded to smash all but one of the bottles. When asked why he didn’t smash the last bottle he said because that would have been out of anger and vengeance for the caliph rather than for the sake of Allah.

For further reading on Islamic etiquette when correcting others please refer to the following online book: The Prophet’s Methods for correcting people’s mistakes

Knowledge is light...

2008-02-27T14:24:00.006+03:00

شكوت واكعا نقص حفظى
فنصحنى بترك المعاصى
ان العلم نور و نور الله لا يؤتى لعاص

(Shakawtu waaki'an naqsa hifdhi,
Fa nasahani bitrak al-ma'aasi,
Inna~l 'ilma noorun wa nooru~Llaahi laa yu'taa li'aasi)

I complained to Waki' about my deficiency of learning,
So he advised me to give up wrong-doings;
Indeed knowledge is light and the light of Allah will not be given to the wrong-doer.

I love this little snippet of Arabic poetry that my Shari'ah lecturer back in my uni days recited to us one day.

Edited to say: thanks to sister Yasmeen for informing me that these words are attributed to the great Imam Shafi'i.

Humble Pie

2008-02-19T19:36:00.003+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I feel that I have a certain amount of humble pie to eat regarding the vegetables in cakes post. Although I still wouldn't got to these measures myself and prefer to encourage my children to eat a balanced diet, I have had the opportunity to taste test the brownies with spinach and also pancakes with broccoli, carrot and pumpkin hidden in the batter. They weren't bad!

My friend brought some samples over to my house today for us to try. Dd1 (12) gave the brownies 8/10, dds 2 &3 (10 & 7) gave them 10/10. For some reason my son (4) refused to taste... maybe he sensed that something was going on!

As for the pancakes which were rolled with Nutella inside, dd2's verdict was, "A gazillion stars. Auntie is so good at cooking." Dd3 said, "Amazing, 10/10." My son finished 2 pancakes so I think that speaks louder than words.

I still stand by my opinion that food is a journey of discovery and we should continue to offer vegetables to our children a second, third, fourth time and they will soon find some vegetables that they enjoy and will happily eat.

Free Rice

2008-02-18T20:32:00.005+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Please try this fun website: Free Rice which is the sister site of Poverty.com.

You will be given a word and a choice of 4 definitions... choose the definition which most closely fits the given word. For each correct word, 20 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program. You can play for as long as you like and as often as you wish so there will be the added benefit of improving your vocabulary. There are 55 vocabulary levels although the website says that 48 is normally the highest level attained... I have managed to reached level 46 (without cheating).

It's a cool website that really does donate rice to the UN program and this is achieved through advertising revenue. Read more in the site FAQ.

Have fun and let me know how you do!

Backbiting

2008-02-16T17:46:00.004+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Baba Ali is back at Ummah films with his timely Islamic reminders for us all. The latest episode from him addresses the problem of backbiting.

The Arabic word for backbiting is gheebah and the definition of it follows:

Malik related to me from al-Walid ibn Abdullah ibn Sayyad that al-Muttalib ibn Abdullah ibn Hantab al-Makhzumi informed him that a man asked the Messenger of Allah, صلى الله عليه و سلم , "What is backbiting?" The Messenger of Allah, صلى الله عليه و سلم, said, "It is to mention about a man what he does not want to hear." He said, "Messenger of Allah! Even if it is true?" The Messenger of Allah, صلى الله عليه و سلم , said, "If you utter something false, then it is slander." [Muwatta]

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger, صلى الله عليه و سلم ,as saying: Do you know what is backbiting? They (the Companions) said: Allah and His Messenger know best. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Backbiting implies your talking about your brother in a manner which he does not like. It was said to him: What is your opinion about this that if I actually find (that failing) in my brother which I made a mention of? He said: If (that failing) is actually found (in him) what you assert, you in fact backbited him, and if that is not in him it is a slander. [Muslim]

It is important to understand the difference between backbiting, slander and tale-telling:

Al-Hasan al-Basrî said: “Backbiting has three manifestations, all of which are discussed in Allah’s Book. They are: backbiting, tale-telling, and slander. As for backbiting, it is to say about your brother something that is true about him. Tale-telling is to say something that you have heard about him. Slander is to say about him what is not true.” 1

There are times when we may feel justified talking about others in which case it is also worthwhile remembering the following:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Apostle, صلى الله عليه و سلم , as saying: The servant (who conceals) the faults of others in this world, Allah would conceal his faults on the Day of Resurrection. [Muslim]

Backbiting is looked upon with severity in Islam and we are warned against it by Allah, عز و جل , in the Qur'an and this is further explained by the Prophet, صلى الله عليه و سلم :

O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is the One Who forgives and accepts repentance, Most Merciful. [Qur'an 49:12]

`A’ishah relates that she said to the Prophet, صلى الله عليه و سلم , : “It should tell you enough about Safiyyah that she is short.”To this he replied: “You have said a word that if it was to be mixed with the water of the sea, it would contaminate it.” [Sunan al-Tirmidhî (2502) and Sunan Abî Dâwûd (4875)]

In order to prevent ourselves from falling into the trap of backbiting and gossip several measures can be taken:

~ Have greater awareness of the all-encompassing nature of Allah, عز و جل , and know that our each and every action is recorded by the angels

~ Remember that we ourselves are far from perfect so who are we to criticise others or pick faults behind their backs

~ Remember that those who are happy to sit with us and discuss other people will be more than likely happy to sit and discuss us at a later date.

~ Keep good company. Keep company with those Muslims who bring out the good in us and not the bad.

~ Attend halaqas and use time in a beneficial manner

More can be read on the Islamtoday website in this excellent and thorough article.

Reverse psychology...

2008-02-16T17:40:00.003+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Isn't reverse psychology great?! Especially when it comes to children. One of the things I have not noticed my eldest daughter eating much of is prawns but today as part of our evening meal I made prawn cocktail salad (lettuce, prawns and cocktail dressing). She saw it in the fridge and asked what it was so I told her and insisted that she wouldn't like it. She asked if she could try anyway so I told her "Of course, but it's my favourite and you won't like it!" There was a challenge for her! I think she took a taste determined to like it just to prove me wrong and for once my tactics worked and she went back for more... and more! Alhamdu Lillah.

The jinns in Islam and protection from them

2008-02-14T14:05:00.015+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I was pointed in the direction of this article today which made for very interesting reading. Jinns are very real and are part of the Creation of Allah عز و جل :

And I created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship me. I seek not any provision from them, nor do I ask that they should feed Me. Verily, Allah is the All-provider, Owner of Power - Most Strong" (Qur'an 51:56)

It is of paramount importance that we should make dhikr of Allah عز و جل in order to protect ourselves and our children from any evil jinns and shayateen. Following is a list I have compiled of ways in which to protect ourselves from the evil jinns and shayateen, (methods which are mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah) :

• Reciting the following words from the Qur'an:

Say: ‘My Lord! I seek refuge with You from the whisperings
(suggestions) of the shayaateen (devils). And I seek refuge with You, my Lord,
lest they may attend (or come near) me.’ [al-Mu’minoon 23:97-98]

• Saying, a'oothoo billahi min ash-shaytanir rajeem - I seek refuge in Allah from shaytan, the outcast. [Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood]

• Calling adhan [Muslim, Bukhari]

• Reciting Surat Al-Baqarah:

Abu Hurairah reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم saying: "Do not turn your houses into graveyards. Satan runs away from the house in which Surat Al-Baqarah is recited.''[Muslim].

• Reciting La ilaha illa'llah, wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu'l mulku wa lahu'l hamd, wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay'in qadir 100 times a day:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr, from Abu Salih as-Samman from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم said, "Whoever says 'There is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner. The Kingdom and praise belong to Him and He has power over everything' (La ilaha illa'llah, wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu'l mulku wa lahu'l hamd, wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay'in qadir) one hundred times a day, it is the same for him as freeing ten slaves. One hundred good actions are written for him and one hundred wrong actions are erased from him, and it is a protection from Shaytan for that day until the night. No-one does anything more excellent than what he does except someone who does more than that." [Muwatta]

• Reciting Ayat al-Kursi )2:255):

Narrated Muhammad bin Sirin: Abu Huraira said, "Allah's Apostle صلى الله عليه و سلم put me in charge of the Zakat of Ramadan (i.e. Zakat-ul-Fitr). Someone came to me and started scooping some of the foodstuff of (Zakat) with both hands. I caught him and told him that I would take him to Allah's Apostle." Then Abu Huraira told the whole narration and added "He (i.e. the thief) said, 'Whenever you go to your bed, recite the Verse of "Al-Kursi" (2.255) for then a guardian from Allah will be guarding you, and Satan will not approach you till dawn.' " On that the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, "He told you the truth, though he is a liar, and he (the thief) himself was the Satan." [Muwatta]

• Making du'a before entering the lavatory:

Anas reported that Rasool ul Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم on entering the lavatory used to say: O Allah! I seek refuge with You from devils –male and females (or offensive and wicked deeds or spirits).” (Allahumma inni a‘udhu bika minal khubthi wal
khabaa’ith) [Bukhari, Muslim]

• Making du'a before removing clothing:

Anas reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, "The barrier between the eyes of the Jinn and the nakedness of the Children of Adam is [created] when a Muslim discards a garment and says, 'In the name of Allah besides Whom there is no other god'." [Ibn As-Sinni, Tirmidhi]

• Making du'a for your children:

Ibn ‘Abaas related that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم used to commend Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn to Allaah’s protection, saying: ‘I commend you two to the protection of Allaah’s perfect words from every devil, beast, and every evil eye.’ (U’eethukumma bikalimaati taamati min kulli shaytanin wa ham-matin wa min kulli aynil laama )
[Bukhari 4/119]

In addition to the above we should remember to make du'a before sleeping and upon waking, before eating, when entering and leaving the house and when entering and leaving the mosque.

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه و سلم as saying: When a person enters his house and mentions the name of Allah at the time of entering it and while eating the food, Satan says (addressing himself): You have no place to spend the night and no evening meal; but when he enters without mentioning the name of Allah, the Satan says: You have found a place to spend the night, and when he does not mention the name of Allah while eating food, he (the Satan) says: You have found a place to spend the night and evening meal. [Muslim]

May Allah bless and protect His servants, ameen.

Youtube

2008-02-11T21:06:00.001+03:00

I was surfing around from blog to blog yesterday and found this nice post along with the following video. I shed a tear watching the video, it's so sweet and it took me back to last year when my youngest daughter was born and I was just marvelling at the miracle of it all. Decided to share it with my eldest daughter (12) who quietly watched but obviously didn't share her mother's enthusiasm. When it finished she said, "Yeah. So...?" I started harping on about how amazing it all is, blah blah blah to which she responded, "On a level of 1 to 10, how much does it hurt?" I answered, "10 but it is another pain altogether and it is so worth..." "OK," she cut in, "I'm not having babies." And off she went. The ingratitude!

This second video from Youtube is one of my kid's all time favourites. I mean favourites. They not only memorised the words but also the different voices so they even mimic the lady asking, "Our calendar, the one we use in Islam, does it go by the sun or the moon?" "The mooooooon"

It's a cute song with a cute video to accompany.

Relying on men

2008-02-11T20:05:00.002+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

It's times like today when I feel so irked about having to rely on men. My husband is overseas on business, the kids are on school holidays so I decided it would be nice to get us all out of the house for the morning by going on the compound bus to the Mamlaka shopping mall. Yes, I know there is an almost brand spanking new car sitting outside the front of my house and the keys in the cabinet but being a woman in Saudi means the car will have to stay sitting outside the front of my house until the hubby gets back from his trip!

Sooooo... we got on the bus this morning, the shop-ping bus, notice the word 'shopping'. There were me, my 5 kids and a couple of other ladies. The driver is new and was taking a bit of a round and about route but we didn't really think anything of it until he started making a u-turn in an odd place... it was at that point that we realised the guy was taking us to the Mamlaka hospital! Purleeze! Even after after our protests he seemed a bit surprised that he was supposed to be taking us to the Mamlaka mall not the Mamlaka hospital. Eventually we arrived at the correct location.

After taking the kids in a few shops and getting them lunch we went outside to meet the driver. There had been two buses coming from our compound, I saw driver A (not the one we came with) and got the telephone number of driver B so I could phone him and confirm that he was coming shortly. When he came the bus was full. Ladies who had been on the bus A for some reason were on this bus... no room for 6 more.

So, I phone the compound gate to tell them what happened and I am told that they will send another bus. Not quite sure what happened after that, just breakdown of communications it seems. Three more phone calls to the compound and 45 minutes later we are still waiting outside the mall... I eventually get through to the compound manager who tells me he'll send someone right away... hmm, but I was told someone was coming 45 minutes ago!

Fortunately my kids managed to amuse me with their silliness on the bus back so I wasn't nearly as livid as I should have been when we finally arrived home. I did speak to the manager about the whole palaver but was very polite. I think we'll just stay in tomorrow.

If only women were permitted to drive in this country...

The big move...

2008-02-09T12:26:00.001+03:00

4 years ago this week I was in the throes of a major move. My husband had already moved to Saudi Arabia 2 months previously and he had been busy during that time sorting out his residency permit so that he could get the wheels in motion for the visa for myself and the children. He had also been house-hunting, car-hunting and of course, the whole reason for being in Saudi Arabia in the first place... starting his new job!

So, I was in the UK with my 4 children: 8 year old (dd1), 6 year old (dd2), 3 year old (dd3) and 4 week old (ds) minus my husband trying to get everything sorted out for our big move. Just 3 days after my son was born I had to drive myself to the register office to register his birth so I could get the birth certificate as quickly as possible so I could apply for his passport so I could apply for the family visa for Saudi Arabia!

Boxes had to be packed and sent with the cargo company, other unneeded items had to be shifted to the loft, the house had to be cleaned from top to bottom ready for tenants and all odds and ends had to be tied up. All this with a newborn!

So my diary for the week beginning 9th February 2004 was like this:

Monday 9th Feb:
Drop 2 older girls a school
Drop younger daughter at pre-school
Phone Saudi Embassy in London
Phone cargo company
Collect some summer clothing I had ordered for kids
Get on with cargo packing, cleaning and sorting out
Collect kids from school
Take girls to swimming class

Tuesday 10th Feb:
Drop kids at school
Phone calls to.... cancel future swimming lessons, cancel dental appointment, cancel tv licence, arrange for gas, electricity and phone to be cut off at correct time and my account to be billed
More packing and cleaning

Wednesday 11th Feb:
Drop kids at school
Wait for health visitor to come and weigh and check my newborn
Wait for company to come and steam clean sofas and beds
Meantime pack some more, laundry too
Collect kids from school
Swimming lesson

Thursday 12th Feb:
Drop kids at school
Take my baby to hospital for BCG vaccination
Packing, laundry etc
Collect kids
More phone calls - council, Inland Revenue, water company, visa company

Friday 13th Feb:
Drop kids at school
Wait for cargo company to come and collect all the boxes that had taken up residence in my lounge
Postnatal appointment with dr
Collect swimming lesson refund from leisure centre
Collect kids from school

Saturday 14th Feb:
Friend of dh came to help me get unneeded items into loft
Go to buy new shoes for girls
Go to friend's house to say farewell

Sunday 15th Feb:
Drop kids at friend's house to play
Friend's mum came to help me clean, clean, clean.... I remember that this was the day that baby had a lot of colic so we had to take it in turns rocking him and singing to him.
Preparing some snacks for kids - I allowed the girls to invite 7 friends for a small 'goodbye' party

The day we had to leave the house at 3am for the airport was such a huge relief! We had spent almost 3 months without my husband, he had not seen his newborn son and I desperately needed my much deserved postnatal relaxation period.

Our flight was at 6:15am and we had a 5 hour transit in Frankfurt. The trouble with that was, we had to stay sitting almost the whole time because dd2's new shoes were rubbing so she couldn't walk! Aaargh! Eventually we boarded the onward flight to Riyadh with much trepidation. Alhamdu Lillah Allah made it easy for us... dd3 slept almost instantly; dd1 and dd2 kept themselves amused with the inflight entertainment and slept when they were tired, the baby slept most of the way and since the flight was virtually empty I was able to lay him on the seats next to me and enjoy the flight myself a little. The Lufthansa staff were wonderful and did all they could to help.

It was very late when we finally arrived at the King Khalid International airport, Riyadh Saudi Arabia and a whole new chapter of our lives was about to begin...

Spinach Fudge Brownies anyone??

2008-02-08T17:40:00.000+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

A friend phoned me yesterday and exitedly told me about a new book she has been reading called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. The wife of the comedian Jerry Seinfeld has brought out a book of recipes incorporating purees of vegetables such as beetroot, pumpkin, carrot and spinach. In the book you'll find simple ways of slipping veggies into macaroni and meatloaf but you'll also find recipes for desserts such as Spinach and Carrot Brownie. Yum... or perhaps not.

I felt cynical from the start... how much nutritional benefit from the vegetables can there be in a mere slice of cake or Brownie that contains a total of 1 cup of vegetable puree and what vitamin content will remain in the cake once the vegetable has been steamed or baked, then pureed and then baked in the cake once again??

The same goes for the chicken nuggets dipped in broccoli puree that she shows how to make. Each nugget will have a very thin coating of broccoli once cooked so it seems really pointless and a waste of time from my point of view.

I feel that there are far better and effective ways of slipping vegetables into the family food without going to such lengths and I expect the addition of the vegetables to enhance the flavour of the food rather than being covered up by the strong taste of another ingredient as proposed by Jessica.

I like to make vegetable soups (pureed) quite frequently and find that my children will quite happily eat Butternut Squash soup with some fresh crusty bread but they wouldn't consider eating butternut squash when I roast it with the chicken... it's all about presentation and honesty. The children don't like whole squash but enjoy it as a soup and they know that as a soup they enjoy it. I don't need to try to fool them into eating things.

I find that grating some courgette (zucchini) and carrot into rice before cooking and adding some spices is a nice way of adding veggies to the meal and makes the rice tastey.

Shorba - the national soup of Algeria, my husband's country -contains a reasonable amount of vegetables and is exceptionally tastey and the children enjoy it.

As mentioned in this article, the whole idea of pureeing veggies and slipping them into our children's 'junk' meals (cakes, brownies, chicken nuggets) gives out completely the wrong message. We will find ourselves encouraging the kids to have another slice of cake simply because "It's good for you" and we will not bother to reinforce the idea of a healthy balanced diet.

"Philosophically and practically, this is not really an effective approach. It will not develop an appreciation of the flavors, textures, and interests of various vegetables, which is what you should try to do by introducing them over and over again until they catch on." - Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition and author of What to Eat.

If you have enough vegetables on offer on a weekly basis there are bound to be at least one or two vegetables that the children will find to their taste. My 4 older children have turned into salad freaks and they love lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers... that has to be a good start! One of my daughters loves sweetcorn with her tuna and mayo in a sandwich. The four of them were crazy about broccoli at one point... to the point that if anyone looked away from their plate my son would steal the broccoli off their plate.

I will continue to make stews and other dishes with 2 or 3 vegetables in and encourage them to try different things. If they don't like the turnip in the cous cous stew at least they will enjoy the carrot. One of my girls recently discovered that long green beans are actually quite nice.

Food is a journey of discovery from the outset and I am still on that journey myself trying new things and I don't think I will be forking out the 100 Riyals for Jessica's book. You won't find any spinach in the chocolate cake in this house but I will be happy to add a little feta to the spinach and make it into a toasted sandwich.

A modern retelling of an old tale

2008-01-27T19:39:00.003+03:00

My 10 year old had to make a poem of a traditional story for her homework. She chose Rumpelstiltskin and we worked on it together. The following is what we came up with. Quite a formidable duo we make, methinks! LOL

RUMPELSTILTSKIN

Once a miller boasted to the king,
That his daughter could make gold in a ding,
All she’d need was plenty of straw,
In order to give him gold galore!

The king was rich and far from needy,
But alas he became much too greedy,
“Gold!” he drooled, “And lots of it!”
I could even have a golden throne on which to sit.”

He filled a room with straw, and in he pushed the girl,
“Hurry and spin by morning, so go on, give it a twirl!”
Desperate, the poor girl sat and wept,
When suddenly, in a little man crept.

“Aye, aye,” said he, “You look like you’ve had a fright.”
Weeping, she told the man of her plight.
He agreed to help, they struck a deal,
Then at once he got spinning at the wheel.

In the morning, the king came in,
“Ahh, I see, you spun it in the night within!”
He was happy to see the room filled with gold
But thought, “I need much more since I am getting old.”

He gave her still more straw to spin into gold.
Again the little man came to her and thought , “This is getting old!”
They made a deal; “I’ll spin the straw but if you and the king should marry,
I want your firstborn child, but just don’t call him Harry!”

The straw was spun, the girl and king were wed,
In time she forgot the promise she'd made,
And soon she was blessed with her very own child,
The man reappeared looking quite wild.

“You must keep your promise and give me what’s mine,
Unless,” said he, “You can guess my name then it’s fine!
If you guess my name in the next three nights,
Then keep your baby and there’ll be no fights.”

She guessed and guessed, “Charlie? Bob? Dave?”
Each time he said, “No way, that’s not it. Behave!”
A messenger helped her and gave her a clue,
She knew it was right and knew what to do.

The last day came and she said, “Pot Belly? Cherry bun?”
Until, she said, “Perhaps RUMPELSTILTSKIN is the one?!”
He shouted in fury and went quite red. “You cheated!”
He spun and spun right through the floor and was defeated.

THE END

Never too early...

2008-01-25T19:22:00.002+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

One question I notice mothers of small children, asking frequently is "When should I start teaching my child about Islam?" I say, it's never to early! Start from birth saying 'Bismillah' aloud when you begin to feed your child; say other phrases such as 'alhamdu Lillah' upon sneezing or completing a meal and 'assalaamu alaikum'; pray in the presence of your child and so on.

My youngest daughter is 14 months old and now she will even pause from breastfeeding to say 'dandada' (alhamdu Lillah) with me if I sneeze and she always says it when she sneezes. She makes ruku' in front of me at salah times and now seems to be practising the juloos (sitting) position, masha'Allah.

Children are little sponges and readily soak up and copy all our good habits but beware because the opposite is also true!

Old Dir'iyyah - Riyadh

2008-01-25T11:47:00.004+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

My home is just a 5 minute drive from an area of Riyadh known as 'Old Dir'iyyah'. There are grassy areas shaded by trees and it's a nice spot to take the children for a picnic when the hot desert summer draws to a close. They can enjoy running about freely in the gardens which seem a world away from the modern Riyadh as we know it today.

Ad-Dir'iyyah is located on the North-Western edge of Riyadh and is the original seat of the family of Sa'ud. It is also the base from which the great reformer Sheikh-ul-Islam Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab made his da'wa and he was instrumental in dragging this part of Arabia out of the bid'a (innovation) and jaahiliyya (ignorance)into which it had fallen.

It is mentioned in the editor's preface to Ibn Abdul Wahhab's Kitab Al-Tawhid that the people had fallen into such polytheistic practices such as the veneration of graves, stones, caves and evil spirits; all those things that the prophet Muhammad, salla Allah alaihi wassallam, had been sent by Allah, subhanahu wa Ta'ala, to eradicate.

Amir Muhammad ibn Saud greeted Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and said "This oasis is yours and do not fear your enemies. By the name of Allah if all Najd was summoned to throw you out we would never agree to expel you. Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab replied, "You are the settlement's chief and wise man. I want you to grant me an oath that you will perform Jihad against the unbelievers, in return you will be the imam, leader of the Muslim community and I will be leader in religious matters. (1) Amir Muhammad Ibn Sa'ud presented himself as a student to Ibn Abdul Wahhab along with some members of his family. Dir'iyyah became popular as a place of learning and as such was transformed into a centre of Islamic education and Da'wa and people began migrating in great numbers.

The Dir'iyyah area is now undergoing extensive restoration as can be seen from the photographs; some parts are still virtually in ruins and are deemed unsafe to venture into whilst other parts have already been rennovated. Original building materials would have included dried mud bricks, limestone, wood (athil), palm leaves and branches. (2) The restoration has been very faithful to the original style of building. In addition to building restoration there is plenty of green space on which to picnic and trees offering shade. A very welcome alternative to the usual chaos of Riyadh city centre. I took the following photographs back in October 2007.

Further online and offline reading:

Dir'iyyah and the First Saudi State by William Facey

A History of Saudi Arabia By Madawi Al-Rasheed

Dir'iyyah in Wikipedia

Blogger in Arabic...

2008-01-22T08:17:00.001+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I wanted to make a new post this morning after a couple of weeks of blogging silence and not really knowing what to blog about. Cold, wet weather in Saudi provided my topic but I couldn't work out how to make my new post. All the links on the Blogger page were in Arabic and none were taking me to where I wanted to be to make my new post. Aaargh!

Eventually I clicked on the little orange and white 'B' logo which took me to yet more Arabic but I noticed a pull down menu of 'lughaa'... languages, alhamdu Lillah and was able to switch back to English.

So the news on the Blogger page is that 3 new languages have now been added: Arabic, Persian and Hebrew. Just my bad luck that living in Saudi made the default for me Arabic and 7am was too early in the morning for working out how to get back into English!

National Obsession...

2008-01-22T07:57:00.000+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Mutirnaa bi Fadhli Llahi wa Rahmatihi
It has rained by the Bounty of Allah and his Mercy

If you keep up with some of the other Saudi related blogs you may have noticed a common topic over the past couple of weeks or so… yes, the weather. It seems that those of us who live in this normally hot country with little variation in the day to day weather suddenly have an obsession with the weather. Well, you can hardly blame us; after baking in temperatures of 45 degrees and upwards (sometimes soaring to the lower 50’s) cooler temperatures and rain are welcome guests at this time of year.

Umm H.A.Y. has been enjoying much more tolerable weather over in Jeddah masha’Allah whilst Suhaa has been wondering whether it is really cold enough to bundle her children up winter coats over in Madinah. Even the Arabnews has been reporting our favourite subject and mentions that 0 degrees Centigrade… yes FREEZING, was recorded in Riyadh this month!

So, the weather has become the national obsession and today it’s my turn to blog on this subject and the reason for my excitement… I have woken up to wet road! Yup, it rained in the night. Alhamdu Lillah. I have been receiving SMS messages from my mother in the UK about the over-abundance of rain there, the flooding, the gales and the general misery caused by the unrelenting wet weather whilst here in Riyadh, mosques (and indeed mosques all over the Kingdom) have been calling people to prayer to supplicate Allah Almighty for His blessing in the form of rain:

Oh Allah, give water to Your slaves, and Your livestock, and spread Your Mercy and revive Your dead land.

Living in such a dry country where we see no rain at all for much of the year has really opened my eyes to the blessing contained in rain and how much of a gift from Allah it really is. When I visit the UK, I love to drive through the countryside and enjoy the greenery… over grown green fields and trees in abundance and yet here in Riyadh orange is the predominant colour… sand! How amazing it is to take a short drive into the desert after rainfall and see little streams formed in the sand and a hardy little bush bursting into leaf. Allahu Akbar!

Chatting with strangers...

2008-01-10T17:32:00.001+03:00

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

One of the nice things about living in Saudi Arabia is the way locals act towards me when they realise that I am not a born Muslim. Funnily enough this is the thing that annoys my mother-in-law as she thinks people are being nosey when they suddenly drill me with 101 questions but I find quite sweet and funny really.

I'll be in the masjid or musalla of a shopping mall with my brood of kids, wearing my abaya, hijab and niqab just like everyone else and no-one will take any notice of me... I finish my prayer and turn to one of the children to speak, in English. Suddenly all eyes are on me, puzzled. Then someone will bravely ask, "Muslim?" (Funny, because not only am I clad from top to toe in Islamic attire, but I also just did salah!) Next I will be asked if I am from Bosnia, Syria, Turkey... then the surprise when I say I am "Min Baritaaniya" (from Great Britain) and the conversation will continue depending on how good the lady's English is or how I am able to manage in Arabic.

Just today, I was in a supermarket with my two youngest children and my son fell over, I turned and said to him, "Are you alright? Come here and hold my hand." An old Saudi lady who had been looking at the bread came to me saying, "Masha'Allah, masha'Allah," and grabbed my hand to shake and then kissed the baby!

I know there are many, many convert sisters in Islam across Saudi Arabia but when we go out covered up we are hard to spot so it seems like such a novelty for the born Muslimahs in this country. It is so nice seeing how happy for me these people are, when they discover that I accepted Islam of my own volition (I converted before I met my husband). Alhamdu Lillah.

... إِنَّمَا ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ إِخۡوَةٌ۬
"The Believers are but a single Brotherhood..." (Qur'an 49:10)

First Post!

2007-10-22T00:35:00.002+03:00

Assalaamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh!

Well, I am new to blogging and am trying to find my way around and work out how to do things.

About me: I am a convert to Islam, married with 5 children and we are living in Saudi Arabia where we have been for the past several years. I was wondering what to call the blog and was trying to think of something Saudi related but, who knows where we will be 5 years from now or even 1 year from now since everything in life is transient. This reminded me of the well known hadith in Sahih Bukhari which gave my blog it's name:

'Abdullah bin 'Umar said, "Allah's Apostle took hold of my shoulder and said, 'Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler." The sub-narrator added: Ibn 'Umar used to say, "If you survive till the evening, do not expect to be alive in the morning, and if you survive till the morning, do not expect to be alive in the evening, and take from your health for your sickness, and (take) from your life for your death." (Volume 8, Book 76, Number 425, Book of Ar-Riqaq)

I'll post my little musings about Islam, motherhood, life in Saudi Arabia and life in general on this blog insha'Allah.