Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim
~*The Ramadan Chronicles - From Saudi Arabia*~ (Chapter 1)
Al-hamdulillah for Ramadan!
Wow...it's 9:34 am KSA time...day five...wonder what
will be in store for me today! SubhanÁllah, it has been such a wonderful
Ramadan so far! I am so thankful that Allah (swt) has brought me to this place
and time in my life. MashaÁllah...
Ramadan Day 1 was spent in Mecca for
Jummah. Al-hamdulillah. (Yes, of course, there is much more to that...but it
will take me a whole day to finish the story...subhanÁllah...stay tuned!)
Ramadan is such a wonderful time...the fasting, worship and fellowship are all
so amazing in combination! Unlike any other time of the year!
SubhanÁllah...
Ramadan Day 2 was highlighted by an
iftar at the home of my adopted family with my dear sister/friend, Dr.
Masarrat. Al-hamdulillah, I was finally able to unite Masarrat with Mom...she
has terrible, terrible edema in her legs that has not gotten any better ever
since I've known her, and it has worried me so much. Masarrat has convinced Mom
to come in and see her. InshaÁllah Masarrat will help get this problem
resolved...she was deeply concerned (as I) when she examined Mom's
legs...subhanÁllah...on this particular day the swelling in her feet had
subsided, but it was really the first time I had seen this much improvement.
Just before Masarrat and I were
leaving that night, Samera's daughter Gedy asked Masarrat to translate
something she had written so that I could read it in English. (Gedy remembered
Masarrat from the trip to Madinah.) So Gedy wrote in a little booklet from her
school bag a single sentence in Arabic. And when the booklet was presented to
me, written beside it in English were the words, "Mom Aishah, I love you
too much." Dang...make me cry and all, huh?
Where do I want to go for iftar? Mom's
house!
Day 3 was spent recuperating from Day
1 and 2 (TOTAL lack of sleep!). I had departed for Mecca with only 2 hours
sleep and then spent an exhausting 21 hours after that before I slept again,
and then it was only a 3 hour nap before I had to get up to run errands!
And Day 4 started out with a bang! I
took suhoor over to the Delivery Ward of the hospital to meet Masarrat and some
nurses in the staff lounge and afterwards Masarrat ever so casually said,
"Wanna see a baby being born?" SubhanÁllah...It's a Girl! Wow...I
sure could have picked a little better timing though...I mean...right after
breakfast?
I came home afterwards and got some
sleep and then finished out the day with my family for iftar. I spent some
"Mom" time...Al-hamdulillah...it is so nice to have a Mom!!! Mom has
such pain due to a deteriorating bone condition, and yet she works so hard in
the home...I caught her with a pillow case that was made a little small for the
stiff pillow she was trying to put it on, and having noticed on arriving that
she was in pain, I got up and gently tugged the pillow from her hands and
proceeded to put the cover on it for her.
As I stood there beside where she was
sitting on her lounger, I noticed her patting her heart and speaking in Arabic
across the room to her daughter, Samera. I asked Samera to
translate..."When Aishah is here my pain goes away..."
mashaÁllah...I'm tellin' ya...this little óle lady sure has a hold on this
heart of mine...
Later in the evening Mom wanted to go
and exchange a pressure cooker she had bought so I rode along with her...I'm so
afraid of her falling and/or hurting her legs...with the edema being so bad, if
she hurts herself healing may become an issue...then infection...etc...Rakan
(10-year old grandson) also rode with us. He took one arm to support Mom and I
took the other as she climbed steps to get in and out of the little shops we
visited. I was rewarded with a pretty little silver tea pot I had spotted on a
shelf that I just knew would look perfect on with the new tea set and trays I
had purchased the other week...
Rakan was so darn cute. We made a
pit-stop at the grocery so I could pick up a few items, and little man that he
is, he came inside with me (Mom waited in the car, she was already worn out),
and he got a basket and followed behind me every step, and when I picked
something up, he would take it from me, deposit it into the basket and wait for
me to pick up something else. MashaÁllah.
We came to the cold soft-drink section
and I waved my arm out in front of it to indicate to him that I was offering to
buy him whatever he wanted, and he shook his head, "No." I said,
"Are you sure?" Waving my arm in front of the soft drink selection
again, smiling, and he again responded, "No," and at the same time,
with a knowing grin on his face, he reached into the front pocket of his thobe
and pulled out a small wad of cash...obviously proud that he was sporting his
own money in order to buy whatever he wished!
SubhanÁllah... Then when we got to the check out, he took
the items from the basket and placed them one by one on the conveyer belt, and
just as deftly snatched the grocery bags before I could in order to carry them
out to the car. MashaÁllah...so this is what it is like to have a Muslim
son...(all the kids call me either Mom Aishah or Auntie Aishah).
Later that evening Ibrahim (one of
Samera's sons), called on the mobile and asked me if there was anything he
could bring me from Riyadh (he's coming in for the weekend). I said, I had no
idea what he could bring, and then suddenly I remembered...and I said..."I
need cheese!" LOL!!! I swear, I will never forget the feeling that came
over me when I heard the chuckle in his voice as he said, "Don't worry
mom, I will bring the cheese!" SubhanÁllah...he is such a good son...and
Al-hamdulillah he is now one month into his new job at Gulf Airlines.
Ah, and now Day 5 has arrived.
Psst...I'll let you in on a little secret...I am the
mystery-security-guard-delivery-person! hee hee hee (workin' on that hasanat!)
Last year I adopted a "Ramadan
Buddy"; she and I took turns, one week on and one week off, calling the
other to wake to make sure we were up in time for suhoor (you know who you are
Ukhtee!). What a blessing that was...we had some great early morning
talks...Al-hamdulillah.
This year, however, even though I
thought I would be able to dial her up over the internet, it turns out that
because of the 7-hour time difference and my backwards days and nights, that so
far I have missed being able to call her...Allah (swt) knows. So, what has
transpired to take the place of this early morning good deed is something
altogether unexpected. And it all started the morning after I returned from
Mecca...
When we (my friend, Dr. Masarrat, her
doctor friend, Nazeer and his wife), returned from Mecca is was like 2:30 am
the next day. Whew! Yes! It was a l-o-n-g day!!! Anyhow, I thought I
would be ever so kind (and since I was awake anyway), and just stay awake until
suhoor and fajr to prepare a nice meal to enjoy with my husband.
I cooked up a storm and when I was
finished the table was mashaÁllah, so beautiful! Yes, indeedy...I had outdone
myself...where in the heck the energy came from I'll never know!!!
Ah, but here's the real kicker...I
went in to awaken my husband at 4:00 am only to learn that he had eaten suhoor
at 1:30 am before he went to bed...(and, obviously before I had returned from
Mecca).
I came out of the room instantly
heart-sick to the point that I really thought I would throw up.
Then, out of no where I made a
decision.
I went to my room, took my abaya,
hijab and niqab (sometimes there are even more mysterious reasons to utilize
that little gadget), and I gathered up the dishes (china and all), put
everything on a serving tray, and marched myself right on down those 6 flights
of stairs and headed over to the security guard's little office. (There is a
guard and gate for entering the housing compound.)
Of course, I knew I was facing the
language barrier, but I felt sure that all I would have to do would be to say
"Suhoor" and present the tray and the message would be loud and
clear! Sure enough...that darn tray left my hands pdq!!!
So, well...it just seemed to be
rational thing to do...no sense in letting all that food go to waste!
Astifergullah!
So, after that I decided that whenever
I don't have another suhoor plan, I will default to
security-guard-suhoor-delivery service!
This morning there was a different
guard on duty, and when I stepped into the doorway and said,
"Suhoor?" the brother's face lit right up! I swear! By the
time I had walked around the corner and peeked in the window on the back-side
of the little office, he had already torn the aluminum foil off the tray (I have
now purchased disposable trays), and was flat putting that food away!
Al-hamdulillah...don't you know I just came right back up those 6 flights of
stairs with a grin from ear-to-ear??
So there you have it, once again.
Whenever something happens that you don't understand how or why it
happened...there is always a reason...sometimes it might take a while for the
light bulb to turn on...but Allah (swt) knows... and He doesn't usually keep us
in suspense too long...that is...if we have our eyes open...
Ramadan Mubarak to
all!!
Fi AmanÁllah,
~Aishah
The testimony of faith is saying with
conviction,
"Ash hadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ash hadu anna Muhammadar Rasul Allah."
("I declare there is no god but Allah and I declare
that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.")
The first
part, “There is no true god but God,” means that none has
the right to
be worshipped but God alone, and that God has neither partner nor son.
This testimony
of faith is called the Shahada, a simple formula that should be said
with
conviction in order to convert to Islam.
The testimony
of faith is the most important pillar of Islam.
If
I am right, it is from Allah; if wrong, it is from me.
I
ask Allah Almighty to protect you and me from errors
and
from all that displease Him.
"Al-Hamdu-lillahi
rabbil-alameen"
SISTER
AISHAH'S ISLAMIC JOURNEY