Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim
For vocabulary help visit: http://dictionary.reference.com/
Bismillahir Rahmanir
Raheem
~*Aishah's Journey Continues...The Road to Madinah*~
Assalamu
alaikum wa Rahmatuallahi wa Barakatuh!
June 17, 2004
Al-hamdulillah
that I took a pen and writing tablet with me on the bus! The road to Madinah
would be a six hour trip, giving me an excellent opportunity to begin recording
my newest journey.
It was a very
busy the day before leaving Taif and, as usual for me, despite the fact that
the adhan for fajr would be at 4:10 am, I was not ready for sleep until about
1:30 am. One of the last chores I had to do was final preparation of a meal for
my husband to eat in my absence. I made his favorite beef roast, potatoes and
carrots that cooked until tender in the oven with some bell pepper and onion,
together with a packet of mushroom soup. It wasn't long before the aroma
emanating from the oven filled the apartment making my stomach grumble! I
finished up some laundry, and ironed a few things. Then I made myself
comfortable in the middle of the twin bed in the computer room and sat in the
company of my husband while I sewed up the open seam of my favorite house dress
that I had bought a few weeks ago at the market, but never worn. It's lightweight,
very soft cotton with beautiful floral embroidery down the front and along the
cuff of the sleeves on a burnt-orange background. I really like the dress and
wanted to wear it the evening after we arrived in Madinah.
After I
finished sewing the dress I was finally satisfied enough to feel I could go to
sleep and I prompted my husband, who was still at the computer, that it was
time to retire for the night.
Al-hamdulillah
sleep was coming easily and in anticipation of having to be ready to meet the
bus at 5:00 am, I set my mental clock for 3:30 so I could shower, take some
coffee, pray fajr and maybe check the email one last time before departing.
Yes, that's right...I am functioning the first day of my trip on 2 hours
sleep...
Promptly at
5:00 am, I made my way across the parking lot to the area in front of the
female flats where I anticipated meeting 10 other sisters from our hospital who
would also be making the trip.
Imagine my
surprise to find nary a single sister outside to greet me...ok...whatever...I
have outgrown surprise...this is "Saudi-normal". LOL!!
I waited about
15 minutes to see if anyone else would join me and then feeling somewhat
conspicuous standing outside alone in the crisp, early morning air, I decided
to walk back to the apartment.
The apartment
is directly behind the guardhouse at the gate for the housing complex. I
decided to knock on the door and attempt to solicit information from the guard
who, of course, only spoke Arabic. Improvisation has been working for me lately
so I began my conversation with the guard by saying, "Madinah",
holding out my silver key-chain watch that spells out the word MOM, the clock
being in the "O" (this was a birthday gift to me from my adopted
daughter, Hanane), and pointing to it.
I think my eyes
popped right out of their sockets as the guard held up both his hands and
raised seven fingers...7:00 being the message delivered.
7:00!!!!!!
7:00!!!!!!
I was soooooooooo
upset!!!
I could have
slept at least two more hours!!! AARRGG!!!
Rather than
drag my bag of books and my overnight bag back up three flights of stairs, I
left them leaning against the wall beside the housing administrator's office
door and returned to my apartment. Well, of course, if I allowed myself to go
to sleep at that point, I would probably have missed the bus, so I came in and
turned on the computer, deciding to check email.
Just before
7:00 I returned to the pick-up point in front of the female flats, and
subhan'Allah, I found our small group of 10 gathering. What relief!! I
happily said, "Assalamu Alaikum!" as I came upon the group. Smiles
and salams from the otherwise groggy looking faces of the styrofoam tea-cup
holding sisters greeted me in return. Subhan'Allah, I recognized a few faces
from trips I had made on the bus to the market. In my excitement to see
everyone gathered for our trip, it didn't take me long to launch right into
asking if there was anyone else besides me traveling to Madinah for the first
time. Hearing their replies, I happily dug right into my book bag and began
distributing the "History of Madinah" books, and I was even happier
to know I had enough to go around. Al-hamdulillah. The full title of the book
is "History of Madinah
Munawwarah" (Prepared by a
Group of Scholars under the supervision of Shaikh Safiur-Rahman Mubarakpuri -
Darussalam Publications).
Now before I
continue, there is a story in-and-of-itself about the acquisition of the books that
I just have to share with you.
A few days
before our departure date, I was in the office of the Personnel Director and I
asked him if there was a plan to distribute any kind of information to the
sisters by way of educating them about Madinah or any of the things recommended
that a person should do upon arriving at the mosque. He said he didn't know. I
then proposed to him that we do something about that! After hearing my idea, he
picked up the phone, dialed a number, spoke a minute or two, hung up and
announced that I would be introduced to "Sami" in the ministry
office. He liked the idea of putting something together for the sisters and
instructed the person on the other end of his telephone conversation to be of
assistance to me in facilitating my plan. Al-hamdulillah.
One of the
office helpers then escorted me to another building and introduced me to Sami,
one of the ministry staff members. Sami is a relatively young, soft-spoken
brother, slender in build, with large, wide-set, very kind eyes. He was wearing
the typical Saudi long white thobe with the red and white patterned scarf over
his head. Quite honestly, this is one of the things I have grown to especially
appreciate about the Saudis. It just seems right...I mean...we are
suppose to dress modestly...not just women, but men, too!
One of the
other things I noticed right away about Sami was that he seemed to be very
serious about trying to keep his gaze lowered. Subhan'Allah...this is such a
redeemable quality to find in a Muslim brother. I respected him immediately,
especially since I had, on arriving inside the hospital, removed my face veil.
At this point
in my niqab wearing stage, I am primarily wearing the face veil (or niqab) when
I go out shopping with the nurses, riding in the car, or when I am walking
outside between destinations. By the time I finish the walk over to the
hospital in the stifling Saudi summer heat, once I step inside the air-conditioned
entrance I am very nearly unable to catch my breath, and off that thing comes, post-haste!
Sami and I
discussed my idea to provide some educational information to the Madinah
travelling nurses, and he just loved it! To that end, we decided that overnight
we would both do a little searching around on the internet to see if we could
find some basic material suitable for printing and making copies of. We were
thinking "economically". {{smile}} The plan was for the two of us to
meet again the following afternoon to see what each of us had found.
When I returned
to the hospital the following afternoon I was making my way over to Sami's
office when I spotted the Personnel Director, who I have now come to know quite
well as I freely return to his office from time to time if I require assistance
with anything. It has become customary that I receive a warm greeting, the
offer of a seat in his office and within just a minute or two to be presented
with a cup of hot tea. On these occasions I feel like "the Princess"!
(All women are princesses and should be treated accordingly!! hee hee hee
The moral of this being...if the woman is happy...don't you think she will do
her best to make others happy, too??? Mmm...just a thought...)
Anyway, as I
encountered the Personnel Director in coming to see Sami that afternoon, he
very nearly didn't recognize me because I was wearing the face veil...but
despite this...my bright green eyes are a dead give-away as to my identity!
LOL!! He said, "Aishah!" and making a waving motion with his hand in
front of his face asked, "Why do you have this today?" To which I
replied, "Yesterday when I first met Sami one of the things I immediately
noticed about him was that he was trying very diligently to practice the act of
lowering his gaze. I was very moved by this, as it is not something you notice
that often so today I wanted to make it easier for him." My personnel
director/friend was very surprised on hearing this. He replied,
"Subhan'Allah." He was happy to learn that Sami and I were working
together to fulfill my previously discussed plan and we parted company.
As I entered
Sami's office his face lit up brightly as I entered the room. He recognized me
immediately, and smiling he said, "Al-hamdulillah...I see you take this
one today (circling his face with raised index finger)...masha'Allah...I am
happy for you to see that." Underneath my veil I was smiling, too. I was
happy that he was happy, and our conversation that afternoon was less strained
for him, and he didn't feel so shy to directly communicate with me. And I
didn't mind doing this for him, not at all.
You see...there
can be many different reasons why a woman will choose to wear the face veil. As
with me, in my initial taking of it, I made the decision out of a matter of self-protection
from possible physical harm by militants said to be lurking in the
mountainside of the area where we live...and being as American's happen to be
their targets (who knows if they ask questions first to find out if you are
Muslim or not), I figured I was better safe than sorry, so I adopted, in
addition to the abaya and head scarf I was already wearing, the face veil
(including the optional outer layer that you can pull over your face to cover
your eyes), gloves and socks. It is now somehow ironic that when I go
outside I am one of those "black blobs" I previously wrote about in
the dark days that I spent on first arriving here when I used to stand, blankly
staring out the window of my living room, watching the black abaya/niqab clad
women moving about the hospital campus.
In the instance
when I decided to wear the face veil in the presence of my new friend, Sami, it
was out of respect for the fact that I could see a brother who had the
intention to diligently practice his religion. This made an indelible impression
on me, and made me feel naturally compelled to wear the face veil
to make it easier for him. And I was happy to do it...and the bonus was that he
was happy too. Al-hamdulillah.
So you see...as
some people might not understand, the face veil can be a multi-faceted garment.
It can offer both protection from harm and blessing in knowing you were able to
help facilitate another person's earnest attempt to truly practice his
religion. Al-hamdulillah.
There is
another reason why women wear the veil...and this reason completely disturbs
me. It is to keep from being blatantly glared at in such a way as to make
you feel completely undressed, despite the fact that, aside from the lack of
covering on one's face, the entire rest of a person's body is entirely covered
in an over-sized black fabric tent!
If this moronic
behavior was just sporadic, as you will find back home in the U.S., it would
possibly something one could overlook. But this behavior is so rampant
throughout the male community, especially if you are not in the company of your
husband, that a woman feels forced to wear niqab!! It is
wretchedly disgusting to feel as though you are not free to go about your
business without being visually devoured by throngs of perverts!!
Diving into the
reason for our now second meeting, I was offered a seat at Sami's computer,
whereupon I pulled a floppy disk out of my pocket book and put it into the disk
drive. Despite the Arabic menu on the monitor, I managed to figure out how to
find the files and open them, mind you all the while I am not only doing this
without knowing Arabic, but I am doing it "backwards" - as Arabic is
read from left to right instead of right to left like the English is read. I
turned the monitor so Sami could see the screen from where he sat at the other
end of the desk in a chair near the wall, and showed him what I had found in my
internet search. He liked what I showed him, and I printed the documents for
closer review. He was looking at them and seemed to recognize the text, at
which point he reached to produced a book that he wanted to show me...and
subhan'Allah...the book and the text printed from the files I had brought over
were the same material!!! For real!! Neither of us could believe it!
LOL!! Divine guidance at work?? Mmm...
On discovering
that our material was coming from the same source, Sami gave me the "History of Madinah" book to review. Al-hamdulillah I loved it
immediately! It was not to thick in volume, the print was clear and easy to
read and the pictures on the glossy pages were spectacular! I just knew that
this was what I wanted for the nurses traveling to Madinah! I said to him,
"This is perfect! Can we call the Islamic Information Foundation in Taif
and see how many copies we can get?" Sami said he would make the call and
I asked him to see what kind of discount they would give us. (Don't forget the
"discount"! LOL!!) I then instructed him that if the Foundation would
give us a nice discount that I would like for him to arrange to get the books,
and considering that there was likely no "budget" for the purchase of
the books, I instructed Sami that I would happily pay for them myself. Well, of
course, this began the little argument over who would pay..."No, I will
pay!" "No, I will pay!"..."No, I will
pay!" "No, I will pay!" "Okay, I will let you
pay half." "No, I will pay!" LOL!!!
We agreed to
continue our disagreement in the morning when Sami would report his findings. (Don't
forget...nothing gets done in a hurry here...as you can see...a simple thing
like this is already going into its third day!! LOL!!!) On my way out the
door, when I tried to return the original book to Sami, he insisted that I keep
it. It was his personal copy. Al-hamdulillah.
The next morning
I telephoned Sami as planned to find out about the cost of the books. He
reported that the books were 15 riyals ($4.00 USD) and the Foundation would give a 10% discount. The
bad news was that they only had 5 copies. I made the decision to purchase the
five books despite the short number available. Sami tried to dissuade me
because we wouldn't have enough for everyone, but I would not be put off. I
asked him to please make the arrangement to get the five books that were
available, despite the deficit. I would do my best later to figure out how to
distribute them. I was thinking, actually, that if there were sisters in the
group who had already been to Madinah, I could default to only giving books to
those who would be going for the first time. And since there were reportedly
only 10 in the group from our hospital (out of a total 45 with other nurses
joining the group from nearby hospitals) I, of course, had no idea what the
first-timer numbers would be, but some things are just better left to faith. I started
this whole thing with a good intention and was simply determined to follow
through with it as far as Allah (swt) would facilitate it. If only five books
were available, then so be it!
Sami agreed to
pick up the books. I tried to get him to let me give him the money for the
books in advance, but he said we would discuss it when he returned. The plan
was for me to meet him back at the office later that afternoon around 5:00 pm.
He gets off work at 3:00 pm, would pray Asr, go home, eat something, go to the
book store and return to the hospital.
Later that
evening I returned to pick up the books. Al-hamdulillah Sami returned with 7
books instead of just 5!!! I was soooooooo happy! And in order to give
me 10, Sami had three extra copies made!!! Nicely stapled on the side, bound
with pink tape to cover the staples and even with a back cover and clear
plastic cover on the front! Masha'Allah! (Incidentally, we checked to make
sure there was no copyright information in the front jacket of the book
prohibiting us from making the copies.) Al-hamdulillah...I was so thrilled...but
then Sami and I once again began the argument over payment for the books.
Ultimately I had to give in to his insistence that he not accept my money.
Gosh, when he said he wanted his reward to be from Allah (swt), what else
could I do?? Masha'Allah.
Okay, so now I
am returning to my apartment to wait for the bus to arrive at 7:00. Needless to
say, my husband was surprised to find me returning so soon!!! LOL!! I proceeded
to explain to him what had happened. Knowing he still had a 1/2 day of work
ahead of him, I closed the bedroom door to let him continue sleeping and I went
to the other room, turned on the computer, opened the curtain covering the
window and slid the window back to open it so that I could hear the bus as it
approached. Our apartment is on the upper corner facing the mosque and I knew
the bus would have to stop at the corner as it approached to make the turn to
come to the gate. I went to pour my fourth cup of coffee and then sat down at
the computer figuring to complete another task or two via email while I waited.
Around 6:30 I
was beginning to feel a little nervous about the whole bus thing (maybe it
was that fourth cup of coffee...) and I decided to call Patricia, the Nursing
Director, to see if she could offer any insight as to the status of the bus.
When I told her that the sisters had been told to meet at 5:00 she was
surprised, saying that it had been her understanding that the bus would be
arriving at 6:00. She was appropriately taken aback when I reported to her that
the security guard told me that the bus would not be arriving until 7:00!!!
Promising to call me back, she hung up in search of more information. While I
was waiting for Patricia's return call, I found myself drowsily pondering again
that extra two hours of sleep I could have had... Patricia called me right back
to confirm the 7:00 arrival of the bus, and on hanging up with her, I quietly
let myself back out of the apartment, careful not to disturb my slumbering
husband, and found my way back down the stairs to retrieve the bag of books and
my overnight bag.
Al-hamdulillah!
I was met halfway across the parking lot by the beautifully smiling face of
another sister going to Madinah. She introduced herself as Nadia. Nadia, who is
originally from Egypt, told me that she has been to Mecca 11 times, but that
this would be her very first trip to Madinah! "Wow!" I thought to
myself, "My first book recipient!!" And I immediately reached into
the bag of books and presented her with one. With a smile as gleaming as the
one she had greeted me with, she thanked me for the book and as we continued
our walk to the area where the other sisters were waiting, I told her the story
about the books. (I know you're thinking that must have been a long walk...but
actually it is shorter to tell all of this than it is to write it!! LOL!!!)
Finally the bus
arrived!! Al-hamdulillah! It turned out that everyone from the other hospitals
had already been picked up, and for some reason the seats at the back of the
bus turned out to be the "undesirable" seats, so our group filled
them and we were on our way.
About an hour
into the six-hour trip I found myself sincerely regretting the four cups of
coffee I had drank earlier in the morning. You see, while the bus we were
riding in was basically comfortable, aside from the fact that I had the
misfortune of sitting in the seat directly behind a seat that seemed to be
somewhat broken. When the sister sitting in it pulled the lever to recline the
seat, it went back farther than the others. Because of this, I was somewhat
uncomfortable sitting facing the front of the bus, as the head of the reclined
seat in front of me was virtually in my face!
Oh, and I
almost forgot! Sitting right beside me in the window seat was a tiny little
Pakistani sister suffering from motion sickness! No kidding!! She sat quietly
suffering with her head pressed against the window, wiping sweat from her
forehead, and periodically vomiting into a tightly held plastic bag the
entire six hours of the trip!! (I could only make dua for her...she was
so sick...and I felt so terribly bad for her. The only thing I could do was
offer her a clean tissue now and then...and an occasional outstretched arm that
would reach across and pat her shoulder softly, hoping in some small way to
comfort her...)
Every now and
my weary little seatmate became lucid enough to talk a little. She shared with
me that this was her first trip to Madinah! And do you know...when I looked
into the bag of books (I had brought some other Islamic material for anyone
else maybe bored enough to be looking for something to read {{smile}}, despite
the fact that there shouldn't have been, there was one more copy of
the Madinah book in the bag, and she happily accepted it from me and even
managed to read from it for a short time. Al-hamdulillah.
Anyhow, due to
the less than comfortable seating arrangement I found myself in, I pretty much
spent the whole 6 hours of the trip sitting sideways in my seat, with my feet
dangling into the isle or supported by the ledge under the seat. What fun! LOL!!!
Aside from
that, the bus also had heavy blue curtains to cover the windows and protect us
from the glaring, hot, hot, hot, mid-morning sun, however, it was not
your typical American Greyhound bus...as in there didn't seem to be a
bathroom, and I had noooooooooooo idea what plan the bus driver had
regarding a pee stop!!
I am now
reminded of a recent return trip from Mecca on a weekend when Mustafa and I
traveled there.
We had been driving
along and I had waited what seemed like forever before asking him to
find a place to stop so I could go to the bathroom. (Oops...I must have drank
too much Zam-Zam water!!)Once I finally asked him (big mistake to wait so
long...) it seemed like another eternity before I would find relief - and
DUH!! - I didn't have the bright idea to suggest stopping at one of the 500,000
mosques we must have passed until right about the time I could have pee'd all
over myself! If we had hit one more bump in the road I would have been a goner!
After finally
stopping at a mosque, on returning to the car, much relieved
(Al-hamdulillah), I jokingly said to my husband, "You know, on the
highways back home, every 30-60 miles or so (sometimes less, sometimes more),
you can find a "Rest Area" (a/k/a "pee stop"). When
traveling in Saudi Arabia, rest area's are only a mile or two apart because
that's how often you can expect to pass by a mosque!!" (In this case a/k/a
Multi-Purpose Facility.)
Back on
the road to Madinah...
It was not long
after the bus was finally Madinah bound; pretty nearly everyone fell fast
asleep. (It is during this time that I, in my uncomfortably seated position,
found repose in
the pages of my notepad where I jotted down all these glad tidings...LOL...)
About three
hours into the trip the sisters began to awaken from their naps. A few curtains
slid back to reveal daylight. I sat quietly looking out the window at the
desolate, sandy hillside spreading out for what seemed miles ahead of us, and
for some reason I suddenly felt a lump in my throat as the thought flooded my
mind of how much I love my husband. I think this stemmed from the fact that for
the first year of our marriage we had never been apart until the day of my
trip! I found myself filled with mixed-emotions that momentarily overwhelmed
me. It was perplexing to me, the woman who had spent 22-years of her life
striving for independence, to learn that I had become so emotionally attached
to someone. The emotion sort of snuck-up on me in a way I absolutely had not
anticipated, but at the same time I saw it as simply a reaffirmation of what
was really in my heart. {{smile}}
Ah, and now we
have snack time! Nadia, sitting beside me, offered me a bottle of water and an
apple. I had packed in the bag of books two small plastic bottles of
mixed-fruit juice and reached inside to get one for Nadia. Since I had the
bottle of water, I attempted to offer the other bottle of fruit juice to the
ailing sister beside me...but...as I pretty much figured before making the
gesture...she rejected it. The last thing she could stand was something in her stomach
that would just come right back up...(dua time again!). May Allah (swt) reward
her for making the journey to Madinah despite the fact that it would cause her
such suffering, insha'Allah.
Snack time in
full swing, a few of the newly awakened sisters began to notice that I was
sitting quietly writing. I shared with them that I write stories and that I was
writing about our trip so far. Smiling ensued.
Alas, I was to
make an amazing discovery! A bathroom on the bus!! I noticed someone get
up and walk halfway up the isle and then disappear to the right. I thought,
"Mmm...what is this?" And then the sister reappeared. I then
asked Nadia, "Is there a bathroom?" She replied, "Yes."
I thought to myself, "Sweet relief, here I come!!!" I found my way
down the isle and down the steps to find the bathroom door. I entered. Pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!!
Oh, my goodness! Did they not empty out the latrine after the last trip the
bus made?!?! And with the hot desert heat...can you imagine the smell I found
inside that bathroom?!?! I couldn't decide if I had to pee or throw-up!!!
The quest for
relief overtook me but I got out of that bathroom quicker than you can blink an
eye!! That's for sure! I returned to my seat and just as I thought my stomach
was about to settle down, a sister sitting across the isle, one row back, in
the seat behind Nadia, opened a plastic food container...and out poured the smell
of something reminiscent of the days I used to stand watching my Korean
sister-in-law cook in her kitchen...suddenly I found myself wondering if the
motion-sick sister beside me had an extra plastic barf-bag...
There should
be a law against invading the airspace of others when you are confined to
tightly enclosed quarters for long periods of time with 45 other people...
Since the group
that I was a part of were all sitting relatively close together, it was easy
for me to unobtrusively notice as one by one the sisters spent short periods of
time looking at their Madinah books. Al-hamdulillah. This made me smile inside
and think of Sami saying he wanted his reward to be from Allah (swt) (I
think you're covered Sami!!).
One sister in
particular spent a very long time reading. Most of the sisters, after finishing
their snacks, fell quiet again and went back to sleep. But the sister who had
spent so much time reading the Madinah book didn't seem sleepy. When I noticed
her put the Madinah book away, I reached into my bag of books and pulled out a
volume titled, "Why More Women Are Embracing Islam" a book filled
with stories of women who embraced Islam. I offered the book to the sister
sitting in the back seat and on accepting it, promptly began reading. When she
finished that one, I reached in the bag and offered her another smaller book
about happiness. She read that one for a while, too. Al-hamdulillah.
By way of
observation, and in noticing that a few sisters had found comfort in removing
their scarves, it seemed to me that some look better with hijab than without
it...lol...and that there must be a million-and-one ways to design an
abaya!!! My goodness! I don't think there were two alike on the whole bus! I
was, of course, wearing one of my Sajeda International models...hee hee hee...I
am a poster child for http://www.jelbab.com/!
While everyone
else was taking their second nap, I spent some time gazing through the few
windows that still had the curtain pulled back. In observing the passing
landscape I noticed that the "scenery" was virtually devoid of color
other than sand, grayish-black rock and the occasional patch of water-starved
green.
What I found
interesting, however, was the various ways people seemed to find to create
property borders. Borders squared off around sections of seemingly barren land
that left you wondering what was being protected. These borders varied in
construction. They were either made of pushed up sand, rocks piled on top of each
other, short, green, tree-like shrubbery, cinder-blocks, and of all things,
even discarded tires!
Another very
interesting snapshot appeared before my eyes just as I looked up to see a rock
covered hilltop with a rusted, windowless, white station-wagon that looked as
though it had fallen from the sky and taken a nose-dive straight into the pile
of rocks! How in the world it got there would be anyone's guess!!!
Among the
passengers on the bus there was a young girl that seemed to be of about 8 years
in age, sitting on the floor immediately to my left on the step leading up to
the rear seat. (Later on in subsequent segments of the story of my trip to
Madinah you will find me affectionately referring to her as
"Shorty".) The child turned out to be the daughter of another nurse
from Egypt, Samera, who, together with Nadia, are now fast friends of mine, and
for all intents and purposes, extended family as by the end of this story you
will learn that "Shorty" adopted me as "Mum Aishah". Subhan'Allah...if
only I had social security numbers for each of my "adopted"
children!! LOL!!!
When I first
began to notice the little girl, she was sitting quietly looking up at me with
a face that I guessed closely resembled that of her father. She has marvelously
chocolate brown, almond shaped eyes enhanced by thick lashes. Danger! Danger! Even in niqab this one will be fatally beautiful!!! And even
though she has a small space between her two front teeth, her smile is
infectious. She was holding onto a watermelon smelling candy sucker with pudgy
little fingers; the nails covered in red polish. Her dark brown, very curly
hair was secured into a short braid at the back of her head. The smell of
watermelon reminded me of the Jolly Rancher candies I used to eat when I was a
kid...
Wow...speaking
of candy...I sure miss my Trident chewing gum!! The two 8-packs I brought with
me are long gone (duh...why did I only get two??). Because I was naive
enough to think I would find it in Saudi Arabia?? LOL!!! But much like my
beloved cheddar, Swiss, Monterey-jack and provolone cheese, my Trident chewing
gum seems nowhere to be found...at least not yet anyway...
You know, I had
been so busy in the acquisition stage of securing the books about Madinah and
getting ready for the trip, that I had not taken the time to read any of the
book until part way through the bus ride to Madinah. And, subhan'Allah...the
book seemed to part open onto a two pages that were meant for me to read...and
I could not believe my eyes...as I read the text of two hadith:
"Whoever came to this mosque of mine intending only to learn
something good or to teach it, he has the status of a Mujahid (one who
strives in Allah's cause) in the path of Allah; and whoever came to it for
another purpose, he has the status of a man who looks at property of
another."
And,
"Whoever went out in the morning to the mosque, desiring naught but
to learn some thing good or to teach it, he has a reward like the reward of a
pilgrim who has completed his Hajj."
(Majma'uz-Zawa'id (1/123).)
Wow...could it
be? Look at how my trip began...in the quest of material to teach the sisters
about Madinah. Subhan'Allah. And throughout the trip to Madinah I
had continued to quietly supply one of the sisters with Islamic reading
material from my bag of books...could it be...that if I continued throughout my
trip to learn something good, or to teach it, the same way I had for the past
few days, that I would receive the reward of a pilgrim who had completed
Hajj??? Oh, wow...I thought to myself...wow...Al-hamdulillah that my eyes fell
on these words before I stepped off the bus at Madinah. I could not be certain
of the truth/validity of this hadith, but what did I have to lose? What did
I have to lose; A thought that would remain in the back of my mind throughout
the remainder of my journey.
The six-hour
ride to Madinah seemed like it was taking about a day-and-a-half when I looked
forward from my side-ways sitting seat to look out the front windshield of the
bus. Would you just know...right smack in front of us there was a
tractor-trailer painted all in blue with a huge "PEPSI"
emblem painted across the back...gosh...tease a girl or what??? Of
course I wanted an ice-cold Pepsi after that!!!
Mmm...right
after that I got to thinking that Dr. Mustafa would be getting off from work at
just about the same time we would be arriving in Madinah, and that he would be
heading to the mosque where I am sure he would be praying for our safe journey.
Remember the
little girl I mentioned before? Well, just before arriving in Madinah, about 30
minutes from Al-Madinah, the mosque where Allah's Messenger is buried, I found
out that I had guessed her age correctly! Some readers of this story might
already know from previous writings that for some reason, no matter where I am,
children always seem to find there way to me...and yes, this child was sitting
in the isle beside me, but this child did not even speak my language! But wait!
Don't you know that bubble gum is a universal language?? One of the sleeping
sisters (Anila) in the back seat had awakened to find some chewing gum in her
pocketbook and she shared a piece with me. As I began to chew the gum I thought
to myself, "Oh, wow! Bubble gum!" Of course, if you're chewing bubble
gum you have to start blowing bubbles! Well, before I knew it, the little girl
had stood up from where she had been oh, so quietly sitting for such a long
time, bless her heart, and the bubble blowing competition commenced! The smile
of glee that appeared on my new little friend's face was almost over the top as
she watched a bubble pop and land smack across my whole chin. It was surely a
"Kodak" moment... {{smile}}
The closer we
got to Madinah I began to notice that the landscape was not so flat anymore but
rather it had turned into more of a hilly mountain scene. The sister who had
been reading all afternoon finally succumbed to heavy eyelids. I noticed that
she is only one of three other sisters, including myself, wearing scarves of
color; all the others are black. She was wearing a pretty mellow green with
lavender and white floral pattern, the other sister was wearing blue and white,
and I had on my U.S. seasonal fashion color, pink. {{smile}}
The silence of
the napping bus load of sisters was shattered suddenly by the ring of a cell
phone - oh, by the way, if you say "cell" phone here you will be met
with a perplexed look - they are more commonly referred to here as
"mobile" (long "i") phones.
The ring of the
mobile phone seemed to coincide with our arrival in Madinah...how ironic is
that?? And, as scheduled, just in time for dhuhr.
For vocabulary help
visit: http://dictionary.reference.com/
Next segment:
~*Aishah's Journey Continues...My First Day in Madinah*~
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