It's been a while since I last blogged. Since my last post, I've been back home to
London and returned back to Syria and started school!
After the scary interview (4 teachers on the panel asking everything from the rules
concernig doubts in prayer to the basis of wilayat!) and then a series of blood tests,
chest X-ray and blood pressure, we got accepted into the hawza (religious school).
Walking into school on the first day took me straight back to Iran. The hawza is
actually run by Iranians, but everything is taught in Arabic. Dua Ahad was playing
on the speakers and the day started in pretty much the same way as it did in Iran-
in complete chaos! We were sorted out into classes, and just like Iran, my class
has students from all over the world- Pakistan, burkino faso and France! The teacher
is from lebabnon and speaks a bit of french, which is lucky as most of the African
students speak French too.
Class ran from 8 to 10 after which we went next door to the mens hawza for the
opening ceremony. It consisted of three vey long speeches, which gave me an
opportunity to type out this blog post on my phone so it can be uploaded when I get
home! And read a LOT of Quran.
A group of students got up to sing some nasheeds and in the process managed to massacre
an Imad Rami nasheed. Actually thats a bit unfair- part of the blame needs to go to
the dodgy mikes. I'm sure the Stanmore AV team would have done a much better job. Lol
We all got given a goody bag with a pen, magazines, and snack pack to welcome in the new year.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Back to school
Friday, June 10, 2011
This is what I was busy doing today...
When we moved into our apartment in Syria, it was dirty! The previous tenants were related to the landlord, so they didn't bother cleaning the place properly.
Unlike when we moved to Qum, I didn't make myself ill scrubbing the place. I took things slowly - doing a bit every week.
The kitchen walls were caked in grease - all the way to the ceiling (no idea how the grease got up there!) and one day before classes started, I got on a chair and scrubbed the walls with steel wool. Problem was, being a bit vertically challenged, I couldn't reach all the way to the top. So for the past 8 months, my kitchen walls have looked like this:
BEFORE(The top 2 rows of tiles are still caked with grease)
That was until I spotted a ladder last week, borrowed it and spent the next 2 days scrubbing the walls. Now it looks like this:
AFTER (all sparkly and clean)
I even managed to study in between all the scrubbing. A day well spent :-)
Notes from Sister's circle...
Our last sister's circle was conducted in Arabic. Its great for our language skills (and an ego booster when we find we can understand most of it!)
We looked at a hadith from our 6th Imam who says that there are 8 characteristics of a believer:
1. They are firm in times of tremor (that means anything that knocks you from your day to day routines - a death, accident etc)
2. They are patient in times of hardship
3. They are grateful in times of ease
4. They are satisfied by what God has given them
5. They don't oppress their enemies
6. They don't oppress their friends and forgive them easily
7. Their body is always tired
8. People are always at ease around them.
We discussed each of the points - some of them are quite obvious, but I'll expand on a few of them:
(4) It's human nature to look at people and only see their faults. For example, you see that your friend's husband does x y &z around the house and so you fault your husband for not doing the same, forgetting that he does a b &c.
If you think of everyone as a glass - half of us is filled with good qualities and half with bad qualities. So we need to start looking at the good half.
(7) This one was a bit puzzling - because we straight away thought it meant that the body should be tired with worship. But actually it means that the believer shouldn't rely on other people to do their work (unless of course they need help), but rather try and do as much as they can themselves. I guess its all about setting the right expectations of other people and realising that no one 'owes' you anything.
We looked at a hadith from our 6th Imam who says that there are 8 characteristics of a believer:
1. They are firm in times of tremor (that means anything that knocks you from your day to day routines - a death, accident etc)
2. They are patient in times of hardship
3. They are grateful in times of ease
4. They are satisfied by what God has given them
5. They don't oppress their enemies
6. They don't oppress their friends and forgive them easily
7. Their body is always tired
8. People are always at ease around them.
We discussed each of the points - some of them are quite obvious, but I'll expand on a few of them:
(4) It's human nature to look at people and only see their faults. For example, you see that your friend's husband does x y &z around the house and so you fault your husband for not doing the same, forgetting that he does a b &c.
If you think of everyone as a glass - half of us is filled with good qualities and half with bad qualities. So we need to start looking at the good half.
(7) This one was a bit puzzling - because we straight away thought it meant that the body should be tired with worship. But actually it means that the believer shouldn't rely on other people to do their work (unless of course they need help), but rather try and do as much as they can themselves. I guess its all about setting the right expectations of other people and realising that no one 'owes' you anything.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
You know you're a talabe (student pursuing religious education) when....
...You squeeze every last drop out of shampoo/face cream/shower gel bottles (even cutting the lids off to get to the hard to reach stuff) cos you don't know when your next parcel from back home will come
...You have 3 types of tea; the imported tetley tea bags which are reserved for yourself. The local stuff which is used when people come over and the random tea/coffee/powdered milk that zawwar (religious pilgrims) leave behind
...You can have upto five types of Chevro (Bombay mix) in your cupboard at anyone time. And all of it has been left behind by zawwars. I still have yet to understand why people think bringing chevro on a trip is a good idea. You need spoons and bowls to eat it with, it's messy and it makes you thirsty.
...You become an expert at airline weight restrictions. Hell, you even book your ticket with the airline that gives you the most. You can pack your suitcase to within 100g of the allowance. And you have even perfected the 'puppy dog' look for the check in staff in country of origin to make them give you an extra few kilos. Obviously going back home is easier - you can slip the check-in guy $20 and he'll let you off with the excess luggage!
...You have worn 4 layers of clothes (and even worn a winter jacket in summer) on your return flight so that you can bring the last few clothes that won't fit in your suitcase.
...You look like a refugee with 3 pieces of hand luggage
...Your parents are experts at finding passengers to bring the much missed goodies from back home (thank you to everyone who has kept us topped up with dairy milk - we love you lots!)
...You don't mind when zawwar leave behind chevro, biscuits, shower gels, even broken biscuits. They are a reminder of back home. Again, thanks to you all! We love you too!
...You write lists of things to do back home in the summer and they include mundane things like 'go to Tesco'
...You consider Primark clothes to be good quality, because they are - compared to the rubbish you get out here!
... You don't feel hot when temperatures reach 30 degrees back home. Its not really hot until its 53 degrees (Anyone remember Qum, Summer 2009??)
...You don't flinch when you see cockroaches or ants. And you are used to seeing hundreds of stray cats. (and on that subject, I have yet to figure out one thing - there are thousands of stray cats and dogs here, but where are their droppings??? This is proving to be one of life's mysteries)
...You throw the concept of recycling out of the window. In fact the closest you get to recycling is bagging up bottles and cans separate from the rest of the garbage so the people who search through the dumpsters for things they can sell have an easier job
...You get home to find that the grocer has sold you out of date groceries, but you lack the language skills to go back and complain
...You are asked the same questions by all the zawwar who visit. And try and put the answers on your blog, but quickly realise that no one bothers to read it.
...You learn how quickly the fresh produce goes bad and shop for the week and not a tomato more than you need
...You learn which fruits are in season during the year from their prices
...You know every decent eatery within a 5 mile radius because there are so few of them and you are on first name terms with the owner and you know what you are going to eat before you even leave the house!
...You have a profound relationship with the sayyidda of the town (the decendant of the holy prophet) who is buried in your neighbourhood. She is everything from a surrogate mother to confidante
...You realise that what you learnt in Sunday school barely even built the boat that set off on the sea of knowledge. You start to appreciate the lengths that our aalims go through to research and learn in order to relate it back to us. And you seriously worry about people who sit on the mimber without studying
...You miss home, especially the friends and family and going out. But in reality, you wouldn't give upthisnew lifestyle, even for mountain of gold
...You have 3 types of tea; the imported tetley tea bags which are reserved for yourself. The local stuff which is used when people come over and the random tea/coffee/powdered milk that zawwar (religious pilgrims) leave behind
...You can have upto five types of Chevro (Bombay mix) in your cupboard at anyone time. And all of it has been left behind by zawwars. I still have yet to understand why people think bringing chevro on a trip is a good idea. You need spoons and bowls to eat it with, it's messy and it makes you thirsty.
...You become an expert at airline weight restrictions. Hell, you even book your ticket with the airline that gives you the most. You can pack your suitcase to within 100g of the allowance. And you have even perfected the 'puppy dog' look for the check in staff in country of origin to make them give you an extra few kilos. Obviously going back home is easier - you can slip the check-in guy $20 and he'll let you off with the excess luggage!
...You have worn 4 layers of clothes (and even worn a winter jacket in summer) on your return flight so that you can bring the last few clothes that won't fit in your suitcase.
...You look like a refugee with 3 pieces of hand luggage
...Your parents are experts at finding passengers to bring the much missed goodies from back home (thank you to everyone who has kept us topped up with dairy milk - we love you lots!)
...You don't mind when zawwar leave behind chevro, biscuits, shower gels, even broken biscuits. They are a reminder of back home. Again, thanks to you all! We love you too!
...You write lists of things to do back home in the summer and they include mundane things like 'go to Tesco'
...You consider Primark clothes to be good quality, because they are - compared to the rubbish you get out here!
... You don't feel hot when temperatures reach 30 degrees back home. Its not really hot until its 53 degrees (Anyone remember Qum, Summer 2009??)
...You don't flinch when you see cockroaches or ants. And you are used to seeing hundreds of stray cats. (and on that subject, I have yet to figure out one thing - there are thousands of stray cats and dogs here, but where are their droppings??? This is proving to be one of life's mysteries)
...You throw the concept of recycling out of the window. In fact the closest you get to recycling is bagging up bottles and cans separate from the rest of the garbage so the people who search through the dumpsters for things they can sell have an easier job
...You get home to find that the grocer has sold you out of date groceries, but you lack the language skills to go back and complain
...You are asked the same questions by all the zawwar who visit. And try and put the answers on your blog, but quickly realise that no one bothers to read it.
...You learn how quickly the fresh produce goes bad and shop for the week and not a tomato more than you need
...You learn which fruits are in season during the year from their prices
...You know every decent eatery within a 5 mile radius because there are so few of them and you are on first name terms with the owner and you know what you are going to eat before you even leave the house!
...You have a profound relationship with the sayyidda of the town (the decendant of the holy prophet) who is buried in your neighbourhood. She is everything from a surrogate mother to confidante
...You realise that what you learnt in Sunday school barely even built the boat that set off on the sea of knowledge. You start to appreciate the lengths that our aalims go through to research and learn in order to relate it back to us. And you seriously worry about people who sit on the mimber without studying
...You miss home, especially the friends and family and going out. But in reality, you wouldn't give upthisnew lifestyle, even for mountain of gold
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Thoughts from class.
We're covering 8th form verbs right now - for the Arabic groupies amongst you - thats the افتعل pattern. (verbs which indicate internally activism with will and determination)
Our teacher taught us a phrase:
الأقتصاد في النفقة نصف المعيشة
which roughly translates to 'economising in expenses is half of living'
So when I heard this, it made me think of a certain East African muliyani who always says that the wife has 3 duties to her husband - cooking, cleaning and economising. (LOL). Maybe someone forgot to tell her that cooking and cleaning aren't wifely duties religiously - but rather a wife does them out of love for her family.
Anyways, the saying is more applicable today than ever before. It really made me ponder on things. How easy is it these days to stock up on clothes, food and other things! With the advent of Primark, Tecso, Pound/Dollar/10 lira stores its so easy to pay next to nothing and fill our cupboards with things that we hardly use. This isn't economising at all!
And it made me think - I have clothes in 3 countries - I have no idea how much I have, let alone when I am going to wear it all! Do I really need so many clothes? Each summer when I go back to London, I try and de-clutter my things, but then end up splurging in Primark or Tesco, so end up with the same amount of things!
When we moved to Iran (almost 3 years ago), we set up our home with new things, splurged on kitchen gadgets etc (not that there is anything wrong with having nice things).But 2 years later when we packed up everything to move to Syria, it made us realise how much stuff we had accumulted in such a short time. And how much food stuff we had in the cupboards which we couldn't finish off before we left. We set up our home in Syria very differently. Rather than hoarding the 'good stuff' for a day which may never come, we just use what we have. And rather than buying things from the souk, I try and buy them from the 10 lira store, so I don't feel bad leaving things behind when we leave Syria.
A scholar once made an interesting point in a lecture -
In life, we can choose the car we buy, the house we live in, the job we accept and others. Buying an expensive car like a Jaguar or Lexus will get us to our destination, as will a cheap car like a Ford Escort or a Lada. The main difference is the price, although the ride may seem a bit smoother in a Lexus.
But if you look at the other costs, the operating expenses, petrol, insurance for a Lexus are much higher. A Lada on the other hand, can be maintained and operated quite cheaply. Anyone with half a brain can fix a Lada!
If someone wanted to borrow your car, you would lend a Lada to someone at the drop of a hat, but if someone wanted to borrow your Lexus, you’d think twice. You’d offer to drop them to their destination and pick them up! Don’t get me wrong, Islam does encourage us to earn a living and have nice things! But think about it, even though both cars get you to the same destination, the ride in the Lexus is more egotistical and so there is more attachment to the expensive luxury, and it is this that diverts us from what we want to achieve.
Imam Jafar as Sadiq (as) has said: imagine yourself going through customs with lots of luggage. Say I was going to Paris for a short trip. Even if the customs officer wasn’t suspicious of me wearing hijab and my husband with his beard and dishdasha, he will be once he sees my 2x 30kg suitcases and he’ll ask “What do you have in there? Gifts? Clothes? You’re staying for 2 days and you have 2 suitcases?” they will question me and make sure that I don’t have anything beyond my means. But, if they see me coming through with a small carry on bag, they’ll just let me through. The 6th Imam tells us that it’s exactly the same in the Hereafter, the more we have, the more responsibility we have and the more we have to answer for. So on the Day of Judgement, the less we have to account for, the faster we will be able to enter Jannah.
Our teacher taught us a phrase:
الأقتصاد في النفقة نصف المعيشة
which roughly translates to 'economising in expenses is half of living'
So when I heard this, it made me think of a certain East African muliyani who always says that the wife has 3 duties to her husband - cooking, cleaning and economising. (LOL). Maybe someone forgot to tell her that cooking and cleaning aren't wifely duties religiously - but rather a wife does them out of love for her family.
Anyways, the saying is more applicable today than ever before. It really made me ponder on things. How easy is it these days to stock up on clothes, food and other things! With the advent of Primark, Tecso, Pound/Dollar/10 lira stores its so easy to pay next to nothing and fill our cupboards with things that we hardly use. This isn't economising at all!
And it made me think - I have clothes in 3 countries - I have no idea how much I have, let alone when I am going to wear it all! Do I really need so many clothes? Each summer when I go back to London, I try and de-clutter my things, but then end up splurging in Primark or Tesco, so end up with the same amount of things!
When we moved to Iran (almost 3 years ago), we set up our home with new things, splurged on kitchen gadgets etc (not that there is anything wrong with having nice things).But 2 years later when we packed up everything to move to Syria, it made us realise how much stuff we had accumulted in such a short time. And how much food stuff we had in the cupboards which we couldn't finish off before we left. We set up our home in Syria very differently. Rather than hoarding the 'good stuff' for a day which may never come, we just use what we have. And rather than buying things from the souk, I try and buy them from the 10 lira store, so I don't feel bad leaving things behind when we leave Syria.
A scholar once made an interesting point in a lecture -
In life, we can choose the car we buy, the house we live in, the job we accept and others. Buying an expensive car like a Jaguar or Lexus will get us to our destination, as will a cheap car like a Ford Escort or a Lada. The main difference is the price, although the ride may seem a bit smoother in a Lexus.
But if you look at the other costs, the operating expenses, petrol, insurance for a Lexus are much higher. A Lada on the other hand, can be maintained and operated quite cheaply. Anyone with half a brain can fix a Lada!
If someone wanted to borrow your car, you would lend a Lada to someone at the drop of a hat, but if someone wanted to borrow your Lexus, you’d think twice. You’d offer to drop them to their destination and pick them up! Don’t get me wrong, Islam does encourage us to earn a living and have nice things! But think about it, even though both cars get you to the same destination, the ride in the Lexus is more egotistical and so there is more attachment to the expensive luxury, and it is this that diverts us from what we want to achieve.
Imam Jafar as Sadiq (as) has said: imagine yourself going through customs with lots of luggage. Say I was going to Paris for a short trip. Even if the customs officer wasn’t suspicious of me wearing hijab and my husband with his beard and dishdasha, he will be once he sees my 2x 30kg suitcases and he’ll ask “What do you have in there? Gifts? Clothes? You’re staying for 2 days and you have 2 suitcases?” they will question me and make sure that I don’t have anything beyond my means. But, if they see me coming through with a small carry on bag, they’ll just let me through. The 6th Imam tells us that it’s exactly the same in the Hereafter, the more we have, the more responsibility we have and the more we have to answer for. So on the Day of Judgement, the less we have to account for, the faster we will be able to enter Jannah.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Random Thoughts
Two things struck me the other day....
The first was seeing a little 3 or 4 year old boy with his parents visiting the shrine of Sayyidda Zaynab for the first time. He looked cute wearing his 'Friday' best - a little suit and red bow tie.
The second was meeting an aunty and uncle (who incidently turned out to be distant relatives!!) telling us about how their suitcases had gotton lost on the way. The aunty commented: 'It doesn't matter that my suitcase got lost because I had only packed old clothes, but uncle had packed all his good clothes'.
It really got me thinking - why shouldn't uncle be allowed to bring his nice clothes? Surely he has recognised the personaility that is is about to visit and wants to look his best!
Why is it that when we go for ziarat, we pack all our old clothes?? Seriously, do we want to be going to the graves of our ideals wearing old trackie bottoms and tshirts with holes in them and scarves that have seen better days??
One of the things we teach children from a young age is that if they are going to visit the queen/president, they would put on their best clothes, so when we pray, we should wear our good clothes too, because our God is far more important than the queen. Right?
So why is it that when we come to visit the Holy Shrines, we bring our oldest and ugliest clothes?! Don't the Imams/Holy Household deserve to see us wearing our nicest clothes and scarves?
OK, so the roads here are dusty and the laundry facilities are adequate, but when we go on trips to the far east and africa etc, we take our good clothes and the roads are just as dusty there and the laundry is just as third world.
The first was seeing a little 3 or 4 year old boy with his parents visiting the shrine of Sayyidda Zaynab for the first time. He looked cute wearing his 'Friday' best - a little suit and red bow tie.
The second was meeting an aunty and uncle (who incidently turned out to be distant relatives!!) telling us about how their suitcases had gotton lost on the way. The aunty commented: 'It doesn't matter that my suitcase got lost because I had only packed old clothes, but uncle had packed all his good clothes'.
It really got me thinking - why shouldn't uncle be allowed to bring his nice clothes? Surely he has recognised the personaility that is is about to visit and wants to look his best!
Why is it that when we go for ziarat, we pack all our old clothes?? Seriously, do we want to be going to the graves of our ideals wearing old trackie bottoms and tshirts with holes in them and scarves that have seen better days??
One of the things we teach children from a young age is that if they are going to visit the queen/president, they would put on their best clothes, so when we pray, we should wear our good clothes too, because our God is far more important than the queen. Right?
So why is it that when we come to visit the Holy Shrines, we bring our oldest and ugliest clothes?! Don't the Imams/Holy Household deserve to see us wearing our nicest clothes and scarves?
OK, so the roads here are dusty and the laundry facilities are adequate, but when we go on trips to the far east and africa etc, we take our good clothes and the roads are just as dusty there and the laundry is just as third world.
My latest Addiction...
... is polo juice! It's a mix of mint, lemon and ice and is soooo refreshing! I just can't get enough of it!
So far, I've tried the one at the Safir Hotel's Fresh Delight's cafe and Anas Restaurant in Babila. But by far the best so far is the one at the Ecological Cafe in the Old City of Damascus.
So far, I've tried the one at the Safir Hotel's Fresh Delight's cafe and Anas Restaurant in Babila. But by far the best so far is the one at the Ecological Cafe in the Old City of Damascus.
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