bint abdelwahed’s journey in Damascus, Syria

Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

SubhanaAllah (All praises be to Allah). Without me realising, its been 2 months since I left my country for this blessed Dimashq in Syam.

In this entry let me share with you about the neighbourhood where I’m staying. Where I’m staying, is called, “Rukn-Ud-Deen”. Literally translated from Arabic to English, it means, “Street of Religion”. In this neighbourhood, there’s a lot of foreigners of different nationalities residing here and almost all are seekers of knowledge.

I’m fortunate to get to know sisters from USA, Nigeria, Guinea, Mali, Somalia, England, Denmark, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and of course, Singapore. Not forgetting the locals too, whom are ever so friendly and happy to receive you here, mashaAllah. There were a a few times in the masjid (mosque), where I got approached by ladies asking me where I’m from and whether I’m seeking knowledge. There are also non-Muslims who come to learn Arabic here.  Personally, I know of two; one from Brazil and one from Taiwan. MashaAllah, out of respect, they don the hijab (tudung) in class! Even though our teacher ask them to loosen or take out their hijab in class, they declined….Amazing!

There had been also many funny moments where ‘d been approached by sisters from China and usually their question is “Zhong Guo”? (China?). There were also many times when I was approached by locals and they mistook me for an Indonesian, “Indonesie”? or Malaysian “Malisie?”. Even Indonesians also have mistaken me for being Indonesian. That explains my Javanese roots, I guess…

Till then, till I write again inshaAllah….

View from outside the binaa’ (building) where I stay

Jami3 Abu Nour

The roundabout at Sab3ah Bahraat (Seven Seas)

Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

(Peace Be Upon You), to all my Brothers and Sisters in Islam and also my Brothers and Sisters in Humanity who are not Muslims.

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim
(In the name of God, Most Gracious Most Merciful)

How have you all been? I pray that all of you my dearest visitors to this little blog is in the best of health and imaan (faith). Ameen.

Certainly it’d been quite some time since I last updated this blog of mine. InshaAllah (God-willing) today, I will share a little of the knowledge I’ve gotten. It will be handy if you have a copy of the Qur’an with you or the translation, while reading this blog of mine. You can view one online: http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/

Give, even if you know a little:-

One of my teachers (may Allah bless her) here said something the other day, and it made me realise the importance of giving and sharing knowledge. Especially if you have learnt good knowledge, you should not keep it to yourself. Share and spread the good knowledge to the best of your ability, even though how little it might be.

The topic of worship (Ibadah).

So, what is worship? What is the concept of worship? Is it just about acknowledging God?
(Note to my non-Muslim brothers and sisters: In the Arabic Language, God is pronounced as Allah. Also note that non-Muslims Arabs also use “Allah” to denote God. I will use the word Allah throughout my blog.)

In Islam, worship is obedience to Allah. We must always strive to be better Muslims in the sense of being “insan Rabbani”. You can be one by loving Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala with all your heart. As you all know, Islam is about Faith AND the works. Hmmmm… Faith AND the works? What’s that supposed to mean?

In Islam, it is not enough if you just profess:- “I Love Allah.”, but your actions are contrary to that. Maybe just for the simplest of an example: If you love something, you will show your affection for it. For example, a “Muslim” might say he loves Allah but he does things that will incur the wrath of Allah. For example:

- slacking in his daily 5 prayers
- does not fast in the month of Ramadhan
- does not pay zakat or give to charity
- engaging in vice,
- mixing freely with  the opposite sex a.k.a hedonistic lifestyle,
- rude to parents and/or the elderly,
- is arrogant/boastful
- steals/rob
- abuses himself (alcholic/drug abusers/suicidal tendencies),
- causes harm to another human(s)
and the list goes on…

When you love Allah, you will do it from the heart. No one tells you to.
You will fully submit yourself to the will of Allah and its only to Allah that you put your trust in. (Tawakkal)

Have no fear of all other human beings. They can never harm you except by the will of Allah. Be steadfast in your 5 daily prayers and your remembrance of Allah (Dhikr).

Remember, in the Holy Qur’an, Surah 13 Ar-Raad (Thunder), Verse 28: “Those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah, Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find spiritual tranquility.

On trials and tribulations of life, just as a reminder again.

My dear friends, many a time we have been distraught because of some pitfalls in life. As a human being, no one is left free without tests, trials and tribulations in their life. If we do not have strong faith, we might be drowned in our sorrows, and Allah forbid, we might even start questioning Allah on why such trials are being brought upon us.

Rejoice my dear Brothers and Sisters! For as true Believers, one should not feel accursed or unfortunate if trials or tribulations come by. Remember, in the Holy Qur’an, Surah 2 Al-Baqarah (The Heifer), a part of Verse 286: Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope…”
In the same verse there’s this prayer (doaae) we should all memorise and read consistently. The translation is, “Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear.”

Till then, I will inshaAllah continue again in my next entry. All that is good from this entry is from Allah SWT and what is bad is from my weakness…

To all my friends irregardless where you are…

I would like to wish you a very blessed Eid Mubarak kulu amin wa antum bikhair.

May all year be good and blessed

“Kak Yan…bangun Kak, cepat tukar baju…”

Aku melihat jam…7.45pagi…maklumlah “cuti” jadi tak bangun sahur….ahli hujrati pun masih ngantuk2, lalu siap.

Aku menyarung abaya dan memakai telukung sangking malas nak membelit tudung dikepala ku…huhuhu

Ammu abdelmajed dan beberapa lagi orang lelaki arab sudah pun berada diluar rumah kami disebalik pintu, mereka pun memberi wang sadaqah kepada kami disebalik pintu…

Ya Allah! Bukannya sikit, banyak…1000 lira syria seorang…

Inilah dinamakan rezqi dari Allah SWT…

Moga Allah SWT membalas jasa baik para penderma semua…ameen.

45 kg of Misr rice (Egyptian rice)

30 kg of sugar

120 eggs

8 bottles of cooking oil

Packets of pasta

Assorted halawiyats (sweets)

and the list goes on…too many to write

These are the gifts / sadaqah that we receive from the generous locals here! For we are Talibatul ‘ilm ( seekers of knowledge), they chose to give alms during this blessed month to assorted students from around the world. My house is very lucky to receive these provisions.

Alhamdulillah

Alhamdulillah (all praises be to God), its been 16 days since I arrive here in this blessed land of Syam. Also, today is the 8th day of the fasting month. Alhamdulillah here, one becomes mujtahidah (hardworking) yakni (that is), you will never want to miss a single Solat Tarawih everynight…alhamdulillah

Where I’m staying, is called Rukn ad Deen. Here, they call Masjids (Mosques) – Jamiع

My house is very very near to 5 Jamiع, yakni: 1) Jamiع AbuNour, 2) Jamiع BouTi 3) Jamiع Musa Sukkar 4) Jamiع Hanabila 5) Jamiع Muhyiddin. In Jamiع Muhyiddin there is the Maqam of Sheikh Muhyiddin (rahimullah).

Time check: 1.14 pm…I was supposed to go to the Souq (in Arabic it means market/shops), but somehow my legs made a detour to this CC very near to the souqs…

Ok, I shall take my leave now… tonight, there is an invitation to break fast at a fellow Singaporean sister’s house abt 30 mins away from where I’m staying…But most probably I cannot attend…because I haven’t finished my HOMEWORK!!!!! Arrghh

Illaliqae (Till we meet again)

Alhamdulillah, it’s been almost 2 weeks since I set foot upon Damascus… It has been very interesting to be living in this almost desert land where there had been no rain for many many months. The weather has been very hot when I came, but now it is slowly turning slightly milder, with cold winds in the early morning and at night. Blessing of the fasting month….soubhanaAllah…

Autumn will come soon…

The people of Damascus: Well, from what I see, the people here are very good looking (handsome and beautiful) and also they are helpful. There’s about 90% Muslims here in Damascus, with the remaining being either Druze or Christians.

Dressing: I must say, almost 99% Muslim women here wear the hijab, (also known as tudung back home). If you wear short sleeved or short skirts or tight jeans here you are bound to seek “unwanted attention” i.e. it will be obvious that you look different from the rest

Overall, Damascus indeed is a blessed land as it is part of “Syam”. Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him), had made dua’a for blessing in the land of Syam (modern day Damascus, part of Jordan and also part of Palestine).

I take my leave now, with a beautiful picture….guess what is it?? Hehe…its actually  special food made during the fasting month here…like a big cracker doused with date syrup…. we call it “keropok ramadhan”

My apologies for delays in updating, as not all cybercafes (CCs) allow access to Facebook and WordPress.

(Pls click to view it bigger)

Dear all, these are some photos which I have time to share for now…inshaAllah, will share more in time to come….