Un-Reɐlpoliʇiʞ

Bored to Death II

2010-07-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

This summer, it’s best to indulge ourselves with proper music. Music soothes our souls. Now, I have been indulging myself with these albums:

1. Album: BACCANO! Original Soundtrack Spiral MelodiesArtiste: Makoto Yoshimori
Catalogue No.: SVWC-7499
My pick: Almost all of the tracks!
By the way, it's anime series were great. After watching Durarara!!, I watched Baccano! Both are adaptation of two Ryohgo Narita's light novels.

2. Album: MONKEY MAJIK BEST ~10 Years & Forever~Artiste: MONKEY MAJIK
Catalogue No.: AVCH-78014
My pick: Change, Together & Fast Forward

Jerash, Part VII: The Propylaeum, The Nyphaeum & The Oval Plaza

2010-07-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

After wandering around the Temple of Artemis, we descent through the steps at the Temple Esplanade to Propylaeum below. They said, ancient inhabitants of Gerasa offered their sacrifice here.

This is Nymphaeum, a structure built for nymphs (lesser natural goddess in Greek mythology – equivalent to 'kami' in Shintoism). Usually, they have fountain at the centre.

Here’s a crowd of elderly, most of them wearing red. Are they Opus Dei follower? They spoke Italian though, and the tour guide explained to them in Italian.

Jerash is regarded as ‘Rome away from Rome.’ The ancient city has almost the characteristics of ancient Roman cities. Here’s the Roman Oval Piazza.

Left: Cardo Maximus
Right: The Oval Piazza. Notice the a column at the centre.

We walked from the Nymphaeum to the Oval Plaza via the Cardo Maximus. The Plaza measures about 90 x 80 m. It is surrounded by colonnade and it has column at its centre. The column is used to hold the flame for Jerash Festival which is held every July each year.

Jerash, Part VI: Temple of Artemis

2010-07-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

After visiting the Roman amphitheatre of Gerasa, we walked uphill to go to the Temple of Artemis. On the way there, we passed the The Cardo.

The Cardo or more commonly Colonnaded Street

Temple of Artemis. Artemis is Greek; Romans called her Diana.

Artemis was perceived as the patron goddess for the ancient city. The temple was built during the reign of Emperor Antonius Pius (one of the ‘Five Good Emperors,’ if you know Roman history) at the highest point of Gerasa.

As seen from the Temple Esplanade.

The ruin of the temple… Well, I am not good at describing it, but I can say that it has five Corinthian column façade. That leaves another five still standing. They said the carvings at the top of the columns are amongst the beautiful historical Corinthian columns in the world.

Wow. Seems that they were deliberately cut and stack upon each other.

Not many Malaysian reached here since it’s quite far (according to Malaysians’ standard) from the site’s entrance, but its location only marks the first two half of the entire site. You only reach the farthest part of the Gerasa once you reached North Gate.

Before leaving the site, we took a breathtaking view near the ruin of Umayyad settlement. It’s a ‘wow!’

At the Temple Esplanade.

Jerash, Part V: Amphitheatre

2010-07-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Like any usual Roman historical site, usually there’s a Roman amphitheatre. It can accommodate around 3000 people at one time. Well, if you wanna get more info, you can pretty much Google it.

There’s a musical performance inside conducted by two Jordanians, wearing military suit. It’s a military bagpipe play. It’s free but of course, you should chip in some donation, dude. Don’t get me wrong, it ain’t a street performance. Perhaps, it's a courtesy performance from the Ancient Jerash authority.

The stage.

When we entered the amphitheatre, the performers were relaxing and brewing some tea. But, when we left the place and some Western visitors come in, they started to play. We felt ignored.

Jerash Part IV: South Gate

2010-05-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

From Hippodrome, take a short walk to the South Gate. You’ll see the modern town of Jerash on your right. The town is the capital for Jerash Governorate.

South Gate is the main entrance to Gerasa Ancient City. It is located in front of the visitor centre.

Notice the signboard on the picture before? Here’s what it shows.

It is smaller than Hadrian’s Arch. Acanthus leaf decoration style can be seen on its columns.

View of the gate from the inside Ancient City.

Behind this wall is the Temple of Zeus.

Here’s a door to a mini museum displaying the art of entablature and classical order of the columns found around the Ancient City. It is located beneath the ruin of the Zeus Temple. This museum has collaboration with the Musée du Louvre of France.

Jerash, Part III: Hippodrome

2010-04-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

This is the first structure you'll see after entering Gerasa. The Arch of the Hippodrome. The original structure was collapsed, but it was re-erected for tourism purposes. To prove my point, can you see the flagpoles on the arch?

An idle 'Roman' soldier. Actually, he is a performer for The Roman Army and Chariot Experience.

You'll see this after you walk pass the Hadrian's Arch.

There are two shows here everyday. But, at the time we got there, it was already too late for us to catch the final show. To get in, you gotta pay for entrance. But, two of us managed to seduce the women at the counter to let them in for free. They only got to see the few last minutes of the show and took pictures with the performers. They also tried the chariot. Lucky them.

Here's inside the Hippodrome during 'The Roman Army and Chariot Experience.'

Jerash, Part II: Hadrian's Arch

2010-04-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

This structure was built around 129/130 BC to commemorate Caesar Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus' visit to Jerash.

It is perhaps the easternmost structure dedicated to Roman Emperor Hadrian. The westernmost structure is, maybe, the Vallum Aelium in England.

We took a shot here before we leave Jerash.

Jerash, Part I

2010-04-18T05:46:00.001-07:00

"They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes."

-Mark 5:1

On February the 6^th, year 2010, at 1.30 pm, we leave from Aiman’s & Farhan’s house and took a bus from Irbid to Jerash. We arrived at Jerash half an hour later.

This is Mujamma' Amman, where we took a bus to go to Jerash.

Jerash is quite mountainous. Irbid isn't.

This picture was taken from inside the bus.

This is when we arrived at the outskirt of Jerash town.

Jerash Town.

This is the road to the entrance of Ancient Jerash. Ancient Jerash, or Gerasa is located at the western part of the town.

You'll arrive at some shops selling souvenirs before reaching at the ticket counter.

The Jordanian Government is trying to attract more tourists these few years, by raising the entry fee for every tourist spots. It seems to be a sucky idea, though. They had the entry fee for Petra up to JD 20 you know!

Day of Departure & Arrival

2010-04-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Imam Shafie once said in his poem:

" سافر تجد عوض عمن تفارقه، وٱنصب فإن لذيذ ٱلعيش في ٱلنصب"

Go travel. You'll find replacement for people you have parted.

Work hard; because the pleasure of life is due to hardworking.

Participants.

We left International Bus Terminal for Nuweiba at 11.11 pm. We stopped for a somewhere near EgyptAir Hospital to pick up more passengers.

At 2.30 am, we stopped at ٱلمعمورة Café for 45 minutes. I couldn’t exactly say where it was but surely it’s in the midst of desert. Cold, of course, and because of that, I chose to stay inside the bus.

Around 4.30 am, we arrived at a security checkpoint near Nuweiba. A policeman came into the bus and looked at everybody’s passport. Then, we headed to Taba and an Israeli women hopped-off from the bus. She sat exactly on the seat in front of mine. After that, we went to Nuweiba and arrived there at 5.50 o’clock in the morning. We joined the people queuing to enter the port and passed the security check before going to the mosque, praying, and having our breakfast sponsored by Romadonazikri.

Inside the mosque.

We started to queue for immigration clearance at 10.00 am. After an hour, we all got EXIT stamp on our passport. Leaving Egypt. Fun. Whatever. I asked one of the policemen inside the waiting hall when would the fast ferry leave. He said, “3 o’clock.” But, the passengers for the slow ferry got called to queue first.

Then, muezzin called for prayer. The immigration counters were closed and everybody ‘enter’ Egypt border once again to the mosque. Haikal and Faiz joined me at first, and the rest stayed. Instead of having Friday prayer, we pray jama’ qasar.

It was a hell long time waiting inside the god forsaken hall without any functioning toilet. All slow ferry passengers had left the hall, leaving only fast ferry passengers. Finally, at 4.38 pm, we embarked Queen Nefertiti and leave Nuweiba at 5.10 pm.

Queen Nefertiti...

...and surprisingly, she is Jordanian.

Inside, we had to queue again and let the Jordanian Immigration to check our passports. Unlike Egyptians, where their passports were returned, our passport were retained and we were given a small piece of paper. In Jordanian Arabic, we were told, “collect your passports at immigration office after you disembark.”

Inside the ferry.

Three of us ordered some meal. LE 20 per set, I think.

We arrived at Aqaba, Jordan at 6.45 pm. After waiting for a while, we were allowed to disembark and from there we were taken by a shuttle service to immigration centre at the AB Maritime Office. There, unexpectedly, we were detained (minus the handcuffing) and brought upstairs to see the immigration high-up. This happened at 7.20 pm. There were five other persons waiting outside that higher officer’s office (I didn’t know what was his rank, though).

At 7.40 pm, when our turn came, that higher officer said he needed only to see one of us. Haikal became the victim after jan-ken-po. He was taken inside and staying there longer than people before us whom just took 5 minutes each. At 8.10 pm, I was called inside because Haikal ‘didn’t have enough acquaintance inside Jordan.’ Haikal gave two, but the officer need another three to make it five. As expected, the question whether you’re an Al-Azhar student come out. Not just that, he jerked me around with other questions. Couldn’t really understand what he was saying as he spoke colloquial Jordanian Arabic. He wrote down our conversation as a statement on a piece of paper with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan emblem. Oh yeah, there’s another high-up inside as well, idling around and watching soccer on TV.

After a while, we were asked to leave the room and waited outside. Several other immigration officials come in and out of the office and every time they did that, they gave reassurance to us. A few minutes later, that immigration boss gave our passports away with entrance visa stamped on it.

We hurriedly leave the centre and went to look for a bus service to Amman. Negative. No bus. To make it worse, we were given wrong info about how to leave the centre and by doing exactly like he said, we were arrested, again. I told to the low-ranking officer whom arrested us that we already got the visa and bla, bla, bla, but to no avail. And, we were brought to the idle higher officer I mentioned before. Surprisingly, he backed us up and scold that low-ranking one about the unnecessity of arresting us. And, that low-ranking officer apologized to us profusely and escorted us out from the centre.

Outside, we haggled for a service to Irbid and got JD 13 fare for each of us. We need to go to Irbid as it was too late already. At first, the driver wanna charged us for unreasonable price, but since it was five against one, he lose. He even admit that all drivers there are ‘cheaters.’

We left Aqaba at 9.15 pm. And, after 13 km of journey, we stopped for luggage check at a custom centre. We were treated special; not needed to open our bags. Other people inside the service van are needed to do as they told.

Around 2 am, we stuck in a blizzard during the journey. The driver panicked and drove his van very, very slowly. We pretended it was nothing and slept instead.

We arrived at Irbid at 4.10 pm next morning.

Buying Tickets

2010-04-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last year, I was thinking of going to go outside Egypt during this year’s winter break. And, I had decided to visit Jordan, Syria and Turkey.

On January 14^th this year, during break before we started ophthalmology round, I went to Cairo to buy ferry and bus tickets.

To buy those tickets, you need to bring money (of course) and your passport.

First, I went to Arab Bridge Maritime representative office at Abdel Khalek Tharwat Street, Cairo; somewhere near Nasser Metro station.

I bought fast ferry tickets (قارب), five of them. I paid US$ 70 plus 50 LE tax for each ticket. For Egyptians, the ticket price is less expensive.

Then, I went to International Bus Terminal (ٱلمحطة ٱلدولية) at Abbassia to buy bus tickets for journey from Cairo to Nuweiba. As for foreigners, different fare is charged: 70 LE for each ticket whilst Egyptians only paid 50 LE for the same lousy bus service. No tax is included.

After that, I caught up with my friends at City Stars and devoured a bowl of ramen at Wagamama.

Mawlid

2010-02-26T03:51:00.000-08:00

"The real Mawlid for me, for people like us (who fight for Islam) is to make an Islamic environment in a country. This is the real Mawlid.

"Mawlid, for me, is for the entire year."

-Chief Minister Tuan Guru Datuk Haji Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.
February 14^th, 2010.

The birthplace of Prophet Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon him)

Shot on July 3^rd, 2008. Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām compound, Makkah al-Mukarramah.

Bloopers

2010-01-27T23:43:00.000-08:00

Oops! Berita Harian did it again!

Click the image below for larger view.

I highlighted on Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).

Below is the zoomed version. Click for larger view.

They translated the word 'Consultative' from the NGO's name into 'Perundangan' in Malay. How surprising! The only Malay word I know which gives a meaning for 'consultative' in English is 'perundingan.'

Plus, is there any belief out there called Toa? The Taoists must feel insulted!

Now, I know why my dad didn't want to read the newspaper anymore.

Similar but slightly different situation happened to me. Some Malaysian students from Al-Manṣūrah blamed me for being insolent just because I used phrase 'pet name' instead of 'nickname.' They accused me for referring them as 'animals' and demanded me an apology. What the hell? Instead of looking up in dictionary what 'pet name' means, they instantly 'assaulted' me and called me an insensitive person. Wow, seems that some people just know how to mark their territories and go against me. But, all they do is acting like smart asses without realizing that they're just some faction of morons.

Thus, proving my point that those Al-Manṣūrah group of medical students really are incompetent in English and only know how to say to lecturers, "can you explain in English?" I bet they don't even know what that means.

Medico-Legal

2010-01-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

People love to sue physicians’ asses. Physicians suck that they can never meet the patients’ requirement.

Well, from my point of view, both parties are at fault.

First, doctors, when they’re still undergrads, they didn’t respect much the profession. They didn’t give a damn thing about studies and all they care was taking pictures with cadaver or ‘playing doctors’ with patients before upload it into facebook and tell the world how cool it was. But, they didn’t realize that it was a breach of ethics and physician-patient confidentiality. Even cadavers deserve to be treated with respect and dignity; not to be taken picture of it with finger ‘peace’ gesture. Consequently, some lousy group of ~~doctors, err I mean~~ quacks is born.

Second, patients, if their doctors made a little mistake, it was a worldly crisis. They hurriedly call their lawyers to make a living hell for such physicians. But, hey, here’s a thought. Have you ever wonder that there are many doctors out there who accidentally contracted hospital-borne diseases (we often referred it as nosocomial infection) such as MRSA, AIDS, TB, Hep B, C, any letter you name it, from their patients during the treatment and they didn’t even summon their patients to justice ?

Wow.

So people, please, act fairly and be fair.

Oh wait, what did I just said?

This life is never fair.

Bored to Death

2010-01-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

This boredom is killin' me.

In spite of that, I manage to get my hand on these:

1. Album: TV Animation Series 「tactics」 Opening Theme
Artiste: Miki Akiyama
Catalogue No.: AFC-1017
My pick: Secret World

2. Album: 0079-0088
Artiste: Gackt
Catalogue No.: CRCP-40195
My pick: Ai Senshi (Original Artist: Daisuke Inoue)

3. Album: Fight!
Artistes: Romi Park x Mamoru Miyano
Catalogue No.: VPCG-82219
My pick: Fight!

4. Album: Doubt & Trust
Artiste: access
Catalogue No.: AICL-1884
My pick: Doubt & Trust

5. Album: CODE GEASS COMPLETE BEST
Various Artistes
Catalogue No.: SMCL-163
My pick: COLORS & Hitomi no Tsubasa

Future of Islam in Malaysia

2010-01-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon verse 54 from Surah al-Mā’idāh, when I read Quran and the translation goes as below:

"O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islām), Allāh will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allāh, and never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allāh which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allāh is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower."

I wonder, what’s gonna happen to Islam in Malaysia?

Hey, here’s a thought. I think, since Islam is taken for granted by Malay, maybe Allāh (gotta use a lot of this word, now) will bash His divine retribution upon them and let the matters of Islam be handled by Chinese Muslims instead.

Kelantan Government is now planning to amend it’s constitution to allow non-Malay to be a Chief Minister. Is this a sign from Allāh?

Nowadays, a lot of young Chinese converted to Islam in Malaysia while at the same time, a lot of good-for-nothing Malay youngsters are trying to get out of Islam. I have many Muslim Chinese peers to prove the former.

Many Muslim Malays take prayers for granted while at the same time many Chinese are trying to study and practice ‘solat’ voluntarily.

Malays don't give a damn about Islam. They just use it whenever possible to serve their own political agenda; mainly Malay supremacy. How pathetic. Let me tell you, Islam is no longer synonym with Malay. Malay doesn't own it; not even Arab, nor Chinese. Nobody.

It is not something impossible that Islamic affairs will be much better under Muslim Chinese supervision. Who knows? They’re rich, well-known for their business skills, diligent, more disciplined compared to Malay, hardworking and ‘kiasu’ (Hokkien word means afraid of losing).

Islam is not something unheard among Chinese. They discovered Islam centuries before the religion reached The Golden Chersonese. They call Islam 'Huijiao,' (回教) means 'the religion of Hui people. Chinese people from this ethnicity is known for practising Islam even though they're culturally similar to Han people.

.
.
.

Nah, this is just an idle thinking.

Food Hunt During Eid

2009-11-28T11:44:00.000-08:00

The bodyguard, The godfather and the 'crook' cook.

Patiently waiting for meal to be served.

...but only get some banana crackers, kuih gasing, Fruit Plus and some citrus.

Oh yeah, lontong babeh!

Crime scene.

My ex-neighbours. They have grown a lot.

We take a photograph after successfully raiding the second house.

A few steps away, and we take a photograph again.

The third house is unfortunately on their preparing process for their food.

Nonetheless, we have take another picture to commemorate this failure.

Making snide comments against each other.

A loving couple is left behind in an area called Shaymaa'.

We're about to raid the final house of the operation.

Taking nearly 20 minutes to reach the most isolated house in the area.

The 'oyabun' is scheming an ambush plan.

"We go like this, and like this...," said the future executive-officer.

I looked at the targeted house.

Damn it! It seems that the residents have known our modus operandi. They make us wait for nearly an hour for the meal.

...and they're finally busted.

The connoisseur is always tempted by the food.

Always leave no trace.

Eid Adha 1430 Hijra

2009-11-27T05:41:00.001-08:00

I still remember what my teacher, Mr Yusof had taught me about Eid Adha.

He asked everybody in the class, “what’s the moral of Eid Adha?”

Of course we answered with the lame answer - the willingness to sacrifice.

He said, “You’re wrong.”

“The real purpose of Eid Adha is to obediently follow what Allāh has commanded. Just obey Allāh without questioning the purpose of it. It's that simple," he added.

At Samanoudy Mosque, after Eid prayer.

Left to right: Nasi impit, kuah kacang (Nadhir's), rendang ayam (mine).

Blame the camera, not me.

Going to raid the next house.

Curry noodles at the most isolated house in Al-Manṣūrah

Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat: There's a Mistake?

2009-11-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

To use Malay words to describe emotion and feelings, one must follow these grammatical rules:

The word + akan. For example: Suka akan, benci akan. Or,
Prefix ‘me’ + the word + suffix ‘an/i’ (suffix is not a necessity in some words). For example: Menyukai (out of suka), Merindukan (from the word rindu).

However, I was taught that the word 'merindui' is wrong. The correct form is 'merindukan.' You can’t find the word 'merindui' in Kamus Dewan Edisi Ketiga but I was told that the word is included in Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat, page 1332.

I still believe that the correct form is ‘merindukan.’

A Malay linguist told me that Kamus Dewan is not an ultimate guide for Malay grammar. The only guide you can rely upon is Tatabahasa Dewan.

Fake Professorship

2009-10-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

There have been some issues here in Egypt, shaking a group of Malaysian community in this place. But, I don’t wanna comment about those issues.

But what really intrigues me is, the way people addressing a character in the issue. Let’s look at this thing from linguistic and moral aspect.

Let say his name is Jamal, PhD. And let just say that he’s some crappy liaison for some corrupted agency from Malaysia.

Right, when he came here few years ago, people address him ‘Doctor Jamal.’ Maybe, he’s not a physician but it is still correct to call him as such as he holds a PhD.

Time passed by and all of sudden people address him as Associate Professor Jamal officially in ceremonies and working papers. And it wasn’t long before people starting address him Professor. For your info, this Jamal guy hasn’t done any dissertations, academic papers or whatever for him to be entitled for aforementioned academic titles. Plus, he’s far away from those because he’s no longer affiliated with any university or other academic institution.

I wonder, what kinda crappy secretaries and master of ceremonies are there? Don’t they know anything about protocols?

What if he does something that can lead to abomination? A professor fucking up some ceremony, or maybe work part time as a contrabandist? If you’re in your right mind, do you think he as a (fake) professor or at least a doctorate holder would do as such?

See, Malaysians here in Egypt are so unnecessarily ‘kind.’ You’re an Islamic studies student, you can be called ustaz or ustazah. You’re med student, people call you ‘duktur’ or ‘dukturah.’ I deplore the latter. Nonetheless, these people should realize that sometimes they’re overstepping border. Making up people's title sometimes is really too much, I think. It's flattering and exaggerating. I saw such screw-ups happen too many times in Malaysian med students society especially in their paperworks.

You wrongly address people with some academic title he/she doesn’t have, you’ll end up telling lies to the society. Giving too much credentials is fatal.

Stupidity

2009-10-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. Harvard University is in London? You gotta be kiddin' me.
See below (click for larger view).

Geez, even dung beetles know that Harvard is in Massachusetts, USA. Guess what would happen when those students arrive in London. Would they be able to find Harvard University in London?

Okay, now let’s see another same-day news excerpt of the same e-newspaper.

Some stupid newspaper is suggesting college students to use their library/archives as source of references. Yeah, refer and fail for sure.

Radio Antarabangsa China

2009-09-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

When I was looking for some websites about Islam in China, I discovered a very interesting website (in my opinion). It is Radio Antarabangsa China (CRI).

I wonder, who made the Malay translation and manage its on-air radio broadcast? Malays?

Every words in Malay is carefully written. Tatabahasa (Malay grammar) is observed well. You can read its publication: Kembara Sutera. Even Malays can't do this. Look by yourself, there's a lot of rubbish blogs (even official websites!) written in Malay but unfortunately full of tatabahasa, choice-of-word and spelling errors. They should be ashamed of themselves.

To learn Islam is not necessarily taking examples from Muslims. Same goes to learning* Bahasa Melayu. Being native Malay doesn't mean having good command of Bahasa Melayu.

(*Rule of gerunds applied. Same as : "Mr Hammond is looking forward to meeting you")

Breaking Fast

2009-09-12T20:48:00.001-07:00

Last night we went to Gudaid village. Located approximately 5 km northeast of Al-Manṣūrah. The renowned microbus operator Ammu Magdy invited us there.
I thought there was no invitation for iftar this year.

There were four vans: two for Malaysians and two for Indonesians.

We were served with rice cooked with liver, lasagna, kofta, salatoh and ¼ chicken mashwi. Side dishes were custard pudding and guava.

Freeloaders

Ust Yasir's first son, Miqdad.

Do Japanese Loan Some Arabic Words?

2009-09-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

There are two Japanese words I've discovered so far similar to Arabic words phonetically and meaningly.

In Japanese, the word 'anata/anta' means 'you.' In Arabic, 'anta' means the same but specifically used towards a male.

Japanese word for bird is 'tori,' (鳥). In Arabic, the bird is called to'ir or toyr (ٱلطائر\ٱلطير).

Ramadhan or Ramadan?

2009-08-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

(This is teaching Malay language in English)

Cikgu Shafiee bin Zakaria, our Malay language teacher once taught us how to spell loaned words in Malay language such as 'Ramadan, terawih' etc.

He said, many people tend to exaggerate the spelling of the words, for example Ramadan.

In Malay, the correct spelling is simply, 'Ramadan' with capitalized letter R. Yet, many people spell it as 'Ramadhan.'

Cikgu Shafiee explained that there is no exact Roman letter to be pronounced like the Arabic letter 'ض,' so there's no need to put letter 'h' after 'd' in 'Ramadan' to make it sounded like the letter 'ض.' He reiterated that it is already known pronouncing 'd' in 'Ramadan' is not as same as pronouncing 'd' in the word 'meredakan.'

Same goes to the word 'terawih.' That is the correct spelling! Yet, some ignorant people out there claimed that it is important to preserve the nature of the pronunciation of the word, so they spell it as 'taraweh,' and more pathetically, 'tarawikh!'

It intrigues me, how come these idiots who claimed that they are opposing PPSMI, and had learnt Bahasa subject for about twelve years during compulsory education yet persistently making such simple mistakes. Shame on you. It would be oxymoronic to say that you are an anti-PPSMI but not competent in your own language (suppose you are a Malay).

Anyway, wishing you a blessed Ramadan.

Mihrab of Muhammad bin Abu Bakr Mosque, Mit Damsis, Dakahlya

Kekkon

2009-08-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

"Men always want to be a woman's first love... Women have a more subtle instinct... What [they] like is to be a man's last romance."

-Oscar Wilde

Kekkon: Japanese for 'marriage.'

Omedeto, Faizal-kun.

Congrats. Sorry for not making to your wedding ceremony though being the earliest 4^th person invited. I couldn't return to Malaysia due to visa problem.

Thanks to whoever-she-is for the pictures. And for those whose excuses are 'I don't have anyone to pick me up,' 'I don't know where Kg Lubok Jambu is,' and 'I have to be in KL for anti-ISA demonstration,' please enjoy viewing these picture.

A Trip to Mersa Matruh and Sīwa,

2009-07-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

First Day

12.15 am – Off to Mersa Matruh from Al-Manṣūrah.
4.30 am – Arrived at an R&R for Fajr prayer.
7.00 am – Arrived at Mersa Matruh. And we were resting for the whole morning.
2.00 pm – After Zuhr prayer, we went to Cleopatra beach and Cleopatra Bath. Beautiful. Here, we met another group of Malaysian students from Tanta.
4.30 pm – We leave Cleopatra Beach and headed to Agiba Beach to watch sunset. Agiba means ‘miracle.’
8.30 pm – We returned to Mersa Matruh and we were told that we’re gonna stop at Souq Libya. But, because the managing committee didn’t alert our bus driver because they were sleeping during the journey, we returned to our inn instead and had our dinner there. At first, our bus driver refused to take us to Souq Libya saying that he’s already exhausted. But, the managing committee tried and managed to persuade him to bring us there at eleven o’clock. At least, they compensated their mistake.
11.00 pm - Out to Souq Libya. I bought a bottle of hair tonic; the same one I got when I was in al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah. Many rare things are sold here. You can even get some fake cosmetics such as ‘Nivea for Sun’ et cetera. Usually, Malaysians love to shop for dates stuffed with chocolates or almonds. Herbs are also available. It is famous because most of the goods sold here came from Libya. We returned to our inn at 12.15 pm.

Second Day

On my way to Sīwa. Stopped in the middle of vast Egyptian Sand Sea.

8.00 am – Off to Sīwa.
10.30 am – Stopped at R&R in the middle of the journey.

I've always wanted to do this...

Where we stopped. Note the bloopers.

12.00 pm – Arrived at Sīwa. We visited first Mountain of The Dead (Gebel el-Mawta). The ticket price has been raised from LE1 last year to LE15 for students. But, our managing committee managed to talk with the guards and got all 150 of us (Tanta + Al-Manṣūrah) for LE 150. However, the guards were seemed pissed off with our managing committee and they said, “I don’t wanna see you again.” Poor suckers. Nothing much to discover here except scattered skeletons and excavated chambers. On the top of the hill, I met Matthew, an English teacher from Modesto, California. We had a little chit-chat. He told me he came to Egypt to study Arabic language. He taught English in South Korea and Turkey. He seemed to be annoyed with Cairenes because they tried to suck the hell amount of money outta him every time. And he asked whether I feel the same. Well, who doesn’t? That’s why he tried to find a quiet place like Sīwa to relieve his tension.
1.00 pm – We stopped for afternoon prayer at Sīwa Grand Mosque. After prayer, we met Sheikh Idris as-Suyuti; a local Sīwan. He received his education in al-Azhar University and acquainted with Malay students. He briefed us a little about Sīwa in simple, standard Arabic and later act as our tourist guide.
1.30 pm – I’m the only participants from Al-Manṣūrah visited the Shali. Others shopped dates at nearby shops.
3.00 pm – Moved to visit the Temple of the Oracle.
4.00 pm – Leave the Temple of the Oracle and went to Cleopatra Spring. On the way to the spring, we can see the ruins of Temple of Amun (Temple of Umm Ubaydah) but we did not stop. We had our meals there. Some of us bathed and swam at the Cleopatra Bath.

Cleopatra Spring or Juba Spring

Sīwan dates

5.45 pm – We leave Cleopatra Spring and stopped again at Sīwa town for second round of dates shopping.
6.15 pm – We leave Sīwa and returned to Mersa Matruh. However, we didn’t go to Salt Lake because of timing problem. Plus, the place is already closed.

Bus of Malaysian visitors from Tanta is leaving Sīwa

10.00 pm – Arrived at Mersa Matruh.

Third Day

8.00 am – All of us went to White Beaches. It was named as such because of their white sand. Really. You can see it by using Google Earth. There are many beaches here. We just went to White Beach (شاطئ ٱلأبيض). Doing what people usually do at beaches.

White Beach

1.00 pm - Then, we leave Mersa Matruh and headed home. Did not manage to visit Rommel Museum because we arrived too late and the museum was closed at our arrival. Lousy management.

Most beaches at Mersa Matruh are beautiful.

9.30 pm – Arrived at Al-Manṣūrah. End of trip.

Cleopatra Beach & Cleopatra Bath

2009-07-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

Statue of Cleopatra VII, daughter of Ptolemy XII

Cleopatra Beach is just beautiful. The water is so damn crystal clear just like fairy’s tears. It’s a rocky beach.

Cleopatra Beach

Meet our model for this post. Couldn't use his camera because he forgot to charge its battery.

Crystal clear water

Wave

Rock of Cleopatra Bath

Nothing much to discover here except a hollow chamber in a ginormous rock that is believed to be used exclusively by Cleopatra when she spent her summer here. It is called ‘Cleopatra Bath.’

Our model again. The hole where sea water come inside the bath.

Water out.

The chamber has two holes that enable sea water to enter and leave the bath. Both are rectangular and man-made.

The entrance into the bath from the beach

The entrance into the bath from inside the bath

Another one more is the stone’s natural entrance to the bath. The rock also enables sunshine to enter from above. See the picture below.

Historic, but there were foul smell inside. Probably urine odour. Perhaps, some Egyptians was mistaken by assuming it for being a toilet because the place’s name in Arabic is ‘Hamām Cleopatra.’ Hamām can roughly be translated into ‘toilet.’

Wall of the Hamām Cleopatra

Our model is on the top of the rock

Another picture of Cleopatra Beach

It was rumoured that Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan shot their scene singing 'Suraj Hua Maddham' in Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham movie at this white rock. Our model was making the mock-scene.

Agiba Beach

2009-07-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

‘Agiba’ in Arabic means miracle.

The locals call it as such because a magnificent seven different colour formation on the sea (some said on the sky between the sea and the sun) during sunset can be witnessed here.

To our dismay, we couldn’t see it because the sun was set into the nearby hill, not into the sea.

So, we just witnessed a sunset that you can see it anywhere else. But, the beach here is just beautiful. And the water is bluish and clear.

Sīwa

2009-07-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

The town of Sīwa as seen from Mountain of the Dead

Located approximately 300 km southwest from Mersa Matruh and 50 km east from Libyan border, the oasis is a depression about 18 metres below sea level. Its length is 80 km whilst its width is 20 km. It is officially added to Egypt by Muhammad Ali in 1819.

Grand Mosque of Sīwa

Sīwa is the only place in Egypt that is lived by Berber people. Most of the people here wear ‘jalabiyyah’ (traditional Arabian cloak), from young to elderly, unlike other Egyptians who wear ordinary t-shirts and jeans.

The town of Sīwa as seen from Shali

In Siwi language, the word Sīwa means ‘the bird of prey.’ The original town of Sīwa was located at Aghurmi (where Aghurmi clan lives now), near the Temple of Amun (Temple of Umm Ubaydah). Since they were frequently attacked by Bedouins, forty men from seven clans decided to build a new fortified town of Shali. Inhabitants of Sīwa is divided into fourteen tribes, and each tribe has their own chieftain (sheikh or al-Qāid) and their assistants. Sheikh claimed that these leaders govern their people according to Sharia law. Police is only needed for a few matters only. The town council is called ‘al-Agwad.’

They have distinguished language called Siwi language – subfamily of Berber language. But, Arabic is still widely used (to talk with outsiders and to be used on signboards). They are nice people.

Sheikh Idris as-Sanusi is briefing about Sīwa to Malaysian students

Sheikh Idris as-Sanusi said that Sīwa is a manifestation of the verses 33 until 35 from Surah Yāsīn al-Qurān.

“And a sign for them is the dead land. We give it life and We bring forth from it grains, so that they eat thereof.

“And we have made therein gardens of date-palms and grapes, and We have caused springs of water to gush forth therein.

“So that they may eat of the fruit thereof - and their hands made it not. Will they not, then, give thanks?”

Sīwa. Donkey cars are used as public transports here. Locals call it 'taxi.'

The History of Sīwa

The Manuscript of Sīwa (مخطوط سيوة) is the most important historical record of Sīwa. It is said to be written a hundred years ago by Abu Musallim, a qadi who received his education at al-Azhar University and kept by one of the Sīwan clans. It describes a summary of information from medieval Arab chroniclers, oral history of the oasis, origins of the different clans, their customs and traditions and other historical events. No fixed date can be given for the introduction of Islam into Sīwa but we cannot be far wrong if we say that the new religion (Islam) found its way into Sīwa in all probability before the end of the first century of Islam (7^th century AD).

Jabal Abyad

The Shali

2009-07-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

Shali is also known as al-Qaryah al-Qadimah in Arabic. It was built in around year 600 Hijra (1203 AD) according to Sīwan Manuscript. Shali means ‘the town’ in Siwi language. The city’s entrance is called al-Babinshal (ٱلبابنشال). The word is combination of Arabic and Sīwi language which means ‘the entrance to the town.’

Shali

Shali was built on the hill because two reasons. One, to guards against bandits from stealing their crops. Two, usually the air of the elevated part of the land is much cooler. So, it is important for the Sīwan living in elevated area to overcome the desert hotness. Allāh has said in verse 81 of Surah an-Nahl, "And Allāh has made for you out of that which He has created shades, and has made for you places of refuge in the mountains, and has made for you garments to protect you from the heat (and cold), and coats of mail to protect you from your (mutual) violence. Thus does He perfect His Grace unto you, that you may submit yourselves to His Will (in Islām)"

Western Gate

Shali is now a deserted. It has two gates: Western Gate and Eastern Gate. The former can be located near the Old Sīwan (Umar) Mosque. East Shali is the old part of the Shali. As the inhabitants began to move out of the fortified town, a group of them went to the west and built an area known as West Shali today. Houses in West Shali are in better state of conservation compared to the East. Many houses in West Shali have already been restored by Shali Project and more are to follow.

The Old Sīwan Mosque (Umar Mosque)

The Old Sīwan Mosque co-existed with Shali. The mosque’s name is Umar Mosque. There is a very famous saying (among Malays) that this mosque was officiated its opening by Caliph Umar al-Khattab. I simply doubt it. There is a jar near its entrance and a basin carved from stone called ‘teghumt.’ The praying hall is supported by six pillars and its roof is built of by date palm trunks. Its minaret is not only used to call for prayers, but it is also used by muezzin twice at a night to announce the ending period of watering the fields and the beginning of a new season. During the day, a professional timekeeper called ‘raqqab,’ uses it to determine the different seasons by using sundial.

The elder Sīwans said, there was a tunnel from al-Babinshal passing below the mosque, but it was collapsed approximately sixty years ago. The Sīwan rebuilt the collapsed part by filling the tunnel with ‘karsheef’ rubble. There was also a shaded gallery between the mosque and the town’s gate called ‘mazallah,’ where the town council (al-Agwad) meeting used to be held.

Deserted housed

People started to move out of Shali during 19^th century. No exact cause but it was believed that heavy downpours had destroyed most of the houses which made of clays. On the year 1926, Shali is completely deserted after heavy rain struck the town demolishing many residences. And the remnants of this fort were used as building material for new houses in Sīwa.

Building materials

Karsheef is salty mud taken from the top layer of soil around the Sīwan lakes. It is cut into random pieces to build walls.

Mud is originates from Sīwan soils. The good quality mud is extracted from the direct layer beneath the karsheef. It is used as mortar and wall plasters. It is mixed with water and left to dry for a period of time that could last for months. Date palms are sometimes sow below the mixture, and the mud is only considered as good when the palms emerge out of the dried mud.

Mud is also used to make the floor for the upper storey on the top of the ground floor’s ceiling. This layer is thinner but it is strong.

Olive tree branches were used to connect walls, strengthening the corners and to make doors and windows’ frames.

Palm trees are used as supporting beams for the roof and ceilings. Sometimes, they are used as secondary beams or ceiling boards. They are cut in a certain time of the year in order to obtain the best trunk which contains less fluid inside to avoid infestation. They are cut in half and soaked in salty water to avoid termites and other pests.

Reeds (genera: Phragmites & Arundo) are sewn to make a mat to be laid on the top of the ceiling beams.

Mountain of The Dead (Gebel el-Mawta)

2009-07-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Signboard

This is the first place you'll see if you come straight from Mersa Matruh. Located at the entrance of Sīwa.

Mountain of The Dead as seen from Shali

It is a large ancient graveyard on a hill. Many tombs here can be dated back to Ptolemaic and Roman period (3^rd -2^nd century BC). Some say, the graveyard has existed since Paleolithic and Neolithic era. Whatever.

Necropolis of Mountain of The Dead

Last year, Malaysian students were needed to pay entrance fee for only LE 1. Now, it’s LE 15 per head.

Some of the artefacts scattered on the hill

The graveyard can be divided into two areas: one area for commoner’s burial (south) and one for elite’s burial (north). Many skeletons are scattered on the hill but it would be insolent to take them home. It’s not yours!

Burial area for commoners

Head of femur (left); oblique fracture. Condyles of femur (right).

Burial area for elites

A tomb built for commoner

A tomb built for elites

Some of the ancient paintings inside a tomb. Vandalized.

The hill hosts the Tomb of Siamun (6^th pharaoh of 21^st Dynasty during Third Intermediate Period), the Tomb of Mesu-Isis, the Tomb of Niperpathot, the Tomb of the Crocodile and a 1,500-year-old tomb containing Graeco-Roman mummies. Most of them are chained/locked. Asked the guardians to open if you want to get inside and don’t forget to offer them some baksheesh. Some people said, there is an ancient painting inside one of these tombs telling the love story of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. I don’t know whether this is true or just a bullcrap. Better read Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra texts.

The Temple of The Oracle

2009-07-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

At the entrance

The Temple of The Oracle is built as dedication to the cult of ram-headed sun deity of Amun. It was built during the reign of King Amasis (570-525 BC). The temple housed a famous oracle whose fame was widespread in the East Mediterranean during ancient time. Alexander the Great had visited the temple on 332/331 BC. It is located in the eastern part of Sīwa. Aghurmi clan lives in this area. I was told by a man here that there’s only eleven clans living in Sīwa, in contrary to Sheikh Idris’ claim who said there are fourteen.

Temple of the Oracle as seen from Mountain of the Dead

Other Distinguished Visitors

Cambyses of Persia, son of Cyrus the Great who conquered Egypt between 525 and 522 BC had dispatched an army of fifty thousand of men from Luxor to destroy the temple. It was because the oracle had predicted that Cambyses reign in Egypt would soon falter. The entire army vanished without any trace and buried in the vast desert.

Cimon, a general of Athens, stood at Cyprus in 449 BC awaiting prophecy from the oracle before attacking Egypt. It is said that when his dignitaries reached the Temple, the oracle spoke, "Cimon is already with me." When they returned to Cyprus, the found out that Cimon had died as they were speaking to the Oracle.

Lysander, the great general, tried to bribe the oracle to assist his attempt to be crowned king of Sparta. But, upon the Sīwan priests’ order, a delegation was sent to Greece to prosecute Lysander for his impiety. However, Lysander managed to escape the prosecution thanks to the power of money.

Alexander's Visit

The most famous visit ever made to this temple is by Alexander the Great. After defeating Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, he was acclaimed pharaoh of Egypt. He started his journey from his newly-founded city of Alexandria to Sīwa via Mersa Matruh.

Each of the pharaohs of Egypt's during 28^th Dynasty had traveled to Sīwa to be acknowledged at the temple there as the son of Amun-Ra. Though we do not know for certain about Alexander's intention in making the journey but it may have been a piece of political image-making.

For this purpose, Alexander had to endure the most difficult journey. According to historian Callisthenes, the convoy’s water supply suddenly finished. But somehow, it rained. A sandstorm caused them to lose their way, but two crows were sent to lead them safely to Sīwa.

When he arrives in the Temple, he was welcomed warmly in a celebrated ceremony. Dancers, musicians, priests and worshippers circled in procession in the forecourt of the temple. A manifestation of the oracle was paraded through the city accompanied by eighty priests. Then, Alexander had private audience with the oracle. We can assume Alexander wanted the same declaration of divine power to legitimize his conquest of Egypt and put himself on the same footing as the pharaohs. Some said, he consulted the oracle in order to seek confirmation whether he was really a son of Zeus, therefore a legitimate ruler of all lands he conquered. After his visit to the oracle, he had his image depicted on coins wearing the horns of the ram, symbolic of Amun.

Treasure vault. All of treasures are stolen by colonialists.

Entrance to the sanctuary from the second hall

The oracle's council room

Old mosque

The mosque's well. For ablution and other purpose. Now, it has dried.

Ablution basin for women

Salt lake

Salt lake

Sīwan girls selling handcrafts for souvenirs. You can get it for LE1-LE2. Very cheap. They are shy. I was told to watch my proximity with Sīwan women. So, I sneaked my camera and capture the picture but somehow they noticed.

The Temple of Amun

2009-07-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Temple of Amun, also known as the Temple of Umm Ubaydah was erected by pharaoh Nectanebo of the 30^th Dynasty. It is located 200 m further along the track between the Temple of the Oracle and Cleopatra Spring. Nothing left from this temple except a wall with hieroglyph inscriptions. It’s now a ruin, thanks to bombardment made by an Ottoman governor in order to acquire building material. Some amateur, non-licensed so-called historians said that the German use it as a shelter during WWII, worsening its former condition.

The wall with hieroglyph inscriptions.

Some of the ruin of the temple

STD: Summer Trip Damietta 2009

2009-07-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

A day after examination, we held a picnic at Ras el-Bar, Damietta. We stayed overnight there.

Waiting for boat to cross River Nile in order to get to the other side of the river to buy seafood (too many 'to'). Before 12 pm, there are not too many boat operating. The town is relatively 'sleepy' during morning.

Apartment where we stayed. LE100 per night. 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet, a dining set and a fridge.

Squid fangs.

Hibachi chef.

Squid being grilled.

Ras el-Bar Beach.

Participants
Standing (LR): Faiz, Mujahid, Ikram, Romadonazikri, Me, Azim, Ibrahim, Firdaus, Hakim, Azrul, Hilmi.
Sitting (LR): Izzul, Syazani, Nadhir, Muaz, Zunnur, Ghazi, Affan, Hazim, Rashidi, Safwan, Izzat, Raja, Hanif, Izzat, Khairi.

River Nile.

On the way home.

Ras el-Bar.

al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah

2009-05-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah, the City of the Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him). One of its nicknames is 'the Dome of Islam.' It's area is considered as al-Ḥaram (ٱلحرم), which means there are no game to be hunted and nor trees are allowed to be cut down.

No specific haj nor umrah for this city even though Medinan and pilgrims who come through al-Madīnah can assume ihram at Zulhilaifah - at the city outskirts. Usually, people come here for visiting purposes.

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi ash-Sharīf is the famous landmark of the city. Its power control station is just below the mosque while its air-condition control station is located 7 km away from the mosque! The cooled air is brought to the mosque through 7 km-long plumbing system.

As-Salām Gate - Entrance to the main part of al-Masjid an-Nabawi. Pilgrims come through this door to visit the mausoleum of Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him), Caliph Abu Bakr and Caliph 'Umar al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them).

Saudi Arabian Government still preserve most of the Ottoman architecture of this mosque. At this gate, you can see Ottoman calligraphy especially the distinguished Ottoman calligraphy of 'basmalah.'

Open-air area inside the mosque equipped with electronic sunshades.

Advice, Tafsir and I'jazul Ilmi

2009-04-18T03:16:00.000-07:00

"Allah Taala rupanya... Allah Taala buat atas dunia ni ada pasangan belaka. Apa ni... tanaman ada pasangan. Dan dunia lo ni (sekarang ini) orang kahwin(kan) padi jantan (dan) padi betina. Kita hari tu kahwin(kan) Mamat dan Timoh jah. Kita dok sekko (ingatkan) jantan betina ni orang saja. Dok eh (Tidaklah). Allah Taala buat sejak berjuta tahun hari itu semua benda ni 'zawj' - berpasangan.

(Memetik terjemahan ayat 7 Surah Qaf) “...Kami tumbuh di Bumi ini bermacam-macam pasangan, ‘bahīj’ - yang comel”. Rumput ada jantan betina. Apa lagi? Rambutan ada jantan betina, Durian ada jantan betina. Apa... hatta elektrik(sekalipun), (yang) orang panggil elektrik ada positif ada negatif. Positif tu jantanlah, negatif tu betina.

"Jadi, sebanyak mana penemuan baru... penemuan baru ni bahawa dunia ni ada pasangan orang baru bertemu seratus tahun (akhir-akhir) ni baru. Allah Taala beritahu benda ni tengah dua ribu tahun hari tu lagi.

"Sebab itulah, ambo nak ulang yang (di)sebut tadi, nak memperkenalkan Tuhan ni jangan dok lok (biarkan) kepada tuk guru kampung sahaja. Tuk guru kampung mempunyai ilmu padan-padan dengan dia, maka dia mengajar agama padan-padan dengan dia.

"Demo hok dapat ilmu lebih daripada tuk guru kampung ni kerana apa tak royak (beritahu) ugama? Sikit-sikit caro ko duit la. Doktor cari duit, sains cari duit, apa lagi... pertanian cari duit, kesihatan cari duit. Eh, cari pahala tak ada dah ke? Tak ada dah ke cari pahala? Demo masuk kubur bawa duit ke atau pahala getek (juga)? Tok guru jah kira nak bawa pahala, demo tokse (tak mahu) bawa pahala ke?

"Demo nak buat guano (macam mana) masuk kubur bawa duit? Tebeng (Kalaulah) bawa duit masuk kubur, digali kubur (oleh) orang dicungkil, dicuri duit. Tapi, (jika) bawa pahala, siapa nak curi pahala?

"Jadi, tiap-tiap orang kena persiap duit campur pahala. Baik pun jenis tuk guru, baik pun jenis doktor, baik jenis lecturer, baik jenis apa sekalipun kena cari dua perkara sekaligus. Pertama hok (yang) dapat tengok yang dipanggil duit, yang kedua hok (yang) tok napok (tak nampak) tengok hok (yang) kita panggil dosa pahala."

-Tuan Guru Dato' Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat

20 Feb 2009

Kelantanophobia

2009-04-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Kelantanophobia: Racial profiling or discrimination against people living or originating from the state of Kelantan Darul Naim, Malaysia.

Rage in Kelantan is so wrong, like it was never happen in other states.

You see why soccer fans in Kelantan put flames on police vehicles? Let me tell you pathetic anti-Kelantanese morons. First, those snobbish non-Kelantanese policemen refuse to learn our customs as you guys see it as ‘kolot (setbacks).’ Second, when something undesired happened, you just ignore our feelings and at the same time insisting us to kiss your dirty asses. Like, when these policemen mistook a wrong person for throwing bottles in the field and they beat the hell outta that innocent guy in front of angry spectators who was dissatisfied with the match result (Kelantan lost 0-1 to Negri). Well, wrong place dude. This is Kelantan. You hurt one, you hurt them all. We backed our guy like he was our own son. We Kelantanese are brothers, don’t ever forget that. Third, they're mindless idiots. I don't really agree for what they've done.

Oh wait, there’s more. The Kelantanophobic mainstream media which famous for their disregard for journalism ethics, reported the otherwise. The weren’t willing to tell the truth because it was Kelantan-related. And, they create a really ridiculous story about it so everybody out there can see that it was really all Kelantanese fault.

We are even face this kinda discrimination in own state. Out of state? I suppose there are uncountable cases of Kelantanophobia.

There’s one policeman, off-duty, just came back from playing badminton happen to be involved in an accident with some local poor bicycler in front of my school in Kota Bharu. Based from his slang, he must be somewhere outta East Coast. Wearing shortpants, he yelled the hell outta that bicycler, “You Kelantanese don’t even know how to ride a bicycle?” Guess what, Kelantan was to blame.

These policemen better work at their own places. Their places aren’t really safe. Homicides, robberies and other felonies rates are off the roof! If you don’t feel like to get along with Kelantanese, then fuck off.

To make Kelantanophobia worse, a film titled 'Budak Kelantan' was produced portraying a Kelantanese guy doing vices in KL. I even wonder why these director, rookie actors & actresses from Kelantan were willing to make and act in this film. I also wonder why the director of this film wanna put 'Kelantan' in its title. Were their mind out of ideas? In KL, only two species get blamed for wrongdoings: Indonesians and KELANTANESE!

Everything happens for reasons. Why outsiders have this 'sickness'?

Reason One: Because they considered Kelantanese is 'assobiyyah' (term religious idiots usually tend to use).
Explanation: Have you anti-Kelantanese idiots read one of Prophet’s Hadith: "Assobiyyah is helping your own race to cause oppression."
And of course, ages ago, Kelantan is one Malay state isolated from another. All Malay state in Malaysia are connected to each other. Kelantan? In order to reach this state, you gotta cross a heavy jungle and not less than two mountain ranges. Well idiots, when I say isolated, that doesn’t mean that we were living on trees. That’s why we stick to each other; better off be with our own type. But, it doesn’t mean that we hate others. We call it ukhwah - something you non-Kelantanese don’t have.

And perhaps, it has to do with some history. Before, the was two governments in Kelantan. One in Pengkalan Datu and one in Kota Kubang Labu. Of course, they were often fight each other. But, we have something you useless freaks anti-Kelantanese don’t have: Ulama (religious scholars). We appreciate ulama so much that they really play their role in our society. But, you guys disgrace your own ulama. These ulama didn’t like the duel between two governments so they prayed to God so that Kelantanese will unite as one. And, voila! God answered it. That’s why we get along with our own colors until now. I suggest you guys read a book published by Kelantan Islamic Foundation (YIK): Tatarakyat I & Tatarakyat II. Only if you can read in jawi!

Reason Two: Because people of Kelantan have chosen PAS as government. Outsiders considered them as idiots because denying development by voting yes to PAS. But guess what, you anti-Kelantanese are so damn wrong. We have proven that we don’t need UMNO to be developed. You morons still afraid to vote other than UMNO. UMNO has stripped all Malay prerogatives without you even realize it.

Reason Three: No development in Kelantan. Most outsiders think we are underdeveloped. Thus, we are assumed physically and mentally retarded. Oh wait, Tan Sri Annuar Musa last two years in State Assembly had admitted that development in Kelantan is damn slow because of some evil backstabbing bureaucrats in Federal Government try to stop it, as claimed by Tok Pa. Even this shitty government doesn’t wanna channel money to State Government. Instead, they channeled it through Jabatan Pembangunan Persekutuan (Department of Federal Development) - a dirty organization full of corruptions.

Reason Four: Kelantan's dirty and Kelantanese have no regard towards hygiene.
The former Deputy Dean of Admission & Records of IIUM Matriculation Center during Abbas Hassan's reign loved to use this point to verbally 'attack' Kelantanese. Surprisingly, his wife is from the state! Yeah, Kelantan was dirty. It was. I repeat, IT WAS! Like Tok Guru Ayah Zik donno how to educate his people about cleanliness.

Last Reason: Overprotective idiotic anti-Kelantanese parents always say this, “Don’t marry guys from Kelantan. They are god damned lazy.”
Explanation: We are not lazy. Let me quote something.

“True, the Malay will often decline to work in the particular manner in which the Europeans desires him to do so, that is as a mining cooly or plantation hand in the service of the said European, but the Malay is by no means an idle person. In Kelantan, he grows the seventy thousand odd tons of rice which feed the population, he catches and dries fish enough for home consumption and for considerable export, he makes some forty thousand pikuls of kopra every year, he works boats on the river, and, in fact, he makes a very comfortable living, supplies all his wants, and is contented.”

-Sir Henry Norman, from his book, 'The Peoples* and Politics of the Far East.' Chapter XXXIII: "On A Raft Through A Forbidden State."

There’s another, of course Kelantanese guys don’t help our wives (of Kelantanese origin) because they capable of taking care of household. They cook delicious foods. Why need to bother them? Why need to interfere with their work? If we’re about to help them in kitchen, they just said, “Honey, just sit back and relax. There’s no need to make your hand dirty.” Kelantanese women are so diligent; that’s why they excel in business unlike non-Kelantanese women who don’t even know how to cook until they’re divorced by their husband. Kelantan boasts for having low divorce rate in the country. And Kelantan women are also good in their studies as well. Salute to Siti Fatimah and Nur Madihah for two-years streak winning the best SPM student in Malaysia.

If it wasn’t for Kelantanese, none of us would represent Malays in business. Malays from other states are good for nothing.

*spelled as it is

Errors!

2009-04-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

'Telefon Room' or 'Telephone Room'?Caught this error in International Islamic University Malaysia, Gombak. You can see this in every mahallahs (student hostels). Heh, even a university using English as primary medium of instruction cannot escape from English errors.

Even an Islamic Party spelled jawi wrongly. 'Pazti' instead of 'Parti.'

Malaysiana: Part Two.

2009-04-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Near Dayabumi.

Masjid Ash-Shakirin, KLCC.

Al-Qāhirah

2009-04-09T02:42:00.000-07:00

Cairo: Not a ghetto nor a slum. Cairene call it 'Umm ad-Dunya.' Whatever...

Malaysiana...

2009-04-09T02:29:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken when I was back in Malaysia.

Al-Ka’bah al-Musharrafah

2009-04-04T18:07:00.001-07:00

Al-Ka’bah al-Musharrafah

Baitullah. Safa tower is demolished during the picture-taking. The royal palace is clearly seen.

Rukn Yamāni. It's considered as sunnah to touch it every round during circumambulation of Ka'bah. It is believed to be remnants from the original stone used by Prophet Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) to build the Ka'bah. Shiites claim that Saidina 'Alī karramallu wajhah, The Fourth Caliph, was born at this corner of Ka'bah.

The General Presidency for the Affiars of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām and al-Masjid an-Nabawi has provided live webcam of al-Ka'bah on their official website.

Al-Ḥaram

2009-04-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

Al-Ḥaram (ٱلحرم) means ‘sanctuary.’ It should not be confused with al-Ḥarām (ٱلحرام) which means ‘prohibited.’ Al-Ḥaram is a place where you aren’t allowed to hunt game, cut trees and fight.

Near King Abdul Aziz Gate. Famous entrance among pilgrims from Malaysia.

From right: Makkah Hilton & Towers, Abraj Al Bait Towers and King Fahd Gate of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām.

Shot from InterContinental Dar Al Tawhid Makkah Hotel.

Mosque's atrium (under the triplet domes of King Fahd expansion annexe) & UFO-like lamps.

Women's praying foyer.

First floor (high dynamic range image).

From open-air part of the mosque to King Fahd Gate.

Inside the Mosque (high dynamic range image).

And... the young pilgrims. From Syria, I suppose.

(P/S: These pictures were taken on July 5^th, 2008)

Ā’ishah Mosque

2009-04-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

Ā’ishah Mosque. Or Masjid Miqat. Located about 7 km northwest of al-Ḥaram. It's a point of mīqāt for Meccans.

The 4th Annual Conference of Scientific Signs in al-Quran and as-Sunnah Knowledge

2009-04-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

"Orang yang mengaji ilmu langit ni; ilmu falak kita panggil, ilmu astronomi dia inilah (yang) patut tafsir ayat ini (ayat 6, Surah Qāf). Tok lebai macam ambo ni boleh sebut sepatah dua kerana mengaji, kerana baca buku yang ditulis. Sebab itu, dalam sebutan Arab, sebutan kitab dakwah, dia kata;
"علماء الكون جنود من جنود الدعوة."
-Tuan Guru Datuk Haji Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat.
9 February 2009.

Invitation

The 4^th Annual Conference of Scientific Signs in al-Quran and as-Sunnah Knowledge was hosted by Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah of Islamic World League in collaboration with Al-Manṣūrah University. It was held in Convention Centre of Al-Manṣūrah University Children Hospital from 24^th until 26^th of March, 2009.

After the opening ceremony

Al-Manṣūrah University Children Hospital

It's my first time attending an international conference outside Malaysia even though I had never attending any conference in Malaysia.

Second day of conference

On the closing ceremony, an honorary lecture was delivered by Prof Dr Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Muslih. During Q&A session aftermath, Affan's question (I wrote it in Arabic) was answered by Prof Dr Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Muslih. How proud we were.

In addition, Sheikh Muhammad Hassan, one of famous TV personality (usually appeared in Alrahma TV) made his sudden appearance after the Q&A Session.

From right: Vice President of University, Sheikh Muhammad Hassan, Prof Dr Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Muslih, and a VVIP.

After the conference

Moreover, we were asked by a reporter from Makkah TV for an interview. ~~Damn~~ it, we're gonna be appeared on TV! Everybody from Rabat until Baghdad can see us! Somebody please TiVo it!

However, the most important thing is, we obtained many information about the miracle of al-Quran and Prophetic Virtues. Thus, it improves our understanding about Islam from scientific perspective.

Visiting Alexandria

2009-03-17T08:22:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Alexandria: City of Dreams (مدينة ﭐلأحلام)

It’s my first time in Alexandria even though I’ve been living in Egypt for almost three years. It’s not easy to be there. So, once I got an invitation from my buddy to be there, I grabbed the chance to be in the city whose MP is from Muslim Brotherhood.

First Day: March 12^th, 2009

I took a long-journey-cab from Mauqaf Talkha al-Jadīd in Al-Manṣūrah and began my three-hour journey to Alexandria. The fare was LE 13 for one-way trip. We passed Mahallah al-Kubra, Tanta, Kafr el-Zayat, Itay el-Baroud, Damanhour, Kafr al-Dawar and finally arrived at Alexandria. Those who want to go to Damanhour have no choice but to hop on this cab and full fare because there’s no direct cab from Al-Manṣūrah to Damanhour. I arrived at Mauqaf al-Jadīd at Alexandria outskirt on 7 o’clock.

I stayed at Che Mat’s house. He lives with Bakri, Aswad and Muhammad. Nur Izzat and Mohd Izzat, both second year medical students from University College Dublin who spent their Easter and St Patrick’s Day vacation was in Alexandria on the next day.

Second Day: March 13^th, 2009

Montaza Palace

First place, we visited Montaza. It’s one of the rare beautiful garden and we got lucky because the flowers were blooming at that time. To get in here, we were charged for LE 6 per entrance. Inside, Montaza Palace is located and there are many rhubarb trees inside the park. There’s a myth about it: each tree represents a concubine of King Farouk. It’s ridiculous because there are too many ~~damn~~ trees!

Next, we moved to the nearest bay and watched the Mediterranean Sea. We attended the Friday prayer at a mosque opposite the Helnan Palestine Hotel. Then, we went to a seafood restaurant at Shatby nibbling (actually, devouring) seafood.

Venetian Beach

We visited Citadel of Qaitbay after taking a break in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we cannot enter the fort because it’s closed on 4 pm. However, we managed to visit the Maritime Museum at the fort. The fort was built during Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa'it Bay reign in 882 Hijra (1477 AC) on the The Pharos of Alexandria's ruin - one of The Wonders of the Ancient World. Some of the lighthouse remnants were incorporated into the wall of the fort.

Citadel of Qaitbay

Inside the Maritime Museum: Skeleton of a whale caught up at Alexandria's bay.

At night, we went to Nabi Danial Street at Mansheya to visit the mausoleum of Prophet Danial (peace be upon him) and Luqman al-Hakim.

Prophet Danial's tomb

Luqman al-Hakim tomb

That marks the end of the visits for the day.

Third Day: March 14^th, 2009

On the second day, we first visited Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It was opened on 2002 near the old site of the Ancient Library of Alexandria - once the largest library in the ancient world. The Ancient Library of Alexandria was founded in 283 BC and it was where Archimedes invented his famous screw-shaped water pump. It was possibly burnt down to earth by Julius Caesar as part of his campaign to conquer Alexandria.

The library has seven floors arranged in terrace manner under one roof. It's not an ordinary library, perhaps, it is the only noisy library in the world! Its true function as a place to read has lost, being one of the tourist attraction spot in Egypt. Of course, you need a ticket to get in.

The Manuscript and Rare Book Museum, located inside the library hosts some of the very rare historical exhibits such as The Book of The Dead, Kaabah's drape and Prophet Muhammad's letters to the rulers outside Arabian Peninsula. To get in, you need to pay for additional LE 2. And, no photographing allowed. But I managed to sneak in a camera and took some of the pictures inside. Here's some of the exhibits:

Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine; transcribed in 1761 AC

Top right: Galen’s Sermo Adversus Empiricos Medicos (محنة ﭐلطيب ﭐلحاذق).
Top left: Paracelsus’ Alchemical Medicine (ﭐلطب ﭐلكميائي ﭐلجديد); translated into Arabic by Ibn Sallum al-Halaby (ﭐبن سلوم ﭐلحلبي).
Bottom right: Hippocrates’ Prognostics (تقدمة ﭐلمعرفة، لأبقراط).

Top right: Prophet Muhammad’s (blessings and peace be upon him) letter to Heraclius.
Top left: Prophet's letter to Muqawqis.
Bottom right: Prophet's letter to Negus, King of Abyssinia.
Bottom left: Prophet's to Khosrau II of Persia.

Next, we roamed everywhere inside the library and even took a photo of Alexandria's Roman Shoreline from its roof!

And, before leaving the library, we took some photos to commemorate our moments there.

Later on, we had our lunch at Muhammad Ahmed restaurant. Just like any other Baghal Restaurant in Cairo and Al-Manṣūrah but this place boasts for being visited by Queen Sofia of Spain several years ago.

al-Qāid Ibrahim Mosque

After the meal, we went to visit the Faculty of Medicine of Alexandria University. All of sudden, it started to rain. Then, we went our last destinations: El-Mursi Abul-Abbas Mosque and Sidi Yāqūt al-‘Arshi Mosque. Among the followers of Tareqah, these places is quite popular. It is where fourteen Sufis were entombed. Twelve of them are at Sidi Yāqūt al-‘Arshi Mosque.

El-Mursi Abul-Abbas Mosque

Mosque's interior

The current building of the mosque was designed by Italian architects in 1938. Before that, the mosque is already present since the 17th century. The mosque's name is taken after Ahmed Abul-Abbas El-Mursi Mosque, a disciple of Shazali Sufi and a theosopher from Murcia, Spain.

Sidi Yāqūt al-‘Arshi Mosque

From the legends, it is known that Sidi Yāqūt got his nickname ‘al-‘Arshi’ because he was a muezzin that called for prayer (azan) simultaneously when the Arsh was calling for prayer as well.

With that location, that's the end for our trip in Alexandria. But, there's three locations I hope to visit in the future: Abu Darda's Mausoleum, Pompeii's pillar and Roman Amphitheater.

Winter Break 2009

2009-03-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

This year's winter break sucks.

I had to call off my vacation to Istanbul-Syria-Jordan due to last minute financial crisis. ~~Damn it~~!

Spend a week at Cairo doing almost absolutely nothing.

But, I managed to go to 41^st Cairo International Book Fair (CIBA). For the first time, they no longer allow any student to enter the book fair for free by waving our matrix card. Without any warning sign at the entrance, boy, oh, no. So, I entered the book fair innocently and waved my card hoping that the guard allow me to enter for free. Instead, I was chased away like a stray dog by the guard. ~~Damn it~~. It cost me LE 1 for entrance fee.

My first trip to CIBA with Baihaqi and Damak.

CIBA Guest for this year is UK. They got to do their main event things. Last year was Emirates.

And yeah, Haikal did offered me to go to Dream Park in Giza. Cost me almost LE 100 for everything. Almost a waste, but there's a little space for fun though.

Off The Edge, November 2008

2009-01-10T00:37:00.000-08:00

Anybody has this copy of magazine?

Al-Manṣūrah at a Glimpse

2009-01-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

Al-Manṣūrah Town, with population around 420,000 is the capital of Dakahlya Governorate. The town lies in the eastern half of the Nile Delta on the right bank of the Damietta arm of the River Nile. It is located 125 km northeast of Cairo.

History

The town was established in 1219 by Abu-Bakr Malik Al-Adil I (also known as Saphadin, ‘Saif ed-Deen’), Salahuddin al-Ayyubi’s brother during Ayyubid dynasty. It was named al-Mansurah, which means ‘The Victorious’ after the Muslims defeated the Crusaders on its land during the Seventh Crusade. The town was then being made as capital by Abu-Bakr’s son, Sultan Malik al-Kamil in 1221 to replace Damietta, which had fallen to the Crusaders.

In 1249 a Crusading army led by King Louis IX of France (St Louis) succeeded in crossing the Ushmum Canal (now the Bahr el-Sughayyar; near the main bus terminal) to Al-Manṣūrah after ferocious fighting. Unfortunately, they were then surrounded and defeated by the young Sultan el-Moazzam Turanshah (other source indicate that Kamal al-Ayyubi, the nephew of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi was the one who defeated the crusaders). Their fleet was destroyed and their supplies were cut off.

Dar Ibn Lokman; now Mansoura National Museum.

Louis himself was taken prisoner in April 1250, and being confined in the house of Ibrahim ibn Lokman, secretary to the Sultan, and under the guard of the eunuch Sahil. The king’s brother was made prisoner at the same time, and carried to the same house. The king was then released on May 6^th, 1250 in return for a heavy ransom and the surrender of Damietta. The house of Ibrahim ibn Lokman has now been turned into Al-Manṣūrah National Museum for his possessions and memorabilia.

The locals are light-skinned and fair-haired - supposedly because Al-Manṣūrah’s women are the most beautiful in Egypt! (according to locals) The town is regarded as the Bride of the Delta (Arabic = `Arous el-Delta) and Geziret el-Ward (the island of roses).

Sikkah or Souq al-Khawagat?

Abbasi Road: A place to shop electrical goods.

Journey to The Two Blessed Abodes

2009-01-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

عن أبي هريرة رضي ٱلله عنه؛ عن رسول ٱلله صلى ٱلله عليه وسلم قال، "لا تشد ٱلرحال إلا إلى ثلاثة مساجد: ٱلمسجد ٱلحرام ومسجدي هذا وٱلمسجد الأقصى"

Narrated from Abu Hurairah; from The Messenger of Allāh (blessings and peace be upon him) saying, “do not prepare yourself for a journey except to three mosques: al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, this Mosque of mine and al-Aqsa Mosque.”

When I read other people’s blog about their Umrah (off-seasonal pilgrimage) trip, I wonder how lucky they are compared to myself. Even though my journey to reach the blessed valley of Makkah al-Mukarramah and The Illuminated City of al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah was full of obstacles; of course they tasted bitter… but I did not consider myself unlucky to be the guest of God, at last.

First Attempt

June 23^rd, 2007: Today was when my trip began… I went to Local Health Office to get vaccination required by Saudi Immigration in order to obtain Umrah Visa. The office was suggested by my lecturer, Yaser el-Bastawisy, MB BCh, PhD - several days before.

June 30^th, 2007: I submitted all documents required for Umrah participation to Brother Khairul Anwar – the organizer. I was expected to go to Tahrir to apply for Re-Entry Visa, but I had to call it off.

July 1^st, 2007: I had my Re-Entry Visa done today at Mugamma, Tahrir. The clerk said my passport can be taken back at 2.30 pm. Since there were five hours to wait until 2.30 pm, I went to the next destination: Malaysian Embassy to get Support Letter for Performing Umrah. I moved to Nasser Metro Station to get microbus to go to Malaysian Embassy at Mohandessin. But instead of taking microbus, I took a 357 bus at Nasser Station; hopefully, it will go to Mohandessin, Giza. The air-conditioned bus did go to Mohandessin, but not to where embassy is located.

During my journey, I felt unfamiliar with the route the bus had taken. The bus took too much time to reach the ‘Embassy’. The journey ended at Great Pyramids of Giza station and I wasn’t intended to go there (until now, I still haven’t reached the Great Pyramids of Giza! Soon, maybe…). Feeling tired, grumpy and disappointed, I had to take the same bus to return to Tahrir. The temperature was 40°C - extremely hot. I stopped at Mouniera and visited my friends who lived there. After two hours, I went back to Mugamma’ to take my passport and then return to 7^th District of Nasr City.

July 2^nd, 2007: Finally, I managed to get Support Letter for Performing Umrah from Embassy.

To my dismay, the organizer had the date of departure postponed twice. And the second time they changed the date, it was several days before I had to re-seat for my exam. As a result, that was my first attempt to perform umrah before I cancelled it.

Second Attempt

January 20^th, 2008: This time, I planned to go for Umrah on 25^th of January. So, after getting prepared once again, together with my two companions, I went to Royal Saudi Arabian Consulate-General at Garden City, Cairo applying for visa. At the consulate, only me was allowed to enter while my friends have to stay outside. But when I got inside, the clerk refused to accept our applications because he said in an Arabic slang I didn’t recognize (perhaps Saudi slang), “you need an invitation letter.” We have to include the required letter, otherwise, no visa. On next day, we gonna have Histology exam. So, we need to return to Al-Manṣūrah first.

January 22^nd, 2008: We returned again to Cairo and arrived at Turgomān, or, al-Qallily Station at 10.30 am after two-hour journey from Al-Manṣūrah. Again, problems occurred at the consulate. First, the guys at cyber-café said they didn’t know what kinda visa we’re applying, so, they just refused to register us. I was pretty upset (but I didn’t physically express my anger) and urged him to register us. So, he registered us. It was raining during that time and temperature dropped until 4°C (note that on my first attempt was during summer, but this time, it was during mid-winter period). After registration completed, we headed to consulate. To our surprise, our visa application was simply denied and the excuse given was, “your invitation letter need to be verified first by our Ministry of Exterior.” Simply put, we had to cancel our Umrah once again. Frustrated and almost frozen, we walked to Tahrir in vain to cancel our flight tickets. After praying Zuhr at ‘Ibad ur-Rahmān Mosque nearby, a local guy accused my fellas for making two separate jama’ah in the mosque. I had to interfere and explain to him that there was a misunderstanding and it wasn’t their fault. He understood and apologized for everything. Then, we headed home.

Third attempt

March 15^th, 2008: It was a custom for Saudi Arabian Government to open for free Umrah visa application to all Muslims worldwide on Hijri month of Safar every year. This time, Faris and Syafiq bin Hamdani (Damak) agreed to go performing Umrah at Makkah with me. Today, I renewed my residence visa (iqāmah) in Egypt. It is one of the requirements for foreigner to apply Umrah visa within Egypt. I planned to take my iqāmah on 23^rd of March, go to embassy to get Support Letter for Performing Umrah on 26^th and settle everything with travel agency on 29^th. Unfortunately, instead of having iqāmah, I was given Visa for Tourism Purpose that was valid until April 18^th, 2008! (Iqāmah is valid for one year) So, I have to apply for my visa again and cancelled everything I planned beforehand.

April 19^th, 2008: I resubmitted my iqāmah application. Without waiting any longer, I went to Cairo. We visit Kuwait-Arab Travel Agency. Nonetheless, the clerk at the travel agency said, “Saudi Arabian Government has made some amendment about Umrah regulation. Please come next 10 days after we confirm with the Consulate.” At that time, I needed to return to Al-Manṣūrah. So I left my documents with Faris and asked him to settle everything for me.

June 6^th, 2008: At last, I got my iqāmah! Thank God. How delightful…

June 8^th, 2008: Once again, I went to Kuwait-Arab Travel Agency alone after making appointment with Mr Mo’men. After getting my document from Faris, I got everything done so I could focus on my next examination: Anatomy.

My Umrah Visa

June 24^th, 2008: We got our passport back, with Umrah Visa in it. We’re set for summer Umrah trip on 29^th of June. And the participants were:

1. Me, myself and I
2. Abdul Rahman bin Nik Mazian
3. Ahmad Faiz bin Muhamad Sabri
4. Mohamad Faqih bin Mohamad Puzi
5. Mohd Faris bin Mohd Husin
6. Mohd Nasrullah bin Nik Ab. Kadir
7. Muhammad Adam bin Zainuddin
8. Muhammad Akram bin Abdul Kadir
9. Muhammad Hanif bin Khairudin
10. Muhammad Husaini bin Saleh
11. Muhammad Ikmal bin Mohamad Kamil
12. Muhammad Najib bin Hasan@Ahmad
13. Muhammad Salman
14. Muhammad Syafiq bin Mat Noor
15. Syafiq bin Hamdani

Part I: Makkah al-Mukarramah (مكة ٱلمكرمة)

June 30^th, 2008: Our journey to perform Umrah (off-seasonal pilgrimage) and visiting holy places in Makkah al-Mukarramah and al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah began here. All Umrah participants were required to assemble in front of Kuwait-Arab Travel Agency (now the company is known as Cairo Travel. We were waiting for the bus at 11.00 pm but it only arrived at 12.25 am. We stopped at Cafeteria Aziziyah en route to Safaga at 4.45 am to pray Fajr. We arrived at Safaga at 8.00 am and waited for our turn to enter the port. Some of us left the bus and got their breakfast in Safaga town, while the rest tried to get some nap.

10.30 am - We checked-in inside the immigration hall. When my baggage went through the scanning machine, the officer just let it went through. But, Damak’s was stopped for further investigation. Each of our baggage contains sixty boxes of black lentils/black seeds/habbatussawda capsules. But the immigration officer suspected that those were illegal drugs. They heavily questioned Damak and asked him to retrieve my bag. So, I brought my bag to him and tried to explain that there was no problem in bringing habbatus sawda out of Egyptian main airports, and I think there would be no problem at the port too. Besides, they were not illegal drugs - they’re just capsules of natural plant-origin oil, mentioned in Prophetic Medicine Book. At first, they refuse to release our baggage. They then made a call to their high-ranked officials and after the call, they just let those capsules and our baggage passed.

Ready to cross the Red Sea

12.00 pm - We boarded Wadi Alneel ship. The ship left the port on 4.15 pm. During the voyage, we were greeted by friendly fellow Umrah pilgrims from Sohag and Qena. We also met another pilgrimage group from Malaysia led by Mr Ridzuan.

Egyptian women hymned out loud on the ship

July 1^st, 2008: 7.45 am - As we were on the ship deck, we saw exocoetidaes (or flying pisces) and Spinner Dolphins. I saw two pods of Spinner Dolphins swimming near to our ship. On the ship, some Egyptian women congregated and then hymned - praising Allāh and Prophet Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon him). We arrived at Yanbu al-Bahr Commercial Port (ميناء ينبع ٱلتجاري) at 12.20 pm. We left the ship on 2.10 pm and had to pass through five Saudi immigration checkpoints. After the first checkpoint, I greeted Mr Ridzuan. He told his side of story of hardship. He was about visit Makkah and al-Madīnah by airplane but due to travel agency’s problem, he had no choice but to come to Saudi Arabia by ship.

2.30 pm - When I was at third checkpoint, my baggage containing habbatus sawda was stopped once again. Luckily, they didn’t confiscate them but it costs me a long lecture from the custom officer saying that as an Umrah pilgrim, I should behave like one. He told me that I shouldn’t bring any medicines into the country, saying that it was like ‘smuggling’. He also asked me why did I bring the medicine. I told him those habbatus sawda capsules are hard to be found in Saudi Arabia and they were requested by my colleague in Jeddah. Then, he asked his boss' either to release the capsules, confiscate it or charge them with taxes. His boss said, “Malaysia is good” (something like that, I couldn’t focus at that time because I was quite nervous) and he said habbatus sawda capsules are not in the list of prohibited goods. He permitted me to bring along with those capsules entering Saudi Arabia land. Phew!

After giving my passport to my mushrif - Sheikh Haji Muhammad Hussein, I headed to our bus. The bus left the port at 4.00 o’clock. To my amusement, Saudi Arabia is very much different from Egypt. From inside the bus, I could see a smooth traffic flow, drivers obeying traffic laws and no honking. Egypt? There’s never smooth traffic. Traffic lights in Egypt is non-existant except blinking yellow traffic lights. Even if there is, nobody in Egypt would follow it. Ask any Egyptian; they don’t even know the color of traffic lights. And Egyptian drivers are so annoying because they love to honk without any purpose. As a result, Egyptian cities suffer from sound pollution.

Our mīqāt makani at Juhfah

Back to the topic. Our mīqāt was at Juhfah, near Rabigh. We arrived at the mīqāt mosque in Juhfah at 6.15 pm to assume ihrām. After everything’s ready, we left the mīqāt site to go to Makkah al-Mukarramah and began to recite talbiyah inside the bus led by our mushrif. The interesting part during our journey from Jeddah to Makkah al-Mukarramah was its highway - free without any toll charge. Furthermore, it’s broad – four lanes on each side. Shame on Malaysia. Small highways but the toll fares are ~~god damned~~ expensive! And we could see along the way many huge commercial premises. Here, there is nothing small.

Approximately at 9 o’clock, we entered the Ḥaram area. As we descend from Shubaika area on the Jabal al-Kaabah Street, the glimpse of magnificent structure of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām appeared from behind the local buildings. We checked-in the Garden Narjis Hotel at Khaled bin al-Waleed Street, just next to Khaled bin al-Waleed Mosque at 11.00 pm. Then, Sheikh Muhammad told us that he’d bring us to perform Umrah at 12.00 am. So we had an hour before going to al-Masjid al-Ḥarām. We went out for dinner, since we hadn’t eaten anything after being in state of ihrām.

The Sacred House of Kaabah

July 2^nd, 2008: 12.00 am - That midnight, we performed our Umrah ritual. It was my first Umrah. I couldn’t describe my feeling when I saw the Kaabah for the first time and it made me feel that how lucky I was to be there as a guest of God. Allāh still wanted me to be in the holiest place in spite of my sinful being. I felt ashamed with myself and I quickly asked for His forgiveness.

We performed the second rukun of umrah: the tawāf (circumambulation of the Kaabah). It was smooth as there weren’t many faithful performing the ritual. After tawāf, we drank zamzam water before praying. Nothing much happened; just helped an old man performing sai’e with Damak.

After Zuhr prayer, I with Damak, Faris and Faqih explored the Masjidil Ḥarām Street on the north of Marwah. Known as al-Ghazzah, the area is one of the famous spots for shopping in Makkah al-Mukarramah. We were only doing window shopping, did not buy anything yet. Then we returned to al-Masjid al-Ḥarām for ‘Asr prayer. After prayer, I performed tawāf sunnah and got a chance to pray inside the Hijr Ismāīl with Damak. Then, we prayed near Baitullah between Shāmī Corner and Yamanī Corner.

Suddenly, Damak disappeared. Anxiously, I searched for him in every part and every corner of the Mosque but it’s all in vain. My slippers were with him and I couldn’t step out of the mosque without’em. So, I waited for him until Maghreb at King Fahd Gate. Luckily, I met him at last.

Expansion Project of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām

July 3^rd 2008: 8.00 am - I with Damak, Faris, Adam, Ikmal, Najib, Rahman and Faiz went for shopping spree at al-Ghazzah Area, Masjidil Ḥarām Street. To reach there, we walked through al-Shāmiah (ٱلشامية) and al-Qarārah (ٱلقرارة) hills; where these places are under The Expansion Project of the al-Masjid al-Ḥarām by The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques. We stopped for a while to take some photos to commemorate our presence here before the expansion project is done. After photo taking, I suggested them to go down the hill and visit Maktabah Makkah al-Mukarramah.

Maktabah Makkah al-Mukarramah

8.15 am - We visited Maktabah Makkah al-Mukarramah, (مكتبة مكة ٱلمكرمة, which means: Library of Makkah al-Mukarramah) where Prophet Muhammad was born. Luckily, it was safe from demolition for the Sacred Mosque expansion project. However, it was closed. After picture taking, we had our breakfast at al-Sidana Restaurant nearby. We ate roti nan - SR 7 per set, but enough for two individuals.

8.45 am - Our shopping spree started. Most of us bought jalabiyyah/jubah - a traditional Arabian cloak. The most exclusive brand is al-Daffah (ٱلدفة) followed by al-Asīl (ٱلأصيل) and al-Haramain (ٱلحرمين). I also bought one CASIO Prayer Compass Watch for SR 190. After we got everything we wanted, I went to دارة ٱلقهوة - The Coffee House for hot cappuccino tasting with Damak. It was so good...

I, Faris and Faiz after ihrām in Ā’ishah Mosque, Taneem.

I performed Umrah once again after ‘Asr prayer with Faiz, Faris and Damak. This time, we took our mīqāt at Ā’ishah Mosque at Taneem. After we did our Umrah, al-Masjid al-Ḥarām suddenly flocked by masses of people. It was difficult to walk to inside the mosque and we needed to hurry to find a place to pray Maghreb. After azan (calling for prayer), I still couldn’t find any place to pray. Deep in my heart, I asked Allāh to provide me a space to pray inside the mosque and have mercy on me. Alhamdulillah, Allāh did grant my wish. It’s almost impossible to find a space fit for a person to pray at that time. But then, when I was on the ground floor of the mosque, there’s two Arab left their saf during iqāmah. So, without wasting any more time, I went there and pray comfortably. Alhamdulillah, thank God.

The azan of Isha’ prayer delivered by famous muezzin - Sheikh Ali Ahmed Mullah. After Isha’ prayer, I went to zamzam water station at al-Qarārah, near to al-Fath and Quraish Gates of the Sacred Mosque to collect zamzam water.

July 4^th, 2008: Friday. I performed Umrah after Fajr prayer in the morning. And after Umrah, I got a chance to pray behind Maqām Ibrāhīm without any disturbance. As for Jumu’ah prayer, we planned to go to the Sacred Mosque on 11 o’clock to avoid mass of worshippers but due to human cause, we reached the mosque at noon. Somehow, I desired to perform non-obligatory tawāf. So, I did perform my tawāf on black Malay shirt under the ferocious heat of the sun at temperature 42°C! The mosque was overwhelmed with worshippers and luckily I managed to secure a space to pray on the second floor of the mosque during which weekly Jumu’ah sermon was delivered at the time. Phew! The sermon was delivered by Sheikh Osama Khayyat.

After ‘Asr prayer, I went near Kaabah and tried to kiss Hajarul Aswad but failed. But I manage to pray at Multazam. Alhamdulillah. Then, I went to shop at Makkah Hilton Shopping Mall.

The Ottoman interior of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām

July 5^th, 2008: As usual, I performed Umrah after Fajr prayer. After finished my rituals, I headed to hotel. On my way exit from Umrah Gate, I could see a group of students (secondary school students, perhaps) was taking exam inside the al-Masjid al-Ḥarām by sitting on the floor.

Near Umrah Gate, usually mosque officers distribute free al-Quran everyday starting from 7.30 am until the reserved stock for the day is finished.

At night, I handed over my habbatus sawda to Mohd Lotfi bin Lokman, a Malaysian student from Umm al-Qura University, Makkah al-Mukarramah. He’s studying Arabic Language and Literature and blessed with a cute son named Waseem.

Plain of Arafāt: On the top of Jabal Rahmah (Mount of Mercy)

The Three Jamarāt. Still under construction.

July 6^th, 2008: Ziyāratul Mazārāt (visiting holy places). 6.55 am - First, we went to visit the Plain of Arafāt. We climbed the Jabal Rahmah (Mount of Mercy) and prayed on the top of it. It is believed that the place is the meeting point of Adam and Hawā (Eve) after being separated for a hundred years after being sent down to the world from Heaven. There are also ATV and camel riding services. Of course you have to pay for those. Then, we moved tro visit Muzdalifah, Mash’aril Ḥarām, Mina, The Three Jamarāt and al-Khaif Mosque. After that, we went to Jabal Nūr but did not climb it as our group was also consisted of baby boomers and Hirā Cave is located very high on the mount.

The Exhibition of The Two Holy Mosques Architecture

10.30 am - We went out to visit The Exhibition of The Two Holy Mosques Architecture (معرض عمارة ٱلحرمين ٱلشريفين) and Kiswah Factory (مصنع كسوة ٱلكعبة ٱلمشرفة) at Umm al-Jude, located at the old Makkah-Jeddah Road. For this purpose, we hired a taxi for SR 25. Meet its driver: Turki - a friendly local Meccan. Unfortunately, The Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition is only opened to public after Maghreb prayer and no individual visit is allowed to Kiswah Factory; only permitted group of visitors is allowed. It’s quite frustrating.

Next, we moved to the next destination: Museum of Makkah Antiquities and Heritage (متحف مكة للآثار و ٱلتراث) at al-Madinah al-Munawarah Street. On the way there, Turki stopped to fill his car’s gas tank. When I asked him the price of the petrol sold in Saudi Arabia per liter, he answered, “nusf riyal” (half a Riyal or 50 halalah or cents) – pretty much cheaper compared to a can of carbonated drink or a bottle of mineral water (SR 1)! Petrol in Malaysia at the time cost RM 2.70 per liter. No need to pay for the museum’s entrance. We went back to hotel by taking Saudi Arabian Public Transport Corporation (SAPTCO) Bus No. 2. The fare was SR 2. We arrived at al-Masjid al-Ḥarām during Zuhr azan.

And during our stay in Makkah al-Mukarramah, usually our prayers in al-Masjid al-Ḥarām were led by Sheikh Abdullah Awwad al-Juhni, Sheikh Salih Āli Talib and Sheikh Khalil al-Ghamidi. Both Sheikh Dr Abdul Rahman ibn Abdul Aziz as-Sudais an-Najdi and Sheikh Dr Abu Ibrahim Sa’ud ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad as-Shuraim were on their leave.

Part II: al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah (ٱلمدينة ٱلمنورة)

July 7^th, 2008: It’s time to leave Makkah to visit al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah. We performed tawāf widā’ (valedictory circumambulation of the Sacred House of Kaabah) after Fajr prayer and grabbed this chance to take a few photos inside the al-Masjid al-Ḥarām.

3.10 pm - Left The Holy City of Makkah al-Mukarramah. We went to al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah through Road No. 15.

6.30 pm - We Stopped at a R&R to catch some rest. We looked for something to eat at a grocery nearby. That was my first time to see goods’ manufacturing and expiry date written in Hijri calendar. Plus, these products' prices are just same with other places. Compared to Egypt, the prices of goods depend on where they are sold. In other words, a pack of potato chips sold in a grocery usually LE 3. But if the same product is to be sold at a tourist’s attraction spots, it can be as high as LE 10, sometimes even LE50!

We arrived at Gawharet al-Abrar Hotel at 9.15 pm. After check-in process, we visited al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the Prophet’s Mosque) and performed our prayer on the Mosque’s compound because the Mosque is closed one hour after Isha’ prayer except for Raudhah (it means The Garden of Paradise - area between Prophet’s pulpit and his house) and al-Maqsūrah (the Mosque’s gallery). After prayer, we met with a group of newly-arrived Malaysians asking about place to pray. Then, we went to greet Prophet Muhammad and both of his companions at Raudhah. After that, we returned to hotel to have some rest.

al-Masjid an-Nabawi ash-Sharīf

July 8^th, 2008: I prayed Zuhr near the Raudhah. Before the prayer, I met with a Sudanese named Badawi. I chatted with him in standard Arabic (though my knowledge in this language is limited) and we discussed about the current situation in Darfur. After Zuhr prayer, I headed to Jannah al-Baqī’ (جنة ٱلبقيع) with Faqih but the graveyard is usually opened only after Fajr and ‘Asr prayers. Then, we decided to go to Dates Market (ٱلسوق ٱلمركزي للتمور) located on the southwest of al-Masjid an-Nabawi and searched for shop no. 95. At the market, we met with an Indonesian worker and asked about the shop no. 95 location. He told us the shop’s whereabout and without being asked, he told us the tips for buying ‘Ajwah - the prophet’s dates. And the tips given by him was:

When you are buying ‘Ajwah, do not mention “Tamar ‘Ajwah.” If you did the shopkeeper will know that you are maybe just an inexperienced customer in buying dates, or maybe an outsider. Enough with just saying that you want ‘Ajwah,
Avoid going out shopping for dates in group. Better you go shopping alone or split from your group members. If you go in a group, the shopkeeper will know that you are not local residents. So, it’s easy for them to ‘choke’ you with high price.
There a many types of ‘Ajwah: egg-shaped, the hard-type and the long-type. Egg-shaped Ajwah's texture is soft and believed to be the real ‘Ajwah as mentioned in Hadith. The long-type ‘Ajwah is believed to be a type of dates that have been cloned.
You can haggle for price ranging from SR 50 to SR 60 (during which this post is written) depend on the dates' type. Egg-shaped ‘Ajwah is the expensive one whilst the long-type is much cheaper.

Dates Market of al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah

This time, we didn’t buy any dates. Just window shopping.

There is also free al-Quran distribution made in al-Masjid an-Nabawi but it is not for individual. The al-Quran copies are endowed by The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King of Saudi Arabia for the uses of mosques around the world. Any mosque needs al-Quran copies can request for them by handing over an official request letter to the office near Gate Umar al-Khattab (Gate No. 18 of al-Masjid an-Nabawi) beginning 9.00 am until 11.00 pm. Pick the al-Quran by thyself. Usually, the al-Quran copies are packed in boxes. (P/S: I forget whether the distribution is made everyday or only on certain days. Please check...)

Qubā’ Mosque

July 9^th, 2008: Ziyāratul Mazārāt. First, visiting Masjid Qubā’. Prophet Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon him) was quoted saying,
عن سهل بن حنيف رضي ٱلله عنه قال، قال رسول ٱلله عليه ٱلصلاة وٱلسلام، "من تطهر في بيته ثم أتى مسجد قباء فصلى فيه كان له كأجر عمرة."
Means: He who makes ablution at home and comes to Masjid Qubā’ to pray, he will have the reward of an Umrah.

Next, we visited Uhud Battlefield. We climbed Jabal ar-Rumāh (جبل ٱلرماة) or Jabal ‘Aynaīn, where Prophet Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon him) had ordered the archers to remain on the hill during Uhud Battle. Then, we visited Shuhadā’ Uhud which hosts the Hamzah bin Abdul Mutalib, Anas bin Jabir, Mus’ab bin ‘Umair and other Uhud martyrs (may Allāh be pleased with them) mausoleums. Coincidently, I saw a glimpse of Ust Nasruddin Haji Hassan, the Deputy Chief of PAS Youth Assembly. However, he soon disappeared.

We (Malaysian students) were spending too much time at Uhud. Luckily, the Egyptians of our group didn't turn cranky. After everybody got on the bus, we headed to East to visit King Fahd Complex for the Printing of The Holy Qur’ān (مجمع ٱلملك فهد لطباعة ٱلمصحف ٱلشريف). Along the journey to the complex, I felt just like being in some elite area in California or Florida as I could see many modern residences and commercial complexes during the journey. At King Fahd Complex, we had a chance to greet Ust Nasruddin Haji Hassan and Ustazah Nuridah, Chief of PAS Women Assembly, with her husband. Unfortunately, King Fahd Complex was had to be closed for two weeks for maintenance purpose. Thus, we couldn’t have any al-Qurān gifts, but I managed to buy a pocket-size al-Quran for SR 12.

Tomb of Saiyidina Uthman (may Allāh be pleased with him)

After ‘Asr prayer, I went to Jannah al-Baqī’ again to visit Prophet’s family members, his companions and the residents of al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah city's cemeteries.

July 10^th, 2008: After ‘Asr prayer, I went again to Dates Market together with Damak, Ikmal, Faiz and Copuk to buy some dates. Since I didn’t have much money, I opted to buy al-Barni dates and a packet of pistachios while others preferred to buy ‘Ajwah. Al-Barni dates was much, much cheaper - SR 5 per kilo. Prophet Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon him) was quoted saying,
"خيرُ تمراتِكمُ ٱلبَرني، يُذهبُ ٱلداءَ ولا داء فيه."
Means: Your best dates is al-Barni. It eliminates disease and do not cause disease. (Fathul Bari 4: 572, al-Jami’ as-Soghīr: 3303)

On the way to hotel, I bought a souvenir book: al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah - History and Monuments published by al-Madīnah Research & Studies Centre and a copy of Translation Meaning of al-Quran in Indonesian Language.

Jannah al-Baqī’

July 11^th, 2008: Friday. Learnt from personal experience during Jumu’ah congregation in Makkah al-Mukarramah, I went to the Prophet’s Mosque early. After ‘Asr prayer, I went to visit Jannah al-Baqī’ once again. Then, together with Damak and Copuk, we went shopping at BinDawood Super Stores.

July 12^th, 2008: At 5.30 am, the sliding domes of the Prophet’s Mosque were opened and the electronic giant umbrellas were closed for an hour. Fantastic!

With Damak in front of the Prophet's Mosque

When I headed to the mosque for Maghreb prayer with Damak and Faris, we stopped for a while and took a picture of al-Masjid an-Nabawi (above). Simultaneously, a sheikh passed by and tell us to go praying instead of photographing. “Solah, solah (pray, pray)!,” he said. But, the picture was worth it - our photo with the spectacular scenery of dusk was very amazing.

After the prayer, we took pictures outside al-Maqsūrah area and we could see a ‘professional and well-clothed’ beggar in action trying to get some money out of passers-by at the Mosque’s compound by giving ‘I come to Saudi Arabia to work and then I lost my passport and money’ type of excuse. Beware. I was ‘confronted’ by a Pakistani-looked beggar also then, after Isha’ prayer but refused to give any money. When you encounter these people, you can either help them out or spit these words out: “contact your embassy.” Or, maybe Allāh sent one of His angels down in human disguise just to test me... There's no way I could have known.

I returned to al-Masjid an-Nabawi and managed to secure a place for praying in Raudhah. Alhamdulillah, thank God.

Yanbu (ينبع)

July 13^th, 2008: It was our last in al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah. We leave the ‘Dome of Islam’ at 10.30 am and headed to Yanbu al-Bahr by through Road No. 50. An hour later, our bus driver stopped the bus because its air-condition was out-of-duty. The driver tried to repair it but it was just can’t be fixed. We have no choice but to continued our journey half an hour later without air-conditioning while the temperature at the time was as high as 40°C! Fortunately, the window at the rear seats can be opened, but for those sitting in the front part of the bus have to deal with the heat and sweat like hell.

1.00 pm - Our arrival at Yanbu al-Bahr. We could see Saudi Aramco Oil Refinery and foul smell of petroleum struck our noses. We took a rest before entering the ship and prepared for immigration requirements.

2.00 pm - The drama began. After passing all immigration processes, we headed to Wadi Alneel Ship. For unknown reason, we were denied from boarding the ship. The ship’s officers ordered us to step aside to allow Egyptians to board the ship. After waiting too long and all Egyptians had managed to board the ship, the ship officials just simply said that we couldn’t board the ship because the ship was overbooked. What? Our Umrah visa was stamped ‘EXIT’ and our baggage has been put inside the cargo. Then, who’s gonna pick them once they arrive at Egypt? We demanded an explanation but they just ignored us. Egyptians and their discrimination… Being treated like jerks, who wouldn't become furious and angry?

We were denied to board the ship. Frustration can be clearly seen on Najib's face.

4.00 pm - After being helped out by a Saudi immigration officer, only six of us (Eckm, Damak, Najib, Faiz, Copuk and Salman) could board the ship and the rest had to be left stranded for five days in Yanbu. Time to split. Those six survivors left Yanbu and the rest entered the immigration hall and all their passports were taken (including mine) to lift the cancelled visas status.

7.00 pm - We were sent to an apartment (ٱلسلام بلازا للأجنحة و ٱلشقق ٱلمفروشة) at Omar bin al-Khattab Street, al-Saaydah, Yanbu by Samir, Sultan Badr and one of their friend. One of them gave us SR 150, just in case anything should happen. Luckily, 300-channel TV was ready to get rid of our boredom.

Yanbu may not be a legendary town, but where else in the world you’d find a town like it? It’s just like a desolated town - lived only by workers. People leave to work in the morning and only come back at night. There are not many shops open during daylight. Buildings were built far from each other. So, if you wanna go from one place to another, it’s best if you have a vehicle. No life. The town is facilitated with 3-lanes wide of each side of the road but not many vehicles found on its traffic. Here, traffic jam is non-existant. Taxis are barely seen.

July 16^th, 2008: - On our way to restaurant for lunch, a group of Malaysian engineers whom are working at Yanbu National Petrochemical Company saw us. They stopped their car and asked us to go for lunch with them at Al-Rihab Restaurant. Special thanks to Mr Ghazali Abd Aziz for his treat. He told us that these engineers run for 3M: Makkah, Madīnah and Money. Their salary is three times more compared to what the get in Malaysia and it’s tax free. And many more…

July 17^th, 2008: Downpour had wetted Yanbu this morning and to our surprise, the satellite TV was confiscated. But it’s okay since it’s our time to leave Saudi Arabia today for good. We left our apartment at 2.30 pm and headed to the port earlier other Egyptians who were on their way to Yanbu from either Makkah or al-Madīnah. It was very easy this time and we made it on the ship without much trouble.

July 18^th, 2008: Our first Jumu’ah on ship. The muezzin called for azan at 12.45 pm, followed by sermon and prayer. It was so quick that our prayer finished by 1.00 pm! It’s once in a blue moon experience.

3.00 pm - Arrive at Safaga, Egypt. We left the ship on 5.00 pm and looked for transport to Cairo. After dealt with a coaster driver, we agreed for LE 70 fare each to Cairo. Unfortunately, it was an unpleasant journey with a group of not-really-good Egyptians riding the same coaster. There are a lot of smokers including an old woman who smoked as well. We only left Safaga on 9.00 pm after too much hassles caused by driver himself. We made it to Cairo only at 6.00 am on the next day. At least, we arrived without very serious problem, thank God.

2008 Winter Break

2009-01-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

25^th Jan (Friday) - Winter holiday begins. Today, I am supposed to go to Makkah with Zaim and Izzat Hadi performing Umra but I have to call it off due to several reasons.

28^th Jan (Monday) - Go to Cairo.

30^th Jan (Wednesday) - Go to some association carnival with Haikal and Faeid. Haziq asks me if I could be one of the judges. I accept it for table-tennis contest, helping Haikal up. It’s the day Faizal, Hafiz and Halim arrived from Moscow. But I couldn’t meet them because they go straight away to Sinai after arriving at 2.00 am. At afternoon, Abdullah Tahir asks me to join Mansoura team for Win, Lose or Draw game. I accept it. We lose at semi-quarter round.

Cairo International Book Fair 2008

31^st Jan (Thursday) - Go to 40^th Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) with Azrul Azly at 11.00 am. We arrive there at the General Office for International Exhibitions and Fairs’ ground, Nasr City approximately on 12 pm and visit Saudi’s booth before praying because there is too much crowd at the mosque. After praying, we go to every booth there. I buy A History of Modern Middle East by William L Cleveland and The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking by Dale Carnegie. We meet Faisal ‘Arif and Izzul at Hall No. 5 and continue our roam at the exhibition. Then, we go to District 7 after Maghreb prayer and have our dinner at Restoran Nil. I and Azrul returned to Sayeda Zeinab and both Faisal and Izzul returned to ARMA, Abbasia.

1^st Feb (Friday) - After Jumu’ah prayer, I go to some association’s carnival closing ceremony with Haikal and Yusri. At last, I manage to meet Faizal before he and his friends go to Asfour, Shoubra el-Khaima. I was so lucky today because three friends of mine treated me! First, by Yusri. Second, by Ust Jamal. Third by Haikal. Thank God and thanks to them. Then, I go to Sayeda Zeinab to stay at Faeid’s house with he himself, Haikal, Hanifah and Yusri.

2^nd Feb (Saturday) - I, Damak and Faeid go to Cairo International Book Fair. Entrance is free with Student ID, otherwise we have to pay LE 1. Wandering around booths selling international books, just for window shopping. Damak plans to buy Coloured Atlas of Human Anatomy and I manage to buy مصحف دارالصحابة في القراءات العشر المتواترة من طريق طيبة النشر . But, I have no idea what Faeid buy.

3^rd Feb (Sunday) - I planned to return home tonight but I had to cancel it. I go to District 7to attend editorial meeting for SKEK Issue No. 40 and No. 41. I am proud to be here and to work with great people of the top Malay magazine in Egypt. Muhammad Firdaus Mat Daud was replaced by Wan Mohd Hafiz as Editor-in-Chief. During this meeting, I manage to change ‘Perubatan’ column into ‘Kesihatan’ column. And I propose general election issue and it was accepted as mini focus of SKEK No. 40. After the meeting, I visit Lah Hussen’s house. We go to Rumah Perlis and have our dinner and some hard-talk there. The meal is Nasi Paprik. It is extremely hot, so as our discussion. Later, I go back to Sayeda Zeinab.

4^th (Monday) - CIBF is extended until Thursday, 7^th of February.

Mosque of Sultan Hassan

Mohammed Ali's Mosque

6^th Feb (Wednesday) - Approximately at 11.30 am, I go to Citadel of Salah al-Din (best known as Qal’ah Salahuddin) with Damak, Safwan and Baihaqi. We take taxi ride for LE 6 fare. We visit National Military Museum before praying Zuhr at an-Nasir Muhammad Qalāwūn Mosque. Next, we visit Mohammed Ali’s Mosque. It was built on the hilltop. Then, we enter a museum that was once al-Gawhara Palace. After that, we take a scenic view of ‘The Triumphant City’ (Cairo) before visiting National Police Museum. We return to Mounira at 3 pm and have our lunch (you can call it tea time ‘coz it’s too late in the afternoon) at Baghal Restaurant. The meal is ‘ish bread, shakshukah and shawerma. I pray ‘Asr and went to Akmal Huzaifah’s house to attend I-MAN’s editorial meeting. I am suffering of headache and ask Akmal for some painkiller. Then, I returned to Sayeda Zeinab - again.

7^th Feb (Thursday) - 8.30 pm: Bring Faizal and his gang to Mansoura from District 7. We try to take a van at Ramses Square. 30 minutes has passed and since we cannot afford to wait any longer as there’s no transport to go to Mansoura, we opt to move to Abboud Station to take transport from there. We arrive at Mansoura on 11.30 pm – too late for visiting people. Unfortunately for Ikram, we hit his house first and have kabbsah meal, thanks for his kind treat.

8^th Feb (Friday) - 3.30 am: Crazy thing I’ve ever done in my life. Staying for only four hours at home before returning to Cairo with Faizal and his fellas. Luckily, there’s a Peugeot awaiting for us at Utubis Gadid. The road to Cairo is covered by fog but thank God, nothing bad happens. We arrived at Abboud at Fajr prayer calling. We go to District 7 via Ramses and pray Fajr at ‘Ibad ur-Rahman Mosque (a mosque converted from a church). Faizal and his gang go to Souq Shafi’e (Cairo’s Sotheby’s) - somewhere around Mausoleum of Imam Shafi’e and Sayeda Nafisa Mosque, well, I donno exactly, while I go to Ust Din’s house. They return to Moscow tonight. Farewell and have a good journey.

What about 2009? Coming soon...

Gaza

2009-01-03T05:18:00.000-08:00

ﭐلله أكبر فوق كيد ﭐلمعتدي

God is Greater than the enemy's folly

Exam

2009-01-03T04:27:00.000-08:00

In Egypt, you can talk very loud in examination hall and play with your handphones before examination - only if you are an examiner.

If you are an examinee, I don't think so. You can do it but beware of the risk of being scolded.

Friday

2009-01-02T04:16:00.000-08:00

Dusk on Friday

This is the first friday in both 2008 Gregorian & 1430 Hijrah calendars this year.

Wait, what? Friday?

Tell you what, even though Friday is the best day, the chief of all days; Friday is just like a dead day in Egypt. The town is as quiet as a cave. Everybody’s waking up late and the shops usually open after Jumu’ah prayer. Not many cars wandering on the road, let alone to hear noisy honks as usual.

Not as busy as usual

The day only started when men go to mosque to attend Friday prayer. Just after prayer, just after the imam gave his salām, the businessmen start to shout offering some good price for their goods. They said, it’s a good time to have business after congregational Friday prayer because God has said in Quran verse 10 chapter 62, “Then when the (Jumu’ah) Salāt (prayer) is ended, you may disperse through the land, and seek the Bounty of Allāh (by working, etc.), and remember Allāh much: that you may be successful.”

Evening explosion

Now, it's winter and the elderly start going to the mosque by wearing mishlah. Usually, temperature can drop below 10°C in the morning; and range between 10-18°C on afternoon.

My Second Trip Port Said

2009-01-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

The Beginning of The Journey

Last Saturday, on 17th November 2007 I was traveling 210 km far from Cairo to Port Said (Arabic: بورسعيد - Būr Sa’īd) for a shopping spree together with Faris (the mastermind), Shakir, Faeid, Haji Asyraf Zuki, Ikmal, Kamal, Hafiz, Afifi, Hazwan and Safwan. I was personally asked by Faris to be the guide for his group. We began our journey at Sayeda Zeinab Metro Station taking commuter to New El-Marg Station. From New El-Marg (el-Marg el-Gedida as pronounced by locals) we took a ‘Peugeot‘ (taxis of Peugeot 504 model - an intercity cab service) to Port Said. The trip cost LE14 and the journey took about 2½ hours. Approximately at 10.30 am, we arrived at Mauqaf Masr, the southern part of Port Said.

Cairo-Ismailia Desert Road (only desert, factories and military camps can be seen along the road)

Ismailia-Port Said Road (green scenery. And there are a lot of mango farms too!)

MISC’s (Malaysia International Shipping Corporation)‘Bunga Melati 3‘ Cargo Ship is sailing through the Suez Canal. Amazingly, you can see as if the ship is sailing on the land! But the truth is the ship sail on the narrow Canal connecting the West and the Far East.

Another ship…

At Port Said

From Mauqaf Masr, we rode four taxis (4 person for each cabs) to go to M. Ali Street, where the shopping bazaar is located. The taxi fare costs only LE2.50 around the town. Many of the shops are still closed and we roamed the bazaar (Souq Gadid) for a while and waited for Zuhr prayer.

Local taxis at Mauqaf Masr, Port Said

Alongside the M. Ali St.

At-Tawfīqy Mosque, located at the northern part of Souq Gadid

Port Said Trivia

Port Said is a free-trade zone and is a hotspot for shopping clothes (Mdm Zalilah, read this!). Malaysians usually come here to shop for winter jackets. You can also get secondhand clothes from Europe (Europe mali punya!) here and most of them are still in good condition.

Faris was making his choice

After the prayer, we were searching for seafood and I brought these guys to a diner whose its owner can speak broken Malay. We chose 11 sets of fried seafood plate consist of 3 different fishes and 2 cuttlefishes (tempura Egyptian style) with rice for LE10 per person. After the meal, we went to Old Bazaar (Souq Adim) near the fish market (Souq el-Samakk) to shop for secondhand winter jackets. I grabbed a leather jacket for LE50. Only four of us bought jackets. Others end up buying some souvenir or nothing.

The participants after the shopping spree at Souq Adim
From left: Hazwan, Faeid, Safwan, Kamal, Faris, Shakir, me and Ikmal
Sitting: Asyraf Zuki and Hafiz

Visiting Port Fouad

Then, after ‘Asr prayer, we moved to the jetty to go to Port Fouad (Arabic: بور فؤاد - Būr Fu’ād). Since there is no bridge nor tunnel connecting Port Said and Port Fouad banks, we board a ferry crossing the Suez Canal and the cruise took about 10 minutes. The ferry service - chargeless (Penang Ferry Services is still charging fees for their service though. What a shame…). I, Ikmal and Hafiz visited the Mugamma’ Islami Mosque while the others were enjoying taking photographs near the jetty.

Port Fouad as seen from Port Said jetty

Mugamma’ Islami Mosque, Port Fouad

Boarding ‘Bur Fouad 3‘ ferry crossing the Canal back from Port Fouad to Port Said From right: Shakir, me, Hafiz and Faeid

The Suez Canal was opened in 1869, dividing the African mainland and Sinai Peninsular. The Northern Area - the canal’s firth was where 40 ships were dunked during Suez Crisis (أزمة السويس) on October 29th, 1956.

Finally, The Trip Ended...

After that, we crossed the Canal again and moved straight to Mauqaf Masr by hiring a van to return to Cairo. I, Faeid, Asyraf Zuki, Ikmal, Kamal, and Afifi took the ‘Peugeot‘ service and the others took express bus service. We arrived at 7.30 pm at el-Marg el-Gedida and took Metro commuter service to return to Sayeda Zeinab, Cairo. A beautiful journey indeed…

So, if there’s any Malaysian medical students from Cairo University who are looking for a guide (mushrif), find these guys as I already showed them around Port Said.

Eid al-Fitr 1428 H

2009-01-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

The blessed month of Ramadan year 1428 Hijrah had ended and the blissful month of Shawwal gave its rise.

Celebration Day

I was arrived at Kelantan Student Hostel at District 7 of Nasr City, Cairo on a day before Eid to attend the Eid Well-Wishing Ceremony and Tasbīh prayer representing Kelantan medical students of Mansoura University. At the ceremony, I was honored for being given a chance to deliver a speech and to wish all Kelantanese students in Egypt a happy and blessed Eid. After the ceremony, we were served Eid cookies and some breads as well as a glass of coffee for each of us. As a consequence, I was unable to sleep on that night due to caffeine intake.

Father called me at 1.50 am after receiving my SMS asking him to call me. It’s because I weren’t able to buy telephone credit to call my family in Malaysia in conjunction with the Eid and I had no other resort. So, I sent him SMS and asked him to call me. I spoke to my family for 6 minutes before returned to bed. Since I couldn’t sleep, I could hear many strange ‘hymns’ and see a person experiencing strange nightmare.

I woke up at 4.30 am, took bath and had my morning prayer. Then, I took my breakfast and went to Musa ibn Nusair mosque to have Eid prayer and listened to Eid sermon. After that, I went to Kelantan Student Hostel to attend MAAF '07 (Majlis Aidilfitri 2007) - an official open-house organized by KPKM. The ceremony begins with speeches, followed by nasheed performance and ended by feast. It was a joyous occasion.

Well-wishers. From left: Shakir, Faisal, Faris, Ilham, Haikal and Ashraf

Haikal, Ashraf and Shakir

Kelantan Student Hostel during MAAF 2007

After delivering his official Eid speech. Never wished to have a Chief like him...

After Zuhr prayer, together with Haikal, Faris, Faeid and Shakir, led by brother Malik, we went to visit open-house around District 7 and the roam ended just before ‘Asr prayer. These freeloaders continued roaming after Maghreb prayer and this time their destination is 10th District. Two houses were under attack.

Abg Din’s home-made Eid ‘kahks‘ (English: cookies). Who said that Malaysians in Egypt are desperate for Eid cookies?

The Eid celebration was continued on next day as these freeloaders’ energy were drained out...

Shawwal the 2^nd, 1428 Hijrah

The celebration started after ‘Asr prayer. First, YDP KPKM’s open-house. Next, Ust Rosdi Senik’s open-house. Then, Ust Najid’s open-house. And after that, Ahmad Muhaimin Mustapha’s open-house.

Bunch of freeloaders at KPKM Chief’s open-house

Making hilarious Eid parody

But this time, a large group consist of fourteen freeloaders namely me, Faris, Farid, Faeid, Shakir, Haikal, Azlee, Najib, Albaihaqi, Muaz, Mat, Taufik and KPKM Chief went to these open-houses. This time KPKM's Deputy Chief led our journey to these open-houses. Same as the day before, though. Nothing special. But, it didn’t matter. As long as we’re full, it’s okay. (Grin)

Shawwal the 3^rd, 1428 Hijrah

I was staying at Sayeda Zeinab, Cairo to help Faris, Faeid, Damak, Haikal and Shakir for their open-house. The open-house was at Haikal’s house. They imported a special chef from Abbasiah to cook curry noodles and the man was Adli. I just helped them to prepare drinks. I made rose syrup and it was too sweet. Many guests complained. Nonetheless, Adli’s curry noodle was very special and it was worth for the guests to come and tasted it.

Menu of the day: curry noodles. Prepared by Adli and the crew

After that, I went to Yusri Arif’s house just a storey above Haikal’s house together with Ust Hafiz, TYDP, Deq Mad, Taufik and Shakir. There, we tasted delicious Eid cookies from the landlord. It felt like having Eid in Malaysia and maybe even better than that, so as to say! Thanks to all. The next day, our lectures start but this year’s Eid is really meaningful for me.

At Yusri’s house with KPKM's Deputy Chief (now an ex-)

Shawwal the 4^th, 1428 Hijrah

Non-heavy downpour in Cairo, and elsewhere...

Journey of Great Discovery

2009-01-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

Daqadus, Dakahlya

Last Monday on 16^th of July, I was joining a trip visiting mausoleums of Islāmic scholars and Ras el-Bar. Along with 40 fellows whom were joining as well, we started our journey at 8.30 am. Our first destination was Daqadus village in Mit Ghamr, Dakahlya governorate.

On our way there, we stopped for awhile at a peach farm. We were greeted by the owner of the farm whom was delightful to present us with a plastic bag of peaches - free of charge! We truly appreciated it. Then, we continued our journey to Daqadus to visit Sheikh Sha’rāwi Centre.

Sheikh Muhammad Mutawalli as-Sha’rāwi's mausoleum

Approximately at 9.15 am, we arrived at the Centre’s compound. The caretaker of the centre welcomed us and opened the mausoleum chamber of the late Sheikh Muhammad Mutawalli as-Sha’rāwi - one of the most famous Islamic scholar and Egyptian icon. We prayed for him near his tomb and small brief about the Sheikh’s background was given by Ust Hj Nazri. Later, he asked the caretaker’s permission to visit the Sheikh’s library but unfortunately, he had lost the key.

Mit Damsis, Dakahlya

Next, we head to Mit Damsis district visiting the mausoleum of the son of the most famous companion of Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him), Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr as-Siddiq. He was one of Amru ibn ‘Asr knight during their mission to conquest Egypt and was martyred in a battle here. Upon burial, his tomb was marked with a large stone that was discovered later in 1950s. The mausoleum is located beneath Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr as-Siddiq mosque which is located beside an Orthodox Coptic Church. According to Coptic legend, the 1600-year-old church was built upon a site which is believed to be a place where Mary and Jesus rest on their way to Jerusalem after making a visit to Egypt.

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr as-Siddiq’s mausoleum

Summer grapes…

Kafr el-Amir, Dakahlya

Then, we moved to Kafr el-Amir in Simbelawin district to visit ‘Abdullāh ibn Salām mausoleum. We stopped on our way at Kafr ‘Awad to visit a vineyard. It was an opportunity for us to see how grape trees are grown and of course, we Malaysians never see them because they aren’t grown in Malaysia. After 15 minutes later, we continued our journey. We arrived at ‘Abdullāh ibn Salām mosque at 12.15 pm. ‘Abdullāh ibn Salām was one of Prophet Muhammad’s companions. Formerly a Jew, he converted into Islām after satisfied with prophet’s answer to his questions regarding Islām. His mausoleum is just behind the mosque. We had our lunch at the mosque and waited for Zuhr. The ‘adzan here is quite different. The muezzin pronounced the word ‘Sayyidina’ before the Prophet Muhammad’s name in shahadah in the ‘adzan. Right after Zuhr prayer, we moved to Ras el-Bar in Damietta (Dumyat) governorate.

‘Abdullāh ibn Salām’s mausoleum

Qaryah al-Kamāl, Dakahlya

We stopped at Tel el-Rub’a, near Qaryah al-Kamāl to visit a historical site there - Djedet; which is believed to be an administration city of the eastern part of 29th Dynasty Empire during Ancient Egypt. According to legend, the city was vanished after being struck by a sandstorm. And now, it looks weird - like a desert surrounded by fertile land of Nile delta. Unfortunately for us, we weren’t allowed to enter the compound as we didn’t bring an official permit (tasrīh). We were asked to leave by the guards. However, we were able to see from far a broken statue, the Red Granite Naos and old inscription carved on a large stone. Then, we continue our 2-hour journey to Ras el-Bar.

Ras el-Bar, Damietta

We arrived at Ras el-Bar (Arabic: رأس البر) at 3.30 pm. It is where the 6695 km-long River Nile ends and meet with Mediterranean Sea. There’s a square here locating a lighthouse. To get here, you’ll need to pay nothing. It is a beautiful and clean town compared to other typical Egyptian towns and cities. After taking a few photographs, we had our ‘Asr prayer. We planned to go to a souq (market) to buy some seafood but our drivers discouraged us. They were afraid of being summoned by traffic policeman. But, we managed to stop at the other market - Souq el-‘Umumiyya. I bought a kilo of cuttlefishes for a cost of LE 25. We were told that the former market seafood is cheaper than the latter, but what else can we do? To get to there, we need to take a ride on a boat for a cost of 25 piastres because it is located at the right side of the Nile riverbank.

Where the River Nile ends into Mediterranean…

After that, we began to move to Batra, 20 km to the north of Al-Manṣūrah town to visit the late former Sheikh of al-Azhar as-Sharif’s mausoleum, Sheikh Jadul Haq Ali Jadul Haq. He was the Sheikh of al-Azhar before the current Sheikh, Imam Akbar Dr Muhammad Sayid Tantawi. We arrived at Sheikh Jadul Haq Mosque Complex during Maghreb. After praying, the imam of the mosque opened the mausoleum chamber for us and briefed us about the Sheikh’s background in pure Arabic. Beside the mosque, there’s a charity hospital which treat poor people free of charge. It is one of the Sheikh Jadul Haq’s contribution to his villagers after succeed as a renowned Islamic scholar around the world. He also received the King Faisal’s present but he donated the money for the sake of foreign students in al-Azhar institution. May Allāh be pleased with him.

Sheikh Jadul Haq Ali Jadul Haq’s mausoleum

We went back home after that. We arrived at Al-Manṣūrah during Isha’. It was a beautiful and wonderful journey though. Like a scholar said, “Visiting places to see the greatness of Allāh is sunnah, but to learn moral gained during the journey is a must.” God knows the best. Wallāhu a’lam.

Summertime Blues...

2009-01-01T05:50:00.000-08:00

“Sometimes I wonder what I’m gonna do because there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues...”

-Rush

Exam is just ended and behold, the summer holiday is just started!

In front of Sultan Hassan’s mosque with Faris

At Sultan Hassan’s Square, with Faeid. Behind us is Saladin Citadel compound and Mosque of Mohamed Ali.

I went to Mugamma’ Tahrir to apply for re-entry visa. The clerk said my passport can be taken back at 2.30 pm. Since there was 5 hours to wait until 2.30 pm, so I went to Nasser Metro Station to get microbus to go to Malaysian Embassy at Mohandessin as told (read: misguided) by my friend in Mansoura. However, when I arrived there, there was no microbus to Mohandessin except to Kubbar and el-Amirah. I was so extremely mad. I then took a 357 bus, hopefully, it will go to Mohandessin, Giza.

During my journey, I felt strange as the bus wasn’t using the route to the Embassy. It used different route and took too much time to reach the ‘Embassy’. The journey ended at Great Pyramid of Giza station and I wasn’t intended to go there even though I was carrying my matric card and adequate amount to pay for entrace to the historical site of one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the World’. I need to go to the Embassy to take letter of support to perform Umrah in the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah, that matters the most!

Feeling tired, grumpy and disappointed, I had to take the same bus to return to Tahrir. I stopped in the middle of the journey and visited my friends in Sayeda Zeinab. After spending 2 hours there, I went back to Mugamma’ to take my passport and then return to District 7 of Nasr City.

Window shopping at City Stars, Cairo. From right: Me, Azim, Faris & Shakir

All these happened on the 1^st of July year 2007, one of the hottest day in summer as the temperature nearly reached 40° Celsius in Cairo.

Qena & Luxor

2008-12-29T05:28:00.000-08:00

On March 7^th 2007 - Wednesday, I had a trip to Qena and Luxor together with Ust Muhammad Abd Malik, Ust Suhaimi, Ust Wan Mohd Zubir and Ust Firdaus Taha. We followed Tareqah Jaafariyah Group to attend ‘hadrāt’ (plural for ‘hadrah’) at Qena and several places in Luxor (of course we're not visiting ruins and temples of the Ancient Egypt). I need to clarify here that I'm not joining any tareqah group; just observing some local culture.

I went to Cairo from Mansoura on 12.30 pm by taking a public van at Mahattah ad-Dawliyyah (Utubis Dawli). It was a smooth journey until Rod el-Farag, Cairo where the van had been stopped by traffic policemen for making a traffic offence. It was on 1.45 pm. The angry driver argued with the policemen and tried to defend himself but it was not a lucky day for him. Those policemen seized his macrobus and leaved the passengers including me out of nowhere!

I completely had no idea where I was. I tried to leave the place by stopping every public transport passing the road to but none of them go to Ramses Square. Most of them were heading to Tahrir Square. I had no choice, so I took a van to Tahrir. From Tahrir, I took Metro subway to Ramses and from Ramses to District 7 of Nasr City.

Tickets

At 9.30 pm, we began our journey and headed to Railway Station at Ramses Square. Together with the Tareqah Group, we departed from Cairo at 11.30 pm to Qena. The 10^th Coach was wholly filled by us! We arrived at Qena Station on 8.30 am on the next day. The Tareqah members from Qena were already at the station to welcome all of us. From the station, we went to Tareqah branch of Qena by taxis. We were having breakfast there with local delicacies and hot cup of tea before went to bed to take a nap in the guest house because we were already too tired being many hours on the train. We woke up before Zuhur prayer and prepared for the prayer. After Zuhur prayer, we attended the hadrah.

The hadrah began with the first ‘madah’ (poem and praise dedicated to Prophet Muhammad bpuh) recitation. The second recitation was conducted by Ust Abd Malik as an honor by the Group towards us. Approximately at 2.30 pm, the leader of Tareqah Jaafariyah Group, Sheikh Abd Ghani Soleh Jaafari arrived.

Waiting for 'Asr prayer calling.

The hadrah lasted until 4.30 pm. Then, we began to move to Luxor after visiting Sheikh Abd Rahim al-Qinai mausoleum. We arrived at al-Baghdadi village, Luxor on 7.30 pm. The hadrah at the village started after Maghrib prayer and lasted until 10.30 pm. We had our dinner at 9.15 pm. I still can remember the warm hospitality provided by the locals to make us as comfortable as possible. Just after the hadrah, some of the representatives from Aswan continued reciting the madaih and invited us to join them.

That night, we stayed at one of the local sheikh’s house. He was Sheikh Muhammad.

On next day, we did our breakfast provided by Sheikh Muhammad. The menu was fatir with cheese and strawberry jam. All five of us had it with Sheikh Farouk and his colleagues. Later after the breakfast while waiting for transport to al-Bayadiyyah, we spent some moment with the veteran sheikh listening to some of his experiences and thoughts.

We began moving to al-Bayadiyyah at 10.30 am. We took a rest at guest room on the ground floor of the mosque while waiting for Jumu’ah prayer. After that, the hadrah ceremony at the village began. The ceremony ended one hour after ‘Asr prayer. It was the last hadrah during this visit. Thanks to Sheikh Ashraf, we were given the opportunity to take a picture with Sheikh Abd Ghani Soleh Jaafari. We also did take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the locals for their hospitality. See you all again, by God’s will. I can never forget your warm hospitality and generosity.

In the midst of hadrah.

Just before the end of hadrah.

Picture time!

Taking a pic with Sheikh Abd Ghani Soleh al-Jaafari

After Maghrib prayer, we went to Luxor Railway Station. It was still early to wait for the train from Aswan to Cairo so we walked to the Abu’l Haggag Mosque to visit Sheikh Yousef Abu’l Haggag mausoleum, a Sufi and his two sons’ graves. Sheikh Yousef Abu’l Haggag was born in Baghdad, but he spent the latter half of his 90 years in Luxor. He died in year 1243. The mosque is located on the site of Temple of Luxor just behind the Pylon of the temple. The Temple of Luxor was built mainly by Amenhotep III and Ramses II.

In front of the Court of Amenophis III, Temple of Luxor

We departed from Luxor Railway Station at 8.00 pm heading to Cairo. We slept during the journey until 3.30 am when some of brothers from the Tareqah invited us to teach them Malay and even treated each of us with a cup of tea! As for the effect of the caffeine, we were unable to sleep again until we reached Cairo at 5.45 am.

It was a really enjoyable and interesting experience. I can see where the humanity and spirit of brotherhood were still alive at these remote areas. Their smile, their courtesy and their friendliness are something that creates a good memory. Hopefully, I can attend the hadrāt’ again.

Sinai, Here I Come!

2008-12-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

On 6/2/2006 (First Day)

2.00 am
- Departed from el-Mansoura.
6.00 am
- Arrived at Suez City for Morning Prayer.
8.00 am
- Went under the Suez Canal tunnel.
- Had our breakfast before visited prophet Musa’s fountain at Oyun Musa.
- Visit once-an-Israeli Camp (Bar-Lev Line).
- Stopped at Pharaoh’s sauna (Hammam Firaun) at Moon Beach, Gulf of Suez, Red Sea.
2.00 pm
- Had our lunch near Abu Zneima. We also met Bedouin tribe and explored the oases & desert.
4.00 pm
- Arrived at St Catherine Protectorate and visited Prophet Saleh’s tomb. Later, we visited Wadi Muqaddas (refer al-Qurân, surah an-Nazi’at: 016) and walked to Wadi Arba’en. There is a stone which is mentioned in al-Qurân surah al-Baqarah: 60 and surah al-A’raf: 160. Some historian experts believe that the stone is the one mentioned in al-Qurân and some of them said it is referring to the fountain at Oyun Musa.

Prophet Saleh’s tomb

9.00 pm
- Took a rest at Fox Camp. Preparing for Mount Sinai climbing expedition.

On 7/2/2006 (Second Day)

2.00 am
- We climbed the snowcapped Mount Sinai (Jabal Musa - 2285m). It is the second highest peak in Egypt where prophet Musa (was believed) talked directly to Allah and received revelation (refer al-Qurân Surah Maryam: 52).

On the top of Mount Sinai - 2285 m above sea level

5.45 am
- Arrived on the peak during Fajr.
- Watched the beautiful sunrise.
- Took a nap inside the moque.
Note: There are a mosque and a Greek Orthodox church on the peak. Also, there is a place which is believed to be prophet Musa’s (Biblical: Moses) praying site beneath the mosque.
8.00 am
- Began to descend from the mountain.
9.00 am
- Stopped for while at prophet Ilyas’ (Biblical: Elijah) village. It is believed that this village was once where prophet Ilyas’ lived.
10.00 am
- Arrived St Catherine Monastery. Took a rest while waiting for the bus.
12.00 pm
- Had our lunch near Samiri’s calf (read the story in al-Qurân surah Ta-Ha 20:85-98) and prophet Harun’s (Biblical: Aaron) tomb. Visited both site.
4.00 pm
- Arrived at Dahab (situated at Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea).
10.00 pm
- Wandering around Dahab. Bought some souvenir. Ust Nazri treated us with firakh mashwee (roasted chicken).

On 8/2/2006 (Third Day)

1.00 am
- Sleeping time.
8.00 am
- Had our breakfast.
10.00 am
- Began our journey to Taba.
11.00 am
- Stopped for a while in Nuweiba (port to Jordan & Saudi Arabia)
12.30 pm
- Arrived at Taba.
- We took a look at Israel-Egypt border and Taba Hilton Hotel where it was being attacked by terrorists in October 7^th, 2004.

At Egypt (Taba) -Israel (Eilat) border

1.00 pm
- Went to Pharaoh Island to visit Salahuddin al-Ayubi’s Fort. Dated back during Ayyubid period, Salahuddin seized this fort from the crusaders during Seventh Crusade (Psst! I don’t really know whether this information is correct or not… Hah!). From this fort, we could see 3 countries from Egypt - Eilat at Israel, Aqaba at Jordan (if you have binocular, you might see a huge Jordanian flagpole) and Saudi Arabian mainland.

Fort of Salahuddin al-Ayubi

4.00 pm
- Returned to home.
- Passed through Tīh mountain range (refer al-Qurân , Sûrah Al-Mâ’idah 05:26).
5.00 pm
- Stopped at Mamalik’s Rock Inscription.
7.00 pm
- Prayed Jama’ at Dhoyuf ar-Rahmân Mosque at Nakhl. Had our dinner there.

On 9/2/2006

1.00 am
- Arrived at Zagazig.
2.00 am
- Finally, arrived at el-Mansoura.
2.30 am
- Sleep. Ready for a new day.