Food Hunt During Eid

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

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

Breaking Fast

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.

Al-Manṣūrah at a Glimpse

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 of Great Discovery

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.