Shawal and Eid'l Fitri Celebrations

Ramadan has left us. We are now in the month of Shawal. Muslims celebrate Eid’l Fitri at the start of Shawal marking the end of Ramadan with celebrations and merriment, indulging in foods of various kinds. Muslims visit one another, the young looking out for elders, children for parents, neighbors and friends seek each other for forgiveness and good wishes. Muslims have the whole month to do this.

On the eve of 1st Shawal, just after the late evening prayers, we and our neighbors got together and went from house to house to recite the ‘takbir’ glorifying the Almighty and being pleased that He had granted us the strength and ability to perform what were necessary for us to perform in seeking His pleasure during the past month. We divided ourselves into groups based on the streets we live in and in our street there were seventeen houses available for us to visit as others have gone away for the holiday either to spend it with parents and close family members or just to be away from home. My immediate neighbor was away in Mecca.

Family members from the seventeen houses visited each others houses. There were about thirty adults and similar number of children. Children were the happiest that night as they not only join in in the ‘takbir’ but were rewarded with ‘raya packets’ (containing money) at every house they visited. Each house would also prepare food to serve, and some prepared heavy stuff like lasagna, pizza, rice and beef ‘rendang’, apart from cookies and cakes. As we approached the last few houses some of the kids were clearly sleepy, from too much pizza and lasagna perhaps, but they fought it and tried to stay awake. My grandson Babang followed us through to the last house while Dedek lasted only until we reached our house. He could not stay awake to follow us to all the remaining houses. We started at about 8.30pm after late evening prayers, and we visited the last house in the street at about 1.00am. I found out the next day that one street in our community completed their ‘takbir’ visits at close to 3.00am. Most others completed at just before midnight.

In the morning, the first day of Shawal, we congregated in the mosque for the Eid’l Fitri prayers that was held at 8.30am., and which lasted for about one hour. The mosque was full. There was a funeral that morning too. One of the elders in our community had passed away the day before, the last day of Ramadan. Almost all stayed back to perform prayers for the deceased. After prayers we went straight home and together with our three children, spouses and grandchildren held a thanksgiving prayer and also prayers for our deceased elders and relatives, before partaking the food family members had prepared for the Eid’l Fitri occasion.

There was glutinous rice steamed in pouches made from coconut frond, beef and chicken to go with it. Shaffik had cooked chicken with herbs in bamboo. We also had ‘dendeng’ which is thinly sliced beef cooked dry in soy sauce and spices. There was also rice cooked in tomato and spices. Ram’s niece came and joined us in the celebration. The foods were rich!! After fasting for one month, all the glorious food we take now would only add back the bulges we shed during Ramadan!!

In the afternoon, we went in three cars to Johor Bahru to spend the next few days there with my mum and visit elders and close relatives. We also visited the graves of my late father, Ram’s father, mother, brothers and sisters and other relatives. We were in JB for three nights. The last night, i.e. on the third night of Shawal was when we had our annual family gathering, and this year was the 24th annual gathering. More on this later.

Ram’s sister Shidah, who spent the last two weeks of Ramadan and a few days of Shawal in Mecca came home on the day we departed JB. She arrived home just at about dusk. We had dinner with her and left JB for PJ at about 10pm arriving home in PJ at about 2.00am. It was a pleasant drive, the kids were sleeping and there were not much traffic on the road. It was different during the day hours I was told. The roads were jammed packed with cars and people took more than six hours to go from JB to KL. It was a blessing that Shidah arrived home late, thus we delayed our travel to the period when traffic was low. It was pleasant indeed…..

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Ramadan Departs

The holy month of Ramadan, a month of opportunities for devout Muslims, for enriching one's inner spiritual devotion to the Almighty, has left us. It is said that in Ramadan Satan will not be able to influence the 'children of Adam' to do physical, intellectual and spiritual harm (by going against the wishes and the will of the Almighty) to themselves, and if at all they do it is only out of their uncontrollable personal desires and not that of Satan’s design. Indeed the month of Ramadan is for devout Muslims to spend their waking hours, day or night, performing duties that are in total devotion to the Almighty, be they commitments for worldly living like daily jobs and work commitments or daily spiritual obligations like prayers, 'reading' the Holy Book, the Quran, helping others, the poor and destitute and similar deeds. All are done to please the Almighty and seek His 'redha'.

At the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina, apart from the five daily obligatory prayers, additional prayers are held in the night, one set of which is performed immediately after the late evening or after-dusk prayers where the imam will read verses from the Quran during the prayers and complete the whole Quran in one month. Similarly in all the mosques, all over the world, these additional prayers are also held but not necessarily complete the whole Quran though. Devout Muslims not only do these prayers in the mosques but add more prayers at home. These prayers are non-obligatory but are expected from them.

It is said that there is one night where all the prayers are answered and the benefits to the individuals are said to be equivalent to prayers of a thousand months. No one knows when this night is. It is said that the night will be in the last ten nights of Ramadan, possibly in the odd nights, and some even predict which night of the last ten based upon the starting day of Ramadan. I feel that one should not just depend on predictions. Instead one should make the effort to devote the ten nights to the Almighty. After all its only ten nights out of the whole year!! It is easy said than done though as one’s own habit and personal desires sometimes dictate one’s ability to concentrate in that last ten nights of Ramadan.

In the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina, more prayers are held on the last ten nights of Ramadan, starting at midnight and usually ending at just before three in the morning. The mosques will reverberate with the sound of the Imam in prayers. This inevitably will spur those present to follow the Imam in the prayers and by my experience, the two mosques will be full of people following the prayers. On the nights of 27th especially and also 29th the mosque will be so full of people that every nook and corner of the two mosques will be occupied. People even have to pray on steps of stairways due to a lack of available space in the mosques. Not all other mosques will hold these extra prayers for the last ten nights but for those that do their starting times varies. In our community mosque near my house we start these prayers at about four in the morning. Other mosques have different times to hold the prayers, but what is expected is for the individuals to perform them on their own at home, as much as possible. Thus Ramadan is a month where Muslims all over are exhorted to devote their time and energy in supplication to the Almighty.

Ramadan has now passed us by. Will we have the opportunity to meet the next Ramadan? That will be the wish of all Muslims, and only with the will of the Almighty can we hope to meet it again. One will just have to pray for His grace to grant that opportunity. We live for the moment, prepare for the next and the future while seeking His pleasure in granting all our wishes and prayers…………… Amin Ya Rabbul Alamin……..

Note: For those interested in the Quran, its proper recitation and translation visit this site: http://www.quranexplorer.com/

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Moving Around in Cairo and Onwards to Medina / Mecca to Perform Umrah

The day after we returned from Sainai/St Catherine/Jabel Musa, we grouped together after breakfast to visit more tombs and other historical sites in and around Cairo. Amongst the tombs and mosques we visited were that of Imam Shafiee in which we were also shown the footstep (imprint) of Prophet Mohammad, Imam Jalaluddin as-Sayuti, the author of well known books on hadith and the interpretation of the quran, Imam ibn Atoillah as-Sakandari, Saiyidina Hussein Ali the grandson of the Prophet, Saiyidah Nafisah Imam Hassan al-Anwar, a well known religious lady who continued to fast for 30 years consecutively, and went for haj 30 times and known to have walked from Mecca to Medina every time, and that was in the 10th century!! We also visited Al-Azhar mosque and the tomb of a warrior within, amongst many others.

There was a late afternoon free time to visit the local bazaar, khan khalili but Ram decided to forego shopping at the bazaar as she was just too tired. Phew!…. you don’t know how relieved I was when she decided not to visit the bazaar. Those who went came back with loads of stuff, adding on to their luggage. Some managed to coax a few people in our group who visits Egypt only and returned home without going for the umrah, to take home their shoppings. With that they did not have to lug all their shopping stuff to Medina and Mecca, but then they loaded those people who were returning home!!

The roads in Egypt do not seem to have improved when compared to the time I visited in 1984. They have built new highways and by-ways but the quality of the roads are still wanting. Perhaps the volume of traffic being so huge, making control chaotic, left the roads surfaces in that condition. 1984, 2006, the traffic condition remained the same. Honking of their car horns seems to be part of their driving ritual. There was so much honking that after a while you are immune to the sound!! And people, people everywhere. The places we visited, just any of them, were just crowded with people doing their own thing or on their own way somewhere.

This time though I noticed clear differentiation between the old Cairo and the new Cairo by the different design of buildings and structures, with the old really looking very old. However, the building may look old on the outside but the inside are usually cozily done up. The hotel we stayed in was a very old hotel of French design, with clip-locked and cobblestone road frontage, and cast iron roadside pillars and chains, but the rooms are comfortably done up and fixtures modern. No grouses there. One interesting fixture though was the vintage elevator, the one with exposed sides where you can see the walls rushing by as you go up or down in the elevator. I think the elevators were specially preserved by the hotel. It must be costly to maintain them.

Our flight out of Cairo was rescheduled to 1.00 am 22nd. September but due to a mix up we were not accommodated on that flight but was rescheduled to the early morning flight. We left Cairo at about 8.00am heading for Jeddah. From Jeddah we were taken by bus to Medina arriving in Medina at just after the dusk prayers. We found out that Ramadhan was to start the next day, a day earlier than we anticipated. But that was no big deal. In fact we were looking forward to it. A day earlier was just great. We spent four nights in Medina and then proceeded to Mecca where we spent seven nights.

The weather was hot, 42 Celsius at midday. It was not too bad in Medina as the new extension of the holy mosque was fully air-conditioned, pleasant for us. We only have to endure the heat when going and coming from the mosque. Our hotel was just 5 minutes walk to the mosque. But in Mecca it was different. There was only one section of the mosque that had air-conditioning while 80% of it without. There were wall and ceiling fans everywhere though and at full swing all the time. So there was air flow but hot air circulating!! We just gave full concentration to our prayers and before long we forget about the heat.

It is normal for umrah tour packages to include visits to interesting historical sites in Mecca and Medina. We went for such visits. This time however our guru, through his contacts with locals gurus like him, managed to arrange additional visits around the great mosques and their vicinity, to identify sites of importance in the history of Islam like the original Bani Hashim village, the house where Prophet Mohamad was born, the places where the Prophet received messages from Angel Gibrail, the site where the Prophet met and negotiated with Jins who later became Muslims in droves, the site where a dates fruit tree paid homage to the Prophet, and many more. We also managed to visit a museum of the Holy Kaabah, whose entry is quite restricted requiring pre-arranged appointments and other formalities. These additional visits made our trip there really worthwhile. The only regret I have is I did not take enough pictures. I was so engrossed with the historical facts that I forget to record them for posterity!! I will just have to put them in words somewhere then.

Before leaving Mecca, and as we usually practiced whenever we were there, we made our final prayers in the holy mosque and then prayed in front of the Kaaba in full supplication to Him with the hope that He will grant us the opportunity to return to this Holy site in the near future. May Allah be pleased, Amin Ya Rabbul Al Amin…….

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Picture # 1 - Cairo

 
In-front of Hotel. On the left is my Guru, Sh. Hafiz Selamat 

Picture # 2

 
The Tomb of Imam Shafiee 

Picture # 3 - Cairo

 
Family Tree of Imam Shafiee - linking to the Prophet 

Picture # 4 - Cairo

 
Foot Imprint of the Prophet in Imam Shafiee's Mosque 

Picture # 5 - Cairo

 
The Tomb of Saiyidah Nafisah Imam Hasan al Anwar 

Picture # 6 - Cairo

 
Courtyard in Al Azhar Mosque 

Picture # 7 - Cairo

 
The Bazaar Khan Khalili 

Picture # 1 - Mecca

 
The Walking Tour 

Picture # 2 - Mecca

 
The site where the Prophet was born 

Picture # 3 in Mecca

 
Recognise him? 

Mount Tursina; Mountain Climbing Expedition – The Downward Journey

While at the peak we surveyed the surrounding mountains.
There were mountains of rock minus vegetation for as far as the eye can see with valleys in between. There was a big pile of rubble close by that was once, I was told, a mountain like the others around it. The rubble consists mostly of blackish rocks and boulders of various sizes piled up together. The story goes that Musa had requested to see Allah but rather than Allah revealing Himself, demonstrated His power instead by sending flashes of light and burnt the mountain down into rubble. That’s the pile of rubble in the centre of the second picture shown here.

After having a good rest in the ‘surau’ or small mosque we started making our descent. Just as we were doing so, the last batch of six climbers in our group arrived at the peak. We left them to do their own thing and started descending.

My thought before going down was that it would be much easier than the climb. But no, it was not, I discovered. Ram had quite a tough time seeing her way down the steps. This was because with the bright sun shining there were no shadows at the steps, thus Ram could not differentiate the levels of the steps and she saw the whole flight of steps as one whole piece going down. She was not sure where to put her feet and where to step on. She had to be guided step by step. This really slowed us down. We were practically going down hand-in-hand!! A blessing really and most relaxing once she got the knack of it. She was also using the big boulders around for support while going down. We reached the upper camel station at just after noon and just then the group that was behind us caught up with us.

We were undecided whether to continue on foot or take the camel. There was a long way yet to go down and would be tiring for both of us to walk all the way. We decided to take the camel. Boy, was that a mistake. Going down the steep slope on camel was even worse than the going up, we discovered. We were constantly thrown forward with every movement of the animal as it stepped downwards and we had to hold on to that wooden rod very hard for dear life!! Otherwise we will be pushed against the rod and that can hurt…… bad…… I had on me a backpack, Ram’s shawl which she did not need anymore as it was getting from warm to hot, and a bottle of water. Then I had to hold on to that wooden rod and I remembered my grandson who commented to his mother when she asked him to help her carry some more staff to those he was already carrying, “Mummy, I only have two hands!!” Oh boy, how my palms hurt constantly pushing my weight against that wooden rod. I could not even take pictures with my camera. It was just dangling on my wrist!! But then it was better having to put pressure on my palms and hands then to have pressure in between my legs, if you get what I mean!! It was a far greater relief getting off the camel at the bottom station then it was when we went up and we were walking bow-legged for a longer distance too before we got back our sense of balance. Phew….. that was some experience. Why continue riding the camel then? It was a very long distance to walk, even if it was downhill all the way, we thought we would be more exhausted walking. So we did not exhaust ourselves walking but we endured pain. Not much of a choice was it not?


We arrived at the hotel at just before 3.00pm. Lunch was waiting for us and we were overdue for check out. Hence we had a quick wash, freshened up, had lunch, prayers and all, all within one hour.

On our way out of St Catherine and the Wadi Muqaddas area we stopped to view from a distance the tombs or graves of Prophet Harun, Prophet Salleh and the stoned golden calf or cow of Samir, all from the bus as we were running late. Please see the pictures below.
We arrived at our hotel in Cairo at just after 9pm for a much wanted rest and ‘rejuvenation’ for the itinerary of the next day………

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Tomb 1

 
The Tomb of Prophet Harun or 'Aarun, on top of the small hill. There is actually a small church next to the tomb. 

Tomb 2

 
The Tomb Of Prophet Salleh 

Stoned Golden Calf

 
The stoned golden calf at the foot of the mountain - picture taken from inside the bus. 

Mount Tursina; Mountain Climbing Expedition – On Foot To The Peak: the flight of steps to the peak of Jabel Musa.

I read in the net that the steps from here on to the peak of Jabel Musa was first built by the monks of the monastery and later improved by some foreign workers. There are more than 3700 steps to the peak and each step is of flat rock, of various sizes, arranged securely to ease the climb. Hence the level of each step is different and inconsistent. They are not like the normal steps we build in the house or of stone slabs put together. Each step is inconsistent in height and width and one has to be really careful of one’s step. This proved to be challenging for Ram and we were going up hand in hand almost all the way.

There were several rest stations along the way with toilet facilities (the ancient type ha ha!). No flushing system and no water. The walls and roof are made of palm tree fronds put together tightly, and is big enough for one person to crouch in!! No standing space either. From a distance you know that you are approaching a toilet!! You will get that unmistakable whiff!! So if one really needs to do one’s job in the toilet it is only for the small job. The big job? Wow… I cannot imagine what the whiff would be like. I guess if one really needs to do the big job one needs to make a hole and bury, but then its all rocks??

You can get light refreshments at these rest stations but at a price four or five times normal price!

Ram and I took our time climbing up the steps and we let others who were faster pass us by. We had to stop and rested our legs many times and even those who were faster than us were not much faster as they too had to rest and we kept catching up with them. Two other couples, one about ten years older than us and the other slightly younger, kept pace with us. We reached the last rest station and were told that the remaining flight of steps will take us to the peak. There were more than 250 more steps to go to the peak. Ram could not wait and insisted that we continued.

It was then 10.30 am. The sun was up but it was cool. As we approached the top we could hear voices and when we finally arrived it was a relieve to see many others in our group there. The feeling was ecstatic and emotional at the same time. We were overjoyed and thrilled. We were on cloud nine although there was no cloud that morning!! Our Guru was there to receive us. It was a very nice feeling to be on top of everything around us for as far as the eye can see. We took a picture with our Guru. He showed us where Prophet Musa sat in private devotion to The Almighty Allah for forty days and nights. It is a hole or cave of about one by one and a half meter and one meter deep. Next to it or above it is a small mosque that can accommodate about fifteen people. On the other side is a small church which was locked closed and next, attached to it, looked like a smaller prayer room, maybe used by the Jews (I am only guessing here as there were no signs on it).

Our Guru told us to take our ablutions and do our prayers. We had brought along two bottles of water in a back pack. One had already been partly used for drinking (small sips rather, to avoid having to go to the toilet heh heh!) and we used the rest of the bottle for our ablution. We then went into the cave and prayed, together initially and individually after that. It was an emotional moment for both of us. I noticed that Ram was crying softly, which she later told me was due to the overwhelming feeling of achievement at reaching the place, of how thankful she was to the Almighty for answering her prayers and for the strength He gave her to achieve the climb and arrive at the peak. I myself tried to imagine how Musa spent the 40 days here at that time, a place devoid of any reasonable human facilities. I felt how inadequate I was in comparison. I thank Him for allowing me to reach this place.

We also went into the small mosque and performed prayers there after which we rested for a while before starting our descent.

On hind sight it was a blessing that we did not join the crowd climbing the mountain in the night as it would have been more difficult doing it in the dark, having the crowd to contend with and torchlight notwithstanding. Also we had the whole space at the peak to ourselves.

To be continued………

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On Foot To The Peak - Pic # 1

 
On Solid Ground - after leaving the camel station 

On Foot To The Peak - Pic # 2

 
Final Steps To The Peak - the churh is ahead. 

On Foot To The Peak - Pic # 3

 
At last...... the Peak. The wall on the right is the small mosque. 

On Foot To The Peak - Pic # 4

 
The Cave Under the Mosque: Musa stayed here for 40 days in total devotion to Allah 

On Foot to The Peak - Pic # 5

 
Another picture of the small cave entrance 

Mount Tursina; Mountain Climbing Expedition - The Camel Ride.

We were scheduled to start climbing Mount Turisina at about 2am on 20th. September (which was also my birthday). Arriving Cairo airport in the early morning of the 19th. gave us time to visit other places in Egypt. Why 2am? It is cooler during the climb and one gets to see the magnificent sunrise.

The total distance to climb to the peak was about 3.5 kilometers and average time taken to go up and down has been seven hours. Jebel Musa is about 3,000 meters high, halfway up using a path zigzagging up the incline and the rest of the way which gets steeper as we go up has more than 3,000 steps of rocks arranged by monks in the early days to ease climbing up somewhat. Later, I was told, some workers help rearranged the rocks to make better and sturdier steps. Climbers were advised to wear appropriate clothes as it is cold up there, wear rubber shoes and to bring along torchlight, bottled water for drinking and washing as toilets, although available up near the peak, are without water supply.

With a tight schedule and thirty nine participants ranging in age from 29 to 72, keeping time was a challenge, more so when some members of the group needed to go to the toilet often. Traffic conditions, in Cairo especially, did not help our schedule. We were caught in the 'expected' Cairo traffic jam!! and thrown off our schedule by more than a couple of hours. We only managed to get out of Cairo at about midnight and with four hours it took to drive to Turisina we just had to give watching sunrise from Jabel Musa a miss.

We slept almost all the way to our hotel in Sinai. There was not much to see anyway being nighttime. We had to stop at several security checkpoints along the way, more than half a dozen, each heavily guarded with 'menacing' security personnel brandishing guns and machine-guns. Each stop the driver has to sign something amidst loud Arabic banter that sounded more like quarrels to me than decent conversation between adult men. We finally arrived at our hotel in the wee hours, checked into our rooms, refreshed and regrouped to start the climbing expedition.

We were taken to the starting point of the climb near a monastery called St Catherine, a walled cluster of old buildings. I was told that there is also a small mosque in the cluster of buildings. The main door to the walls of the monastery was closed when we were there, hence no opportunity to see inside. The buildings looked badly weathered, rundown, needing maintenance. There is also a small cafeteria and a couple of souvenir shops nearby.

We went straight to the camel enclosure not too far from the monastery and picked a camel each to ride halfway up the mountain at USD 12.00 one way. The camel guide walked alongside as we climbed. The tract upwards meandered and zigzagged up the side of the mountain and the ride to the upper camel station took about two hours.

Ram was assigned a camel. She had some difficulties getting on the animal and had to be helped (lifted) onto it. The camel was at this time on its belly with legs folded and was cool and unconcerned of the fuss going on at his back!! Ram gave a short scream when the camel got up, first lifting its back and straightening its hind legs, thus throwing Ram forward and then straightening its front legs to level up, throwing Ram backwards, all the time she was holding onto the wooden stump at the front and back of her saddle. When my turn came I felt how Ram felt when the camel got up from its resting position, the first of many more yet to come of ‘rock and rolls’ and slides of my bottom!!

Perched on top of the camel, swaying side to side with its every stride up the incline, and more than two meters above ground (the camel is a tall animal), with nothing to hold on except the 8 inches wooden stump that's part of the saddle, scares the wit out of us. It felt even worse when you look to one side and see the steep fall down the mountain side.

The saddle placed on the hump of the camel's back was no comfortable, cushioned saddle fashioned as the saddles you see in western movies. It has two wooden stumps, front and back, on a base that's tied onto the camel's back with blankets covering the contraption attempting to provide cushion for the rider. Our legs were just dangling on each side with nothing to rest on. It was far from comfortable!! One can also fold one’s leg over the camel’s neck but that position was not comfortable either. The wooden stumps rubs against your front or back with each movement of the animal, while being jolted up and down at the same time. Each time the camel lifts itself onto a higher level step we will get the upward jolt. But, you get the knack of it after awhile, taking into the ride synchronizing our body sway with the movement of the camel. (I wonder how Peter O'Toole can look so determined riding a fast camel in the movie "Lawrence of Arabia". His bump must have hurt so much.... just like mine!!)

As we progressed up the incline I kept looking out for the upper camel station, hoping the torture on my bottom can end soon but could not see it because of the undulating terrain. Almost about two hours into the climb we began to pass people coming down, some on foot and some on camels. This side of the mountain was suddenly swarming with people, young and the not so young like us, all rushing down, most looking tired and sweaty. At a few stages on the camel route there was even 'camel traffic jam!!' The crowd was really international, English, various European nationals, Japanese, Koreans and others. Obviously all would have climbed in the night and stayed to observe the sunrise.

All the people were coming down while our group was the only one going up. We started our climb just at dawn while all these people would have started their descend after observing sunrise. I guess when we passed those people coming down we were at almost halfway up the mountain. It was then passed 8.00am. I figured we would have more than two hours of climb to reach the peak.

The camel ride meanwhile was getting more grueling as the climbing gradient became steeper in incline. Our back rubbed against the back stump of the saddle but the camel kept on climbing at normal pace and none the worse for the steep incline. It's a very cool and steady animal.

We finally arrived at the upper camel station and settled dues with the camel guide. Off the camel and with feet on firm ground we felt much relieved although we could still feel the numbness in our thighs and legs having had them dangling and swinging with every step of the camel for more than two hours.

We were walking 'bow-legged' for a while but not for long as we then began our climb up the steep flight of steps to the peak...... The practical side of me said "No, enough, lets go down" but the emotional me said, "Don't give up.... You've come this far.... finish it!!" Ram was very determined to continue and was instrumental in me making the decision to go on. So we trekked on up the steps.....


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