THE HARAM DIARY (PART 7)

By Syed Faraz Luqman

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Bismillah

Day 7: Ramadhan 26st 1433 / August 14th 2012 

The Final leg begins. Last 4-5 days. I will not say that time here has flown by. Alhamdulillah, here, everything has been slower, and that is an amazing thing. I've been able to slow down considerably.

I guess whenever we say, “Ramadhan has flown by”, it’s a sign that we let our busy lives keep us from benefiting from the power and grace of Allah in this month. A 6/hour day job can also lead to an overall complacency citing “tiredness”. We tend to forget that people work the whole day, hungry, so that they can afford one square meal that day.

My health is ok. The phone re-charged was a nice thing. Spoke to mom dad after a while today. Mom’s worried (read teary) that I might not be getting enough food.

2 days ago I was again blessed with a quarter Arabic quboos and a cheese triangle.

Yesterday someone stood by the corridor and passed out sulaimani chai and today I got milk chai (tea). I was full of glee at that.

The realization dawns that there are so many simple joys of life that I've been taking for granted. My simple meals here show me how much I really need to get along as opposed to how much my greed wants.

Since it’s the night of the 27th fast, the crowd here today is phenomenal. Tried to make a nafil tawaf but couldn't complete more than 2 rounds in about 20 mins. So I returned to my seat or else would have missed isha in my spot.

Noted one interesting thing today. When people learn that I'm Indian, they show extreme happiness. They are very pleased and are very patient with my handicap with Arabic. Not just Baba, Ali and Mamajaan, but others too. I made a new friend in Taufiq (from Ethiopia) He is very patient and even tries hard to translate a few words in English for my sake. It is a very nice transition from the usual response I get (be it in UAE, Qatar, Europe etc)…which is more or less “Oh…another one.” Not that they get mean or evil at me but the warmth is not there.

Here on the other hand, I'm treated like a brother…and I just done mean the word superficially. I would say that the place makes them be nice, but I guess you can always identify inherent kindness…it shines with a rare glow that transcends circumstance.

By the way, mamajaan’s real name is Haji Yusuf. He gave me his number in Saudi and asked me to catch him up if I return next year.

Taufiq invited me to Addis Ababa and said he’ll show me around. InshaAllah.

The Ethiopians are really a warm sort. No wonder the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam chose their land as a refuge to the persecuted early Muslims.

SubhanAllah

Met my brother Zeeshan. It is a strange and beautiful coincidence that I somehow got in touch with him and he was coming right this night to perform Umrah. Met him outside in the courtyard for a few minutes. Was very nice to see him mashaAllah so grown up.

Qu’ran recitation update: Reached Surah Ad-dhariyaat (No. 51)

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