the road to Madinah

saturday 2:15 am hwy from Makkah to Madinah

alhamdolillah. we are finally on the road to Madinah. a couple of people have asked me "which do you prefer?"

it pleases them to ask, but my answer never satisfies them. i tell them i would live in Madinah if it pleased Allah subhanahu wata ala because that is what the Prophet sull Allaho alayhi wa sallam chose, and what the sahabah all chose, alhamdolillah.

people want to make a distinction beyond that. they want to talk about visiting. but the two are incomparable.

will you compare the sun to the moon? i mean compare as though they were similar creations?

for the moon is easy to look upon. she comes at all different times of day or night, she covers herself or reveals her beautiful light according to a schedule set by Allah, and she is faithful to her Lord.

she has held the gaze of man throughout time. and he has studied her casually and with zeal.

but the sun is a completely different servant of Allah. it is the light of the sun that blinds or illuminates, burns or keeps warm, and makes deserts and gardens alike grow -- all by the Command of Allah.

and while the sun also obeys Allah, its light is a driving force that pushes all that lives on earth, and even the mountains are not immune to the force of the sun. will you compare the direct light of the sun to what the moon reflects so softly?

compare the sun to another star if you have knowledge, but recognize that the sun is whole without the moon, but the moon would be a dark shadow without the sun.

and Makkah is sun to Madinah's moon. alhamdolillah.

i make duaa that any burns or blindness i found in Makkah will be expiation, purification (tahhaara) for me, inshaAllah. and that in the light of the blessed Haram, my Iman grew and my ibadaat and duaas were accepted, inshaAllah.

"qul HowAllaho, aamanna bihi wa alayhi tawakkalna. fasata'alamoona man howa fee dhalaalim mubeen." surah al-Mulk, verse 29.

From the hotel window

Al Baik

an old road

wednesday 4:00 am Makkah

there are two themes from my frst few days in the Haram. renewal and education.

renewal of intentions because it is important to keep the neeyat purely to please Allah subhanahu wata ala. who seeks rewards in this dunya may get that, but who seeks to please Allah, his reward is in this dunya and in the hereafter, inshaAllah.

this blog, my applications to medical schools in Saudi and elsewhere, and my own internal responses to fitnahs, these are potential enemies of my neeyat. against them i must be vigilant.

but just being in Makkah is a renewal of my soul and my body. alhamdolillah, it is wonderful to be here. when i look upon al-Kaaba and al Masjid al Haram, it is as though someone cleaned my eyes of dirt and grime. as though i saw with new eyes or eyes made pure by what they see.

wednesday 10:30 am Jeddah

alhamdolillah, this morning i drove with the father of my brother-in-law from Makkah to Jeddah to visit Ibn Sina Medical College.

he was kind enough, alhamdolillah, to drive 40 minutes to pick me up. we took the old Makkah-Jeddah road which took us past the factory where the Kaaba's cloth covering is made. alhamdolillah, a short distance later, we came to Hudaibiya where Allah subhanahu wata ala willed that the Muslims accept a treaty with the mushrikeen that seemed to most to concede so much. but the same treaty made the fall of Makkah come a year later in a bloodless tranfer to the Prophet sull Allaho alayhi wa sallam. on the way, we also passed the meeqat for the residents of Makkah.

inshaAllah, if i could study medicine in Jeddah, i would be a short drive from Makkah and Madinah. the only better places would be to live and study in those blessed cities.

wednesday 10:30 pm Makkah

alhamdolillah, my brother-in-law's brother drove me back to Makkah by 2:30 pm. some people would say i only missed one salat in Makkah. others might point out a fard salat in Makkah brings the reward of 100,000 salat somewhere else (meaning i'm short 99,999 salat.

but no one is ever short-changed by Allah, so the first opinion is better.

over the past day or two i have formed a tawaf observation into a tawaf perspective. people performing tawaf generally fall into one of three types (among possible categorizations). one is distracted, may Allah have Mercy on them.

the second group are attentive but walk in an easygoing manner.

and the third group performs tawaf as though qiyamat were on their heels or as though it was the Day of Resurrection. they are in a hurry to get as much reward as possible, and the cry "nafsee, nafsee" would be very natural for them -- because they are certain they need every good deed, and life is a race to gain them.

for me, this umrah gave me a new respect for group 3, and my tawafs are more energetic, and i make more concerted and sustained efforts for hajar aswad, etc.

may it please Allah subhanahu wata ala.

Tuesday night at the Haram

a few hours to boarding, inshaAllah

sunday 4:30 pm washington

alhamdolillah. in less than two hours my journey advances a crucial
step: my next flight will take me across the meeqat. so i will enter
the state of ihraam on the plane, inshaAllah.

the phone is working again -- after a hard reset. i prayed dhuhr and
asr together at a local masjid, pictured. and after some good Persian
food, came to the airport (also pictured). alhamdolillah.

"min ghayri hawlim-minnee, wa laa quwwatin"

sunday 6:15 am washington

not only does Allah subhanahu wata ala provide us with everything we
have no matter how small nor how great. but He also provides for us
from means that are completely beyond our means to discern in advance.
means that are also truly beyond our control. and one that people
let get in the way of true gratitude to Allah is the arrogance that
comes from thinking: "i've taken care of that."

no, you have only planned and exerted effort -- He is the One Who is
the Best of Planners, the One Who allows your plans to come to
fruition or Who delays you.

so how will you express gratitude to Him today?

yesterday, alhamdolillah, my travel to washington was smooth. even
though i was running two hours behind in leaving my home, i still
caught my flight and was even upgraded, alhamdolillahil-lathee
razaqaneehee min ghayri hawlim-minnee, wa laa quwwatin.

since last night, my smartphone has been acting strangely. i am using
it now, but all hardware features and settings are inaccessible: i can
use th bluetooth, wifi, etc, but i cannot add new wifi hotspots. that
will make internet access outside the US harder or at least more
expensive (if i have to pay for local GPRS). alhamdolillah alaa kulli
haal; it is His Mercy that it happened here -- where i have access to
desktops from which i can reset and restore my phone, inshaAllah.

--
Whether you hide what you want to say, or speak out loud, without
doubt He knows what is in your heart. Would He not know Who Created
everything? He is the Most Subtle, the Most Aware. (The Holy Qur'an,
Surah Al-Mulk, v13-14)

Open your heart to Islam.
Pray Fajr at 5:30 am at Al Farouq.

"the place to be"

saturday 10:15 pm washington

today many participants (and protesters) from the G8 summit returned
to their homes. washington is home to one of them in particular.

the summit host slogan was "the place to be." german military used
force to repel protesters, the summit participants were feted and took
home goody bags that even included an official G8 Summit stick-on
tattoo.

and for all those people, the easiest thing to accept is that the
summit is over. the place to be is now that place that hardly
matters, except for what was (or was not) done there.

but how many of them accept, i wonder, that this life is only the
place to be for a designated amount of time. Allah subhanahu wata ala
has told us that the pens have been lifted and the ink is dry -- for
each of us and everything there is an appointed time.

and there is no doubt that we will each be held to account for our
deeds, so how will you and how will i spend our allotted time? where
do you want to be?

--
Whether you hide what you want to say, or speak out loud, without
doubt He knows what is in your heart. Would He not know Who Created
everything? He is the Most Subtle, the Most Aware. (The Holy Qur'an,
Surah Al-Mulk, v13-14)

Open your heart to Islam.