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wawaqueen:

Maybe I should do the Boo Radley Challenge where I stay in my house for 25 years and never leave

This is the greatest literary reference I’ve ever read.

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See more here

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Getting Angry or Annoyed While Fasting - Saad Tasleem - YouTube I was going to write a whole piece on managing tempers and controlling our anger because of fasting, but then I came across this video and he pretty much says everything that's needed to be said about it.

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☪wisdom☪ ♥arabic♥

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Ramadan Observed in Cairo  photos by Jonathan Rashad

1. Traffic in Cairo on the eve of Ramadan.

2. Workers make Qatayef at a pastry shop in Cairo.

3.  A street vendor sells watermelon in Cairo on the first day of Ramadan.

4. Free food for the poor during Iftar time is a daily routine during Ramadan in Egypt.

5. ‘We miss you, Tarek. We will hopefully see soon in heaven. Ramadan has no meaning without you,’ said parents of Tarek Magdy who died in Egypt’s 2011 uprising.

 6.  Taraweeh prayer in a mosque in central Cairo on the second day of Ramadan.

7. A Musaharati walks through Cairo on the first day of Ramadan. Musaharati is a person who wanders through his neighborhood with a drum to wake observant Muslims for their Sahur or the last meal before the day’s fast.

 8. Children play with firecrackers in Cairo on the seond day of Ramadan. 

9. A shop that sells Ramadan’s Fanoos special lanterns in Cairo on the eve of Ramadan.

10. Tahrir square during Iftar time on the fourth day of Ramadan. Cairo streets are almost empty every day during the Iftar time as observant Muslims go home or to restaurants.

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The new expansion of al-Masjid al-Haram are now open for public to pray though still not fully completed as the expansion is still not directly connected to the mataf area.

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Seeking Laylatul-Qadr

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And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah and be not divided among yourselves

[Surah Ali-Imran: 103]

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Dua for the Twentieth Day of Ramadhan اَللّـهُمَّ افْتَحْ لي فيهِ اَبْوابَ الْجِنانِ وَاَغْلِقْ عَنّي فيهِ اَبْوابَ النّيرانِ وَوَفِّقْني فيهِ لِتِلاوَةِ الْقُرْآنِ يا مُنْزِلَ السَّكينَةِ فى قُلُوبِ الْمُؤْمِنينَ O Allah, on this day, open for me the doors of the heavens, and lock the doors of Hell from me, help me to recite the Qur’an, O the One who sends down tranquility into the hearts of believers

Duas from previous days

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Day 20: Patience, my child.

I miss my grandmother. So much.

And today it struck me that Ramadan of 2004 was the last time I saw her in person.

Amma made a trip out to see us about every two years. She'd stay for a couple of months at a time. I remember she stayed from August till sometime in December because she flew in from Karachi on my brother's birthday and he thought it was so cool that he got a GameCube and his Daadi for his birthday presents.

She was still sick. Better than before, though, But weak. She had her spot on the couch in the living room where she'd sit, talk to my mom while she was cooking, nap in between reading the Qur'an and praying. I'd sit with her and do my homework once I got home from school. 

She always wore her jewelry. Nothing on her ears because they were really sensitive. But she always had her two--maybe three? I'm beginning to forget-- thin, gold bangles on one wrist, and her jade bracelet on the other.

Amma always wore cotton saris that were simple and had flowers on them. She'd put talcum powder or baby powder on too, and she always smelled of it. That, and her Nivea cream she'd put on her hands and sometimes I'd put on her feet. She'd only use Nivea as lotion and only if it came in the aluminum container, not the plastic. Her hands were really soft and smooth. My dad's hands are the same way

The last time she came, the loads of jasmine plants we had outside were still in bloom. We made a habit of picking them and showing her them once we came back in the house.

Look Amma, look how many. She'd take one or two to put on her pillow while she slept because she loved the smell. My mom does the same thing. The rest would be wrapped in a damp paper towel and then put inside the fridge so after a week or so, my mom would have saved enough of them to make bracelets. Or they'd go in a bowl we have on the coffee table and eventually the smell would diffuse.

For the last night of Taraweeh at the mosque we went to downtown, my mom made firni, a sweet rice pudding that had cardamom in it, with thinly sliced pistachios and almonds sprinkled on top when it cooled. She'd make it in the biggest pot she had and it'd be enough to fill over a 100 single serving cups. Amma used to be in the kitchen when Mom would make it, but standing for a long time was tiring. She watched from the couch facing towards the kitchen.

The thing about firni is that once you add the sugar in, you have to keep stirring or otherwise it'll settle at the bottom of the pot and burn. I'd sit on the counter and keep stirring and stirring until it got thick enough.

Amma loved firni, and she like it with loads of sugar in it. So did I. We shared a sweet tooth.

My mom had already put the sugar in the pot and I was just supposed to keep stirring. But when she turned away, I put extra sugar in really quick so she wouldn't notice. 

But Amma saw me, and there was no missing it from where she was sitting. She was smiling though. And she laughed a little, but didn't say anything to my Mom about it. 

 I'd have to sit up on the counter next to the stove and keep stirring and stirring for what seemed like ages for a ten year old with a very short attention span for anything that didn't involve reading, writing, or drawing. And I'd complain. Amma said "Sabr, beta, sabr." Patience, my child. And she smiled, and went back to her Qur'an and tasbeeh. 

She was one of the most patient people I'd ever known. She was quiet, but when she spoke, she knew to make the most of the words she chose.

Amma left to Pakistan a few weeks after Eid, in December I think. It was raining that day.

And then seven months after that, she left this world. إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ‎.

When I went to Pakistan for the first time after she passed away in 2011, I was really scared. My aunt and her family still live in her house. And I was terrified because I didn't know how I would feel once stepped in and she wouldn't be sitting up on her bed like she always is in my mind when I think of her.

We got in the house, and I looked over at her bed. And it was empty. She wasn't sitting there, waiting to see us like she did the last time we came. It was then that I realized that she was actually gone, and it ripped through me. What I suppose I subconsciously didn't want to accept became very real, and I felt the entirety of the pain that comes with losing a loved one.

It's taken me three hours to write this because I've had to keep stopping because I've started and stopped crying at least eight times between paragraphs. 

I've been thinking a lot about how I really need to learn to be more patient these past couple of days, and the best embodiment of Sabr and the strength that comes with is my Amma jaan, Noorun Nisa. Her name means "light of women."

And she really was. I want to be her when I grow up. God knows I still have a lot of growing up left to do.

If you're spending time with your families during Ramadan, let them know how happy you are to be sharing this time with them while they are still in your lives. I wished I had realized that and told my Amma how happy I was to have her more often than I did.

Miss you Amma.

Salaam,

Nashra

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Sabr has been on my mind quite a lot these past few days. I’ll write more in detail later iA.

"Persevere in patience and constancy. Vie in such perseverance, strengthen each other, and be pious, that you may prosper." #صبر

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"We have six daily prayers now: Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha, and Janaaza."

I remembered reading this quote from an Egyptian citizen during the revolution and it's all I can think of when I read about Gaza.

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"I love it when the month of Ramadan comes around every year, it is not only a time to be grateful for what we have, but to reflect on ourselves and actively work towards being better people in whatever aspect we feel we are lacking, in the hopes that we will continue such behaviour even after Ramadan."

"What’s your favourite thing about Ramadan?" "It would have to be the Iftars and the generosity of people during this month. It’s a great feeling when breaking fast with family and friends together on delicious food that I only ever get to eat during the month of Ramandan. The outpouring of generosity amongst Muslims both here and across the world is what really strikes me during this month, it is wonderful to see people open their homes and also their hearts in giving to those who are less fortunate than themselves."

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We are entering the last ten days … time is flying so fast, so fast. The density of time in measured on the scale of our introspection. He is close, very close, closer than your jugular vein, between you and your heart. And the Night of Merit ahead… Prayers

Tariq Ramadan (via simplyhasanah)