Camper Diary Day 5 - Mars (Akeil Sheikh, Mohammed Khalil Khaki, Hassan Ismail, Mahdi Karim, Zamir Panjwani, Abbas Lalji + Zahir Abbas Bha Sumar)

Today we woke up eagerly waiting for a ‘special surprise’ that we were told to expect today. All the information that we had was that we should take our swimming trunks and towels to our lessons.

Bab al-Ilm - Girls

The day started off like any other, with an early morning visit to the Haram for Fajr prayers. The Jamaat namaaz was followed by an opportunity to do the Ziyarat of Bibi Masuma. Although this has become a daily routine, it doesn’t feel like one. Every Ziyarat and visit to the shrine brings about a sense of renewed awe at the personality of this great lady. Each opportunity to visit the shrine makes us realise how lucky we are to be able to do this almost every day.

Madinah al-Ilm - Boys

And so we have completed a week in the Holy city of Qum! Before I proceed to relate the deep spiritual enlightenment we received today, allow me to narrate an amusing incident, which occurred at lunch:
As had become habit, we went to buy bottled water before we retired to our rooms for our afternoon rest. Some of the group decided they were ready to try the renowned Iranian yeast drink. My friends, being the extravagant big shots they are, only carry notes of 20,000 Rials (which really is far less than it sounds when compared to pounds, dollars, and rather surprisingly, Kenyan shillings), which was too much for the vendor, who had no change. Out of nowhere, a Maulana appeared, and paid the vendor, thus solving our dilemma of either putting a temporary halt to our endeavors, or going to seek out cash of a smaller magnitude.

Imam Sadiq (AS) said: God, the Exalted and Glorious, desired to maintain equality between His creatures and make the rich experience hunger and pain so that he may have pity on the weak and mercy on the hungry one.

The World Federation of KSIMC is pleased to launch this year’s Ramadhan Relief Fund (RRF) 1431 / 2010 in partnership with The Council of European Jamaats (CoEJ), The Africa Federation, and the North American Shia Ithna-asheri Muslim Communities Organisation (NASIMCO).

Through this annual initiative, The World Federation is committed to playing its role in reducing world hunger. By providing food rations, iftaars and cash gifts to those living in poverty, including orphans and widows, for Ramadhan, we can ensure that 1000s of Muslims living in Afghanistan, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania,

The Hiridjee Family Loan is open to all female students who wish to pursue higher education.

The loans are available to female students for up to 3 years, to a maximum of GBP 10,000 per student. The choice of course is open to the individual and is not restricted to any profession.

The deadline for all applications is 31 August 2010.

To apply click here

To view more details click here