Day 13 - Saturday 4 August 2007

Boys' diary:  Saturday 4th August was our scheduled visit to Hamadan. Hamadan is about 4 hours  west of Qum and is an ancient city with a lot of relics from previous civilisations. We woke up for Fajr Salaat at about 3:45 am and went to the Salaat room in our Hawza for morning prayers.
 
In the Hawza we are staying in, many other students come for short camps like ours. This time for Fajr, there was a group, I believe, from Kuwait. The Salaat was led by an Alim from their group and thereafter one of their students recited Dua-e-Ahad melodiously. Perhaps because Arabic is their first language and because of their training in reciting Quran and Duas in Arabic, it helps them express their feelings when they recite.

Day 12 - Friday 3 August 2007

Girls' Diary:  We can't believe that there are less than five days left for us at Jamiat uz Zehra. It seems like everyone has changed in this spiritual journey. Some here made big sacrifices and some little but we have all enjoyed our stay here.
 
Today we had a very busy day. Most girls started the day off with namaaz followed by Dua e Nudba in the Haram. By the time we got back home, it was time for breakfast and we had to leave for classes. Our teachers today had a special surprise for us - our last class was cancelled and instead, we were honoured by Muhammad Mehdi, a 14 year old boy who had memorized the entire Quran, Sahifae Sajjadiyah and Nahjul Balagha. He was able to answer any questions concerning the Quran. He started memorizing the Quran from the age of 6 and completed it in 11 months. He is currently studying Physics and Maths but he intends to follow the Prophet's footsteps and spread the knowledge and message of Quran. Alhamdulillah, we were fortunate to be accompanied by our brother, Naqi Abbas, who has memorized 25 Siparahs of the Quran, Masha'allah.

Day 11 - Thursday 2 August 2007

Girls' Diary:  After our daily schedule of classes, namaaz, lunch and rest we had a special Quran class. It was very inspirational to meet a female Qari after always being used to listening to male Qaris. With her we learned to recite the Quran in 7 different tones. For example, happy, sad and with special emphasis. The easiest way to learn the recitation of the Quran according to her was the sad tone. With her advice and guidance, we have begun to practise reciting our Azaan in the Hijaz tone which is the one originating from Mecca and Madina.

Our group of girls were surprised when our teacher advised us to stop drinking tea, if we wanted to hold our breaths longer while reading Quran. As soon as class ended, we all rushed to the house of a respected Alim, Ayatullah Ja'far Subhani. He had a very simple house and the atmosphere made us feel very comfortable. He spoke to us on becoming better Muslims and how to get closer to the Imam of our time. The key point of the speech was that we need to review our Muslim beliefs and ideologies that we were born with and question them so we can strengthen our faith.

Day 10 - Wednesday 1 August 2007

Girls' Diary:  Tying the loose ends from our Akhlaq class was quite sad as we had enjoyed the classes with the teacher. The content was such that we could relate it to our lives and he often cited relevant examples.
 
In addition to our normal daily routine, we had 2 guest speakers. Khanome Mir Imam, the wife of a martyr, visited us at the Jamiah and gave us a a talk about her husband who was a martyr in the Iraq-Iran war. She highlighted a few characteristics of her husband which included accepting Imam Khomeini as the representative of the 12th Imam (aj), hence following him and acting upon his laws in every situation. The talk was quite thought-provoking and emotional.