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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
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Diary of Day 2 - Madinah-al-Ilm and Bab-al-Ilm 4 Course |
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Day 2 - Tuesday 25th July 2007
Girls' diary: This was the second day in Qum and we already feel at home. Our first class was Akhlaq, where we were given an introduction to the subject of Ethics in Islam. We then had a class on Ahkham (rules of the Shariah) for women.
For the Madinah campers the class was Islam and Politics. Surprisingly enough, the lecturer had decided to show us a perspective on "Hollywood's confrontation with Islam." We are to have discusssions on the films we are shown.
To see the photos click here
At 5pm we were given a tour of Jamiatuz Zahra - the courtyard and the well stocked library. However, the main attractions for us girls are the fountains and the mini pools located just outside our rooms.
After our evening Salaat we went to Masjid al Jamkaran which was packed with fellow pilgrims. We were welcomed to the mosque as Imam az Zamaana's guests and were told of one of the miracles that occurred as a result of asking from the 14 Masoomeen on a Tuesday in this Masjid. We then had the opportunity to listen to an emotional Dua Tawassul in the courtyard of the mosque.
The general feeling amongst us girls is that we are lucky to have this golden opportunity, whereby every aspect of our trip has been organized so well. All we need to focus on is our worship and our classes. We've been able to phone home, use the internet and fortunately buy ice cream :)! We're also becoming quite experts in manouvering our Iranian Chadors and every now and then picking up Iranian Phrases. We got home around 12ish and had dinner (which was the food given to us by the office in Jamkaran who talked about the miracles and said that it was the Niyaz of the 12th Imam). We were all really tired and were swiftly off to sleep.
Shab be Khair ('Goodnight' in Farsi)
Sukaina Juma
Boys diary: Day 2 was a busy day with students preparing for their first classes. Alarms started going off as early as 2:30 A.M., with some enthusiastic campers waking up for Salatul Layl. Zuheir Hemraj of Dubai wrote this in his journal: “3:00 a.m: Rise and Shine! Time for fajr prayers… one by one we all went down to pray, came back in an hours’ time… no one could really go back to sleep so we started talking, with nasheeds playing in the background. Some of us went for a shower… now that was refreshing!”.
The participants were taken to the grand mosque in Madrasah Imam Khomeini for Fajr prayers. Aliasgher Hirji of Leicester also shared his experiences with me: “Before we went to sleep, we set our alarms for 3 A.M., but with all the excitement we woke up without the alarms! It was an amazing experience praying in the huge mosque”.
After prayers, the campers had a good rest and then headed straight to the dining hall for a traditional Iranian breakfast. The students were now ready to attend their first classes for the course. The Bab-al-ilm campers were given an enlightening talk on the ziyarah of Lady Fatema al-Ma’sooma (s.a.) by one of the mentors Br. Munir Chagpar.
The lessons were enlightening. Sheikh Safiullah Khan of South Africa introduced the Madinatul Ilm campers to lessons in Akhlaq where he ellaborated on the unique distinctions of the human race as opposed to other creation. The second class was on Ahkam. Br. Alihusain Datoo, another of the mentors, introduced the students to Taqlid and Marja’iyyah, a subject most pertinent to Shii Muslims. This subject was further expounded on by Sheikh Nadir Jaffer.
After the first two sessions, the students had a well deserved break. Madinat-ul-Ilm campers then had a lecture on Islam and Politics whereas Bab-al-Ilm students were taken through the tafseer of Sura Qiyamah by Sr. Salma Khalfan. AliJawad Mamdani of London summarised the classes:"Today was our first lesson in Aqaid, Ahkam and Tafsir. Each lesson was 45 mins long. We each had a folder for taking notes. All of today’s lessons were introductions to what we will learn over the next 3 weeks”.
After lessons, the students headed to the mosque for Dhuhr Prayers, followed by a sumptuous Iranian Lunch. “Lunch didn’t look so appetizing, but it tasted much better than I thought. It was a bit plain, although it did fill me up”, said Syed Muhammad Sajid Rizvi, a participant from Leeds.
After Lunch, the campers had free time. Some headed to the Internet café to communicate with their friends and relatives. A few of the participants took this time to visit the haram of Hazrat Ma’soomah (s.a.) for ziyarah and personal supplications. “it was very touching to see the grave of our Lady Fatema, especially when I looked inside the Zari”, said Yassir Rajabali of Southampton.
At 5 P.M., the participants boarded the bus to go to Bait-un-Noor. This is a place in Qum where the great lady, Bibi Masumah of Qum, stayed before she passed away. Kassim Sachoo of Luton shared his impressions with us: “ We entered a mosque, there was a room inside with green walls. We stayed there for some time. When I entered this room, where Lady Fatema had stayed on her arrival to Qum, I wondered what it would have been like in here so many centuries ago.”
After the visit to Bayt-un-Noor came the part everyone had been eagerly waiting for: a visit to Masjid Jamkaran! Upon arrival at Jamkaran, the students were given a brief history and significance of this great mosque by Sheikh Nadir, followed by an explanation of the A’mals to be performed here by one of the mentors, Br. Aly Nasser. After maghribain Prayers, the campers had a light dinner and then had an opportunity to buy souvenirs before settling down to recite Dua Tawassul.
Musaddiq Gangji of Portsmouth had the following to share: “Today we went to Jamkaran. It is a beautiful Mosque, and according to Hadith, the 12th Imam comes to this holy place every Tuesday. The atmosphere was electric and there were thousands of people. I felt a real sense of awe!”
As the students headed back to the hostel, they were all exhausted but content, having had a very fruitful day. 14 year old Sabir Jetha from Leicester said the most striking moment for him was the visit to Jamkaran. “It made me feel very good; it was a great advantage seeing it and being there”, he added.
Lights out at 11 P.M.!
By: Aly Nasser |
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