Letter # 2

Salam ‘alaik….
DearGoodOldLovedBuddy,

Hope u’re in the pink of health n imaan n u’re optimizing ur Ramadhan to e fullest!!

ِِِِMy typical Ramadhan day here in syam:

Sahur is @ 4.55 gitu & buka is @ 6.30++ gitu….
Tapi style!!!subhanal ilaah!!
The time change is so so fast!!
(time can move up one hour,for eg,iftaar is 6.30++ now but will become
5.30++ after 20th Ramadhan….mane nak rase gitu kat Spore??hehe…the most the time moves is +-20 mins max…:)
*In winter,as u noe,days will become shorter & nights will become longer…
hehe….jadi,more time to sleep!!!!haha….

Talking about winter,the nights have started getting really cold!!!if I may guess,its about 20 deg @ night now….
Even during the days,the heat is not so blinding as it was when I first came….sometimes,I can see the sun rays but when I stand in the ‘bright’ spot,I don’t feel as much heat as I see…amazing,kan???
*now,hamdanlillah,I can link whateva I studied during geog to real life…best!!

Ok,ok,sorry I sidetracked….back to ramadhan:
During ramadhan,most food outlets r closed in the earlier part of the day…
Aft zohor aje baru dibuka…
Walking through the streets of Suuq Jam’ah(the nearest market to my house)
after ‘Asar,I see people selling food of all types for juadah buka pause…
People here LOVE halawiyyat(sweet cakes and kuehs)…
One of my frens(u noe who u r!!;>)loves them so much that she becomes macam kempunan gitu…… I like them too,but not to that degree….
They r delicious,sweet but Fattening!!!so I have to be careful….
But here,I really get to see the varieties of food Allah has made and how He has made different tongues like the taste of different foods….((wallaahu ‘alaa kulli syai-in qadiir))…
--there is also something we name keropok Ramadhan….it looks like giant ‘papadoms’
with kurma(tamar) paste poured on it….this is my favourite!!!!
SedaAp sangat!!!
Alhamdulillaahil ladzii ath’amanaa wa saqaanaa!!!=>

One sad thing:
Most Jame’s(mosques) are closed during the day for women…
Nak I’tikaf susah…earlier in ramadhan,we tried the jame’s around our house one by one during ;asar…
All are closed….tapi once again,
All praises to Allah!!!
the jame’ nearest to my house(jame’ Muhyiddiin...picture above),remains open throughout the day for women…!!although I was chased out twice!!hehe(arabs change their rules in a split second—a few days back,the mosque keeper suddenly said that the women’s section will be closed @ 5pm….haiz…so,now,I don’t noe if I can still sit there
after ‘asar…only time will tell;<) I/allah I’ll tell u about the tarawih here in my next letter…

In the mean time,jage diri,jage iman!!!

Use ur time in Ramadhan wisely,k

… اللهم إنك عفو تحب العفو فاعف عنا يا كريم!!!

Fii amaanillah,dear GoodOldLovedBuddy!!!=>

e 1St leTter.....

Dear GoodOldLovedBuddy,
I’m writing to u from a foreign land…
a land where many prophets of the past lived,came,sat and prayed to Allah…
a land where it is said the first murder in the history of mankind occurred.
a land where Prophet Ibrahim is said to have prayed.
a land where Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) traveled to for business.
a land where many Sahabis came to,died + were buried.
a land which became the centre of Islamic civilization during the Omayyad period.
a land which was said by the Prophet(s.a.w) to be ‘Ardh Barakah’,together with Yemen.
So,Have u guessed where I am yet???
That’s right,!!!
I’m now in Damascus,Syria…..a.k.a Bumi Syam Al-Mubarakah.

My address??
منطقة الصالحية الشرقية, الشارع التغالبية, بناء عربي, طابق أرضي, دمشق, سوريا
((panjang,kan???))
Here,the addresses of the houses are actually descriptions of where the houses are situated…for example,if a person’s house is directly opposite a mosque,the address will say,’muqaabil(opposite) mosque so & so..’…style,kan??
Oh,ya,forgot to tell u-do not..i repeat DO NOT send me anything thru this add,as it will never ever ever reach me…=>

Anyway,my house is a bina’ ‘arabi(as the add says..:).
As the name suggests,it’s a house built arab style….
It houses 10 people-9 S’porean girls & 1 Yugoslavian…
It’s @ the foot of Jabal Qasyun…(look it up on the internet if u have the time,k…)
Its big,not lavishly decorated @ all,but comfortably sederhana.…
Most importantly,it has a roof,food,drinks,a toilet,clothes,Quran---all I need to live…hehe….alhamdulillaah….I LIKE my HOUSE hErE!!!!

Ok,dear GoodOld LovedBuddy…
will report to u more from this strange barakah land soon ,biiznillaah…
Lots more I wanna say…
But gotta go…
As me beloved Mum & Dad said:
“it’s now Ramdhan…Do not waste ur precious time on the Internet!!”
hehe…pikir2,btol jugak…24hours X 30 days= 720hours
I only have that number of hours in Ramadhan 1428Hijrah!!!(klu ramadhan 29days,lagi sikit---720hours – 24hours = 696hours!!!
Jangan suke waste2 time,mardhiyah!!!!Sendiri yang RUGI nanti!!!!!
Oops!!!Pardon me,dear,for my self-talking!!hahahakz…

Btw,since the start of ramadhan is determined by ru’ya(moon sighting) here, we had to wait for a gun shot to know if it was ramadhan yet.…style,kan???
So,on the night of 29th sya’baan,we waited and waited(til one of my friends jadi nervous-nervous..hehe…u noe who u are!!)
However,the shot didn’t come,so we completed 30days in sya’ban…
We were so happy when we heard gun shots aft ‘asar on 30th Sya’ban…
DapAt jugak jumpe Ramadan…alhamdu wasy-syukru kulluhuu lillaah!!!!

RAMADHAN MUBARAK!!!!
KULLU ‘AAM WA ANTUM BIKHAIR!!!!!=>
Moga setiap dari kita dapat menjalankan ‘ibadah puasa dengan sebaik mungkin..
اللهم أعنا علي الصلاة و الصوم و غض البصر و حفظ اللسان...امين!!!!!!!!!

Fii amaanillah,dear GoodOldLovedBuddy!!!

salam....