Ramadan is the ninth month of the Arabian calendar. It is the month of great blessings, and during it, The Holy Quran was revealed to the world through Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). God's mercy and blessings fill the world. Worshipers focus their thoughts and physical energy towards spirituality rather than materialism.

Muslim people wait eleven months for it to come. Some of them are here and others left this world before it comes. Most of them hope to reach Ramadan before they go to the other world.

People start fasting from dawn until sunset every day. Ramadan reminds them of the difficulties of millions of people living in poverty experience on a daily basis. Fasting during the month of Ramadan brings a level of social belonging to the community. Opportunities are grabbed in this month and many hope to collect more from Allah, The Almighty.

If you give iftar to a fasting person, The Almighty will give you the same reward that is given to him without detracting from the reward of the fasting person in the slightest. I hope with the coming of Ramadan all the conflicts of the world are over.

The great famous man stepped from his luxury car. The crowd was giving him a high and sincere welcome. Instead of being polite and waving respectable smiles of thanks or gratitude, he was wearing his dark glasses and in a hurry to get to the office. With a frowning surly face.

At the office, his boss was angry with him and he told him that he no longer needed his services. The star was surprised. He knew that the public outside loves him and his performance. He could not find an answer to the behavior of his chief.

Without leaving him to further thoughts, he told him that being humble was important to the company. Arrogance, vanity, and self-conceit are traits that they did not approve of. Therefore, he said, "please, go to the accountant and take all your rights and leave."

The star was astonished and he could not say a word. He was thinking of the people who came to say hello to him, his fans, and the special people who love him. He knew that he should have at least, smiled at them or waved his hand to them. His manager had been among those people observing his attitude and his response to them.  

Oh time, halt for a few moments.

Have a little mercy,

Grant me moments of bliss

Oh time, halt for a few moments.

Oh time have a little mercy

After that, take the rest of my lifetime

Take my youth and my eyes.

Oh time, be gentle with me,

Be gentle with my lover,

My perfect soul mate

With his joy, his peace of mind,

With my reverie,

with what occupies my mind

with his sentiment and feelings

with every thought, that occurs in his imagination

Oh time, halt for a few moments.

Have a little mercy,

The birds are still in the trees.

In the spring of love, we used to  sing

 We talked privately and watched the birds

 flying from one branch to the other,

Suddenly, yesterday was lost from us,

 and there was sorrow in the heart.

We flew together in a sky dream.

We squeezed the intoxication of love

But we were still thirty

It was love,

Don't ask or blame us

Paradise was only a step but

It was lost and then yesterday

 was lost  from us

It was love.

Don't ask or blame us.

Ashura is an Arabic term which means ten, and here, we mean the tenth of Muharram; the Arabic month that comes after the month of Hajj in the Arabic lunar calendar. Today is 27/08/2020 which corresponds to 8/1/1442.  So, the day after tomorrow is the tenth of Muharam.                            What is the story behind this day? When prophet Mohammad (peace and  blessings of Allah be upon him) came to Medina he found the Jews fasting on this day. He told them what was that day and they explained that they did this to thank God because the Israelites were freed from Pharaoh, the king of Egypt at that time, on that day.                                        The prophet told them that he and his followers had the right to fast on that day, more than the Jews. He ordered the Muslims to fast on Ashura, but they must fast one day ahead of it or one day before.

In Hadeeth, the fasting of Ashura atones the sins of the previous year. It also commemorates with the martyrdom of Al Hassan bin Ali, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Some Muslims consider it a sad day.                                                       We  fast to gain the favor of Allah and wipe the sins of the previous year. I am posting it to remind my fellow Muslims about it. But they can fast tomorrow and the day after. 

Last night, I watched the final champions league  match of (uefa) between Bayern Munich  and Paris saint Germain. It ended one nil for the German team. It is their sixth European title. The match began under closed doors and no fans to spur  any team. The decision was part of the proactive actions, which seek to stem the spread of COVID-19 The chances were equal.

At the start of the first half, Neymar with a nice pass from Mbappe tried but the goalkeeper denied him. The German team retaliated with a counter attack but the post helped PSG. Kylian Mbappe lost a golden opportunity towards the end of the first half. Neymar was brought down after the start of the second half which led to a brawl in the pitch. At last, the head of Kingsley Coman finished us.

I wanted to jump and break our only television in the house. My wife told me to stop that. I was furious and angry. I wanted the French team to win. I don't know why? It seems to me that I do not know how to support the good play, or maybe I am just a fanatical admirer of nothing.

It is true that I like football but my concentration is only on individuals like Messi, Neymar, or Mbappe. I discovered that was a mistake, a big one. The team is not just an individual. It is a group of people working together. Congratulations to the winners. 

I told her, "it is true and I openly accepted the issuance of this deal and the dollar is permissible for you."

She extended her hand and said, "please, I am now repaying you the debt and returning to you what you paid on my behalf at the box office. Now, thank you very much for everything you have done for me."

She gave me the dollar and I smiled at her. My smile lasted more than a minute when I was aware that she took my head and kissed my forehead saying, "Did you know that I could have waited hours without solving my problem? The others would not have known what was my problem, and I would not have been able to ask a dollar from anyone."  

I asked her, "all right, what would you sell me if I gave you a hundred dollars?"

She answered, "I will consider that as a dowry and accept you as my husband."

Our laughter was heard inside the bus, while I was acting as if I was going to stand up and leave my seat escaping. She grabbed my hand saying, "sit down, my husband clings to me and he is no mood to die soon."

I was saying, "just a minute" ……" just a minute"    

It is 'just a minute', don't you ever forget this word whenever you intend to make a decision. When you think of anything in life, and when you reach the stage of taking a decision, give yourself just a minute' an extra minute, sixty seconds and nothing more.

Do you know how much information your brain can process during sixty seconds? During this minute which you give to yourself before taking your decision may change many things, but on one condition!"

I said, "what is that condition?"

She said, "to depart from your impulses and, to place human values  and moral ideals in your brain and in the core of your heart at once and treat them objectively without prejudice. " 

She continued to say, "if you have decided that you are the owner of the right, and the other party had oppressed you, then during  this minute, and when you detach from  your impulses, you may discover that the other party has a right too, or part of this right. At that point, you might change your decision towards him.

If you intended to punish someone, you might find an excuse for him during this minute so that you can reduce the punishment from him, or you refrain from punishing him and forgive him for good.

One minute may make you more attached to your humanity, and more distant from your whims and egos. One minute may change the course of your life and the lives of others, and if you are one of those responsible, it may change the course of the life of an entire group of people.

Did you know that everything I explained to you about one minute did not take more than one minute?"

to be continued, .....

I took one dollar from my pocket and put it on her hand looking at the topography of her face. Her eyes still sparkled like those of a young woman. Her delicate nose with her eyes is telling the intelligence of a fox. Her appearance indicates that she is an educated woman, but I will not ask her. I am sure, she would tell me about herself. Our journey is still at the beginning.

She closed her fingers over that coin. She was very happy with it as a child when he is given some money. She said, " I am a retired philosophy teacher. I came from my city to accompany my friend to the airport. I spent all of my money and left enough to get me home, but the taxi driver embarrassed me and took an extra dollar from me and I thought to myself that I would wait for the bus outside the station. I did not know that waiting outside the station for the bus was forbidden.    I wanted to thank you in a special way after I had seen your magnanimity and nobility. You paid for me without me saying so."

She continued, "The topic is not material, you would say that the amount is little.    I would say that you did  something good in a hasty manner without thinking."

"I guess you are going to tell me about the story of your life. Where is the merchandise which I bought from you? Where is the wisdom?" I interrupted her smilingly.  

She said, "just a minute."

I said, "I would wait a minute."

She said, "no, no, no, don't wait. 'just a minute', that is the wisdom."

I said, "I didn't get it."

She answered, "you may think that you had some sort of scam."

I said, "could be!"

"Okay, I shall explain the wisdom to you."

to be continued, ..... 

Without thinking, I carried her bag and we went together toward the direction of the bus. Inside the bus, her seat was beside mine. Naturally, I was behind her at the line of the box office. I tried to sit near the window to enjoy the scenes, but the lady forbid me and she went and sat near the window herself. I did not say anything.

I started to look in front of me and did not pay attention to her. Then, she started to stare at me for a long time. I did not look at her but I was annoyed and could feel her eyes mesmerized on me. At last, I turned to look at her. She smiled saying,      " I have been examining how far were your patience and your tolerance.

"Patience on what?"

"on my lack of taste, I knew exactly what you have been thinking?"

I said to her, "I don't think you know what I have been thinking, and it's not important to know."

She said, "Ok, I will tell you something later, but right now, my mind is busy with how to repay your debt."

I said to her, "it doesn't matter, don't worry about it."

She said, "I have something to sell now, and repay your dollar, would you buy it or shall I show it to someone else?" 

"do you want me to buy it before I see it, what is it?" I said sarcastically.

She said, "it is  wisdom, give me one dollar, and I give you the wisdom." Then I said, "would you give me back my dollar if I did not like the wisdom?"  

"no, when you hear the speech, I cannot restore it, besides, I need the dollar to pay my debt to you."

to be continued... 

During my stay in Europe in 2003,  I used to travel a lot between cities. Once, I was standing in front of a ticket window waiting for my turn to get a ticket to travel by bus to another city which was about two hundred kilometers. Between me and the window, a lady in her sixties was arguing for a long time with the employee. At last, the woman behind the window raised her voice, "Please, people are waiting, would you step aside?"

The lady moved one step away to make a room for me.  I asked the employee at the ticket window what was the problem with the old lady. She told me that she paid for the bus ticket but she did not pay for the entry of the hall." The employee went to say, "It is forbidden to wait outside the hall for the bus."

It was about a dollar. I took one dollar from my pocket and gave it to her saying, "here is a dollar for the lady." Then I stepped aside for the lady to come back once again after the employee had hailed for her. The old lady took her ticket and stepped aside waiting for me. I was expecting that she wanted to thank me but she did not do that.

Instead, she wanted to make sure that I bought my ticket and I was going to the station to take the bus. Then she said in an imperative tone, "carry this." She pointed to her bag. It was very strange to me, those people treat others tactfully and carefully. How could that lady do that to me?

to be continued

Today is the tenth of Thulhijjah, the first day of Eiduladha. Pilgrims after completing their stand at Arafa mountain, they go to Muzdaliffah where they spend the night of the ninth of Thulhijjah and collect (jamarat) stones from there. This time, the authorities has prepared stones for the pilgrims fearing the infection of coronavirus. On the following day, they move to Mina. As we mentioned before, those places, Arafat, Muzdaliffah, and Mina are the rites of Hajj. On this day, they arrive in Mina and start throwing the first stone, slaughtering their sacrifices, and shortening or cutting their hair.

The Hajjy (pilgrim) is allowed to change to his normal clothes and to do anything after this but not to hunt or to have sexual intercourse. Some of the pilgrims go to Mecca to perform (Ifadah Tawaf). It is the last rite of Hajj and without it Hajj is void. circumambulation around Kaaba, The Ancient House, seven rounds, and praying two (rakaat) prayers and making (Saee). (please, for more information, see my previous blogs on Eiduladha)

After this, the pilgrim is back to his place in Mina and he or she is able to hunt or sleep with his or her spouse. Today is the first day of the sunrise in Mina. It is a great day for pilgrims. They eat, drink, and thank Allah for this great reward. Here, we are also slaughtering our sacrifices for Allah The Almighty. Eiduladha is another major Islamic opportunity for Muslims to celebrate and thank God. Happy Eiduladha to all of you. 

We are on the ninth of Thulhijjah. This is called Arafa Day. It is the great day of Hajj. According to Hadeeth by Prophet Muhammad, "peace and blessings of Allah be upon him" (Hajj is Arafa). Early in the morning of this day, crowds of pilgrims move to the mount of mercy. They gather there to make their ritual supplication. This year, Arafa day is different. The Saudi authorities have enforced strict social distancing rules and employed contact tracing technology.

 It is including all the travel, meals, housing, healthcare expenses of the admitted pilgrims for this season of COVID-19.  Of course, all the pilgrims are from inside the kingdom. the rate of the residents is 70% and the rate of the citizens is 30%. Let's go back to Arafa Day, Pilgrims make their duaa (supplication) to Allah to forgive them and save them from the fire of hell. Allah comes down every night to forgive and reward but on Arafa Day, He comes during the day time of Arafa.

 He said to his angels, ((what do these people want?)) they answer Him that they came to seek His forgiveness Then He would let them testify that He has forgiven them. and their necks are freed from fire.  For us here at home, we fast this day to repent the sins of the previous year and the next. Meaning to say, fasting on Arafa day, repents the sins of two years.

I am fasting now, may Allah accept our worship (ibadah). For more details on Arafat Day, see my previous blogs on Arafa Day.

Today, the eighth of the month of Thulhijjah is the first day of Hajj. Our house is not far from Mecca. We have to have Hajj permit to perform Hajj. Some of the pilgrims came here a week ago. Some of them arrived yesterday. All and all, most of them are here today to perform (tawaf algudoom) arrival circumambulation.

After finishing tawaf and Saee, they move to Mina. Since their (ihram) from various places, they say (talbiyah) which means they intend to perform Hajj only for the glory of Allah. At Mina ritual, the guests of God stay the night there. 

Tomorrow, we continue the sacred journey of Hajj

Hajj will start tomorrow, 29^th of July 2020 which corresponds to the 8^th of Thulhijah 1441 Hijrah. On this day, pilgrims arrive in Mecca to perform (tawaf algudoom) or arrival circumambulation. It is also called irrigation or perfusion day. In the past, pilgrims used to give water to their animals and take some with them for the journey of Hajj. Now, no need for that. Big tanks, faucets, and water supplies are available everywhere.   

Hajj literally or linguistically means intention. Religiously, Hajj means intending to visit something greatened, honorable, or glorified. The terminology in Islam implies going to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to visit (kaaba) the grand mosque. Hajj or pilgrimage is done annually to Mecca. Pilgrims perform Hajj to retrace the steps of the prophets and recount their dedication to God.

In Quraan, Allah said, ((And announce on people pilgrimage, they will come to you on foot and on every skinny camel, they will come from every deep and distant highway to perform Hajj)), Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. According to Hadeeth narrated by Caliph Omar ibn Alkhatab, may Allah be pleased with him, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, (Islam was built on five, to testify that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. Do your prayers. Pay Zakah (chastity). Fasting in Ramadan and perform Hajj if You could do it). 

Exceptional circumstances for Hajj of this season. The ministry of Islamic affairs and Hajj with the coordination of other ministries like the ministry of health, interior, information are doing huge work. For the first time of Hajj this year, the woman was appointed as a policewoman working by the side of the policeman. That will add extra help for policemen in dealing with female pilgrims during the rituals of Hajj.

More than six thousand cameras are installed in the different rituals of Mecca, Mina, and Muzdalifah. For more details on Hajj, please see my article which was posted four years ago. paragraphs two and three were taken from this article. https://www.myenglishclub.com/blogs/hajj-1

Next time, we will continue talking about the rest of the journey of Hajj during the time of coronavirus.

A week ahead and we will start Hajj for this year twenty-twenty which is correspondent to fourteen hundred forty-one, of Alhijrah. Alhijrah means emigration. It is an important historic event for Muslims. Prophet Muhammad emigrated from Mekkah to Madinah. This event was taken as the start of the Hijri calendar or the Arabic calendar.

The term (Alhijrah) has many meanings. Here, space is not enough for it now. During the past seasons, the number of pilgrims exceeded two million Hjjis. Pilgrims (hajjis) used to come from different parts of the world to perform Hajj.  

This year, only the residents and the citizens of Saudi Arabia can perform Hajj and that is due to the circumstances of COVID 19. You might say that it is a fair assessment of the situation. We could be hopelessly inaccurate about it but coronavirus dictated its conditions on Hajj this year 2020. There are dire Hajj conditions. 

There are many unprecedented measures to be taken before performing Hajj. the authorities want to emphasize the implementation of those necessary measures to ensure the safety of those pilgrims including providing protective face masks, and sterilization equipment and also conducting preliminary thermal checks. 

We will talk in detail about the rituals of Hajj in the hard time of the pandemic. 

You are a nature valley
Night's breeze crossed your face
flowers slept on your cheeks
the bird chirped on your hand
people did not cross your border
your enemy was not known
your repulsion was written for me
Oh, you are my hope and my life,
that had been gone
I am running after a mirage
Look at the valley morning beauty
Look at its greenness and its sands
Look at the night's breeze,
why was it awake?
It was a warning of nothingness
From deep inside, I reckoned,
you were not destined for me

He went to say that there were complicated things in life that need wisdom and common sense to be understood. Then the professor narrated a story for them saying, "a child got sick and when her father took her to the hospital the doctor prescribed medicine which he could not afford to buy.

He phoned his brother to help him to buy the medicine. His brother told him to wait one hour to bring him the money. The man waited anxiously and tried to call his brother but his brother's cell phone was closed. He tried to call many times in vain. Then he began to think bad about his brother, 'How come that he disappoints me?' While he was furious and angry like that the doorbell rang. When he opened the door he found his brother handing him the money that he had asked for and saying, 'sorry brother, I did not expect to take that long selling my cell phone. Then the man hugged his brother regretfully. The tears were in his eyes. 

After the lecture was over, the son came back home with less ill thinking about his father. He went to search on his father's exigencies and papers longing to see a picture of his mother with his father. From one diary the son read his father's writings, 'after the unanimous opinions of many doctors about the hopelessness of the state of my wife, and that she was going to die, I took her on a sea trip to see the world and to lessen her pain.

Owing to bad luck our ship sank and I found a chance to come back to take care of our little child. If he had not been there, I would not have thought of living after her. I wanted to live with her and die with her. The son wept a lot and when his father came home he ran into his arms saying, 'forgive me, dad.'     

A man married a woman after a long burning love story. One year later, she gave birth to a beautiful child. When he was five years old, the father decided to take his wife on a sea trip to forget the problems of life. They left their son with their grandmother.

The ship sailed and there was no one except the two of them. Unfortunately, the ship had an accident. It sank in the sea, and there had been only one lifeboat which was for one person. The husband left his wife and quickly took the lifeboat. she was screaming and telling him to take care of their child. Then the ship sank and she died.

The father came back home to take care of his son. When he grew up he knew what had happened to his mother and he thought wrong about his father and there were grudging feelings towards his father. At the university, his teacher's lecture was about judging people or things by their appearances only. ,,,,, 

to be continued. 

After Ramadan, comes the month of Shawal. We fast six days during this month. It is Sunnah and not obligatory. According to Hadeeth, (who he fasts Ramadan and follows that with six days in Shawal, it is as if he fasts forever.)

This is built on one good deed equals that ten times the same. so the idea is like this. Ramadan is thirty days. if you multiply all that by ten, it equals three hundred days. the six days of Shawal are consequently sixty days. That makes a total of three hundred and sixty days. The number of days in a year. I am doing that at the moment and many other Muslims in different parts of the world are doing the same. 

The six days are not necessarily in order. You can fast on the second day of Shawal and then take the fourth or the eighth day. I prefer doing that in one go because my digestive system is accustomed to fasting since the month of Ramadan. Once more, happy Eid to you.