Almusahirati is the person who  wakes up people to eat sahoor. Of course, sahoor is an important meal in Ramadan. According to Hadeeth, ((have sahoor, there is barakah in it)). It means that you have sahoor, because it has a blessing in it. Almusahirati starts his duty after three or four o'clock in the morning, carrying a drum and singing, "Oh fasting sleeper, wake up and have sahoor. Oh fasting sleeper, wake up and have sahoor". Nowadays, this habit disappeared in many countries especially Arab countries like, Syria, Irag, Libya because of the conflicts there in them, and some gulf countries like Saudi Arabia.

Amusahirati is rarely seen in countries like Egypt, Sudan and some African countries. In Saudi Arabia,  we stay awake after Ishaa and Tahjud prayers. Tahjud prayers ends around two to two thirty in the morning. We come back home from the mosque and eat something and stay awake until Sahoor time. After sahoor, we do not go to sleep till dawn prayer.  Some of us play football or basket ball for one or two hours and go to sleep at nine or ten o'clock in the morning. Alumsahirati did not take any money for his work. He used to do it for the sake of God.  If anyone of the members have Almusahirati in their countries, please, let's know about how do they perform their duty. Happy ending ten days of Ramadan.

Today is the fourteenth of Ramadan. These days are called the days of Magfirah (forgiveness). Ramadan  Is usually, thirty  days. it is divided into three thirds. The first third which is the first ten days of Ramadan is called the days of Rahmah (mercy). The second third is called the days of Magfirah (forgiveness). The last third is called the days of Itg min annar ( emancipation or liberation from fire). The days of Rahmah have gone. On the days of Rahmah, government organizations, private charity  assemblies and rich people distribute flour, milk, sugar,  oil and many different kinds of food to the needy families or those who deserve them. Some people give money. I have been to many countries that do the same thing.

Everyone is happy and the mercy of God is scattered everywhere. Now, we are on the days of Magfirah. Once our sins are forgiven, we can enter paradise with His mercy. The last third of Ramadan is approaching. These are the last ten days of the holy month. They are the days of Lailatul gadr (the night of power). This night, according to Hadeeth is better than eighty three months or more. Our prophet told us to keep an eye for it on the single nights, such as 21^st , 23^rd , 25^th , 27^th  and 29^th.  In simple words, that night equals the worshipping of God for more than 83 years. This third of Ramadan is distinguished; what about emancipation from fire? I guess,  or rather I'm sure, this is a big opportunity for us to work hard on this third to gain that reward. 

We are on the eighth day of Ramadan, and this is flight eighth operating to the sake of Allah. Passengers on our flight are kindly requested to ask any questions concerning the holy month.  The cabin attendants and some of the members of the club will be glad to answer them. Even, after the passengers disembark or leave the plane, they can ask their questions by the phone or through any other possible media.  Thanks to God,  we have qualified men and women who are ready to answer any question about the rules of Ramadan and why it was made for people to fast? I remembered, one of the members asked whether it was possible to break the fast during the long trip. The answer to that is yes. If the trip is difficult and the person cannot afford to bear the thirst and hunger, he can break the fast,  but if he can afford it, meaning to say if he is on a plane and there is no difficulty, he can continue his fasting till he reaches his destination.  Passengers are kindly requested to ask the same questions or anything that is related to Ramadan. We hope you enjoy our flights. They will continue to the end of the holy month. Ladies and gentlemen, we are ready for your questions. 

Ramadan airlines announce the departure of its flight number  1437 H  to the sake of Allah. The trip takes thirteen to fourteen hours every day starting from the first day of the month of Ramadan till  the end of the month. All  passengers are welcome aboard and are kindly requested to fast during the trip. There are some instructions to be followed. Smoking, eating or drinking are not allowed.  Our trip is a chance for the stomach to rest during the flight.

  For eleven months, we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. We can eat snacks between these meals. During this trip this process will be hanged or suspended from the departure time at dawn till its final destination at sunset. From the medical point of view, our trip is healthy for the stomach and the body as a whole. The stomach digests the food that comes from the mouth and then it distributes it to the heart, kidney and other organs of the body. Our stomachs have been doing this for a long time. Now you are with us on this flight and it's time for its maintenance. Here the maintenance is Godly. The ticket's price is very cheap. No cash is needed or credit card. The intention to be on this flight is its price. They are some benefits from this flight:-

1-               Ramadan flight is for the sake of Allah

2-                It  cleanses the self from its dirt and bad deeds.

3-                 Hunger. All the passengers on board are fasting ones. they  intuit the poor people who don't have today's food.

4-               It teaches patience and perseverance.

5-               Passengers can recite Quraan.

6-               The last ten days of Ramadan flight are the best days for praying, itikaf

7-               Lailaitul agadr, (the night of power).

8-               The passengers on this flight enter Jannah through Arayan gate.

9-               They are rewarded by their God.

10-          Ramadan flight is the fourth pilar of Islam.

Amina went to the bathroom. She and her husband had dinner and Nasir told her that he was going to sleep because he was very tired. When she opened the bathroom door, she saw her husband washing his hands at the mirror of the toilet. She was surprised and called her husband by his name. He did not answer and he even continued to wash his hands without turning his head to her. Amina was angry. She told her husband whether he became deaf or something. Still, no reply. She stopped at the doorway and fear crept in her bones. She began,"Nasir, what is the matter? Why don't you answer me when I am talking to you?"

To her surprise, she heard him giggling loudly. At this moment, she began to sweat and she remembered that she had left her husband lying there on the bed. then she stepped back and ran to her husband's bedroom. Nasir was lying in his bed snoring. She woke him up by saying, "Nasir wake up, I think we had a burglar in the house, He was wearing your clothes."  Her husband told her to go to sleep and that she was imagining things. Amina was not convinced. She returned to the bathroom and to her increasing fear, she found the same guy still washing his hands. She screamed  and screamed and continued to do so. Her husband slapped her twice. She woke up. It was a bad dream.

Two days ago, I wanted to write this blog. Broken Windows, I wrote the title first, and I did not know what to write next. I mean what topic or subject should I talk about? By the way, do we usually write the topic first and  then we write its title, or is it the other way round? Some people say the topic and then the title. Others say the title and then the topic. However, which one of the two hypothesizes or suppositions is correct, I am in a hole and I did not know what to do. The idea or rather the title came to my thoughts spontaneously, Broken Windows, and then what? I tried to make myself like those artists who hold their brushes and just paint aimlessly, but at the end of their blundering attempts, as we imagine so, they produce something which dazzles or fascinates the eyes and makes the viewer mesmerized.

The problem, I am not that creator or designer. Honestly, some talented people do strange things that baffle or puzzle us. I asked myself why did I write that title while I had no topic for it? The main question still remains, should I have prepared my topic first, and name or title it afterwards? That is close to, shall we name the baby before it is born or after its birth?  

He took one cigarette and inhaled it very fast. Then he took another one. He coughed and coughed again. The nervousness was clear. He tried to open the window to smell the fresh air, but he was not able to. Then he thought of reaching the phone to call her. That was also a failure. Then he thought seriously of opening the window, but to his surprise, he could not and his limbs seemed to fail him too.  He began to cough again and again. His body began to shiver. His doctor had, thousand times, told him to stay away from smoking.

He tried to drag himself towards the direction of the door. Nothing,  he knew that his days were coming to an end. A time for reminiscence. The face of his wife appeared in front of him holding his head to give him the medicine. He used to smoke cigarettes excessively, more than was necessary. As the matter of fact, smoking is not necessary. He used to light the cigarettes with the end of the previous one. One after the other. He did not stop smoking only during meals or  if he was drinking something, but apart from that his whole time was spent smoking. Driving his car, buying his needs, taking a shower, talking to his family or friends. during duty hours.

His friends tried to tell him that was not healthy and it might lead to a serious disease. They did not know that it leads to the cancer of the lung which he had thirteen months ago. When his wife came back from work he had already passed out. The cigarette butts were surrounding him while he lay there. 

As adjectives describe or modify nouns, the adverbs describe or modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. The adverb is placed after the verb it modifies. The adverbs are sometimes used to strengthen or weaken the adjectives. Some adverbs or adverbial expressions that tell us about the speaker's viewpoint or opinion about an action,  or make some comment on the action. Of course,  these kinds of adverbs are different from other adverbs because they do not show us how an action took place. They mainly modify entire clauses rather than single verbs, adverbs or adjectives. There is no true distinction between commenting adverbs and  viewpoint adverbs, except in their sentence placement.

There are plenty of adverbs that can be used as viewpoint adverbs can also be used as commenting adverbs. Nevertheless, in some cases, an adverb is far more common as one or the other. The placement of the viewpoint adverb is at the beginning of the sentence. In rare cases, they are placed at the end of it. Usually, they are separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence. Commenting adverbs are  placed before the main verb if not the verb (to be) is used, in which case placement  can be either before or after the verb.

In some cases, commenting adverbs will be  separated with a comma if they are placed before the main verb, despite that in most cases they will not be.  As mentioned, adverbs are used to modify or describe other adverbs to change their degree or persistence. There are also the relative adverbs where, when and why that can be used to join sentences or clauses.    

Some people say white lie does not hurt. Someone tells it to avoid hurting another person. I don't believe in that. A lie is a lie. Whether white or colored. God does not like dishonest or untruthful ones. In fact, lying is a bad habit. It shows insufficiency or decrease of the individuality. Cowardice or being afraid of something are one of its major merits.  

The previous production leads to the story of   that shepherd who used to lie to his village people.

Once upon a time, a shepherd took his sheep to a pasture to eat the grass. While the sheep were eating the grass he felt bored. He said to himself, (why don't I have some fun. Let me play with those imbeciles). He shouted to the people of the village,

 (help! Help! The wolf is eating the sheep, the wolf is eating them).

hearing his shouts, the villagers ran to him quickly carrying their weapons to fight the wolf. To their surprise, they found nothing. The sheep ate the grass while the shepherd was laughing. They went back to the village. The next day, he repeated the same action.

(Help! Help! The wolf is eating the sheep) The villagers came to his rescue but this time, he was smiling. No wolf or any other wild animal was there. This time, the villagers knew that the boy was only lying and fooling them.

On the third day, three real wolves appeared  from the side of the mountain and the shepherd could not see them. Then, they approached the sheep and started to tear eat them one by one. Suddenly, the shepherd saw this and started to shout and ran towards the village,

 ( Help! Help! The wolf is eating the sheep. I 'm not lying, why don't you believe me?)

 The villagers heard him but they thought that he was lying.  No one believed him. The wolves ate the sheep and then ran after the shepherd and grabbed him by his foot and cut the rest of his body till he was gone.

Some people say, white lie. It does not hurt. Someone tells it to avoid hurting another person. I don't believe in that. A lie is a lie. Whether white or colored. God does not like dishonest or untruthful ones. In fact, lying is a bad habit. It shows insufficiency or decrease of the individuality. Cowardice or being afraid of something are one of its major merits. 

The previous production leads to the story of   that shepherd who used to lie to his village people.

Once upon a time a shepherd took his sheep to a pasture to eat the grass. While the sheep were eating the grass he felt bored. He said to himself, (why don't I have some fun. Let me play with those imbeciles). He shouted to the people of the village,

 (help! Help! The wolf is eating the sheep, the wolf is eating them).

hearing his shouts, the villagers ran to him quickly carrying their weapons to fight the wolf. To their surprise, they found nothing. The sheep ate the grass while the shepherd was laughing. They went back to the village. The next day, he repeated the same action.

(Help! Help! The wolf is eating the sheep) The villagers came to his rescue but this time he was smiling. No wolf or any other wild animal was there. This time, the villagers knew that, the boy was only lying and fooling them.

On the third day, three real wolves appeared  from the side of the mountains and the shepherd could not see them. Then, they approached the sheep and started to eat them one by one. Suddenly, the shepherd saw this and started to shout and ran towards the village,

 ( Help! Help! The wolf is eating the sheep. I 'm not lying, believe me). The villagers heard him but they thought that he was lying.  No one believed him. The wolves ate the sheep and then ran after the shepherd and grabbed him by his foot and cut the rest of his body till he was gone.

Hina is used during bridal nights in Sudan. It's an important ceremony or custom before the wedding. Watch out! I do not mean my previous blog, The Wedding. On the night of Hina, relatives and close friends come to share the bride and the bridegroom their joy. Some of them pay money for the relatives of the couple. Girls sing songs while dyeing their palms and the palms of their love ones.Hina is used during bridal nights in Sudan. It's an important ceremony or custom before the wedding. Watch out! I do not mean my previous blog, The Wedding. On the night of Hina, relatives and close friends come to share the bride and the bridegroom their joy. Some of them pay money for the relatives of the couple. Girls sing songs while dyeing their palms and the palms of their love ones.

Our country and the neighboring Egypt are famous of producing Hina. China and India also produce it. Hina or Henna is a plant with flowers. It needs a hot climate to grow. Its leaves grow opposite each other on the stem. I do not know about its scientific name, but according to my friend Adam, he is an agricultural engineer, it is called (lawsonia inermis). It is the species of the lawsonia genus. The leaves of the tree are dried and crushed. Water and other liquids are added to the powder to form a sticky paste.

The paste can be applied with many traditional and innovative tools, starting with a basic stick
In some Arab countries, but the syringe is widely used. The Indians use plastic cones, and cones are used in the western world. In a few minutes time, the stain of hina will appear on the skin within minutes.

To be continued

Tawaf is done. Then the pilgrim proceeds to Saayi after praying two (rakaa) at Abraham standing place. After finishing Saayi, the haji is ready to go to Mina area for the watering day. Today, 22/9/2015 - correspondent to the eighth of Thulhijjah 1436 H, it is called the watering day. The pilgrims are all here in Mina area, getting water and whatever they need for the great Hajj, tomorrow, the ninth of Thulhijjah  which is the day of Arafa. They pray most of the prayers here and stay overnight. (for more, see my previous blog about Hajj)

To be continued

Hajj means strive for Greatened. A journey to the Almighty, full of faith and symbolism, for it represents a journey of soul to God. The different rites of Hajj and each aspect of it is replete with Profound meanings about life. Ibada (worship and realities of faith, especially the love and fear of God.

Hajj will start with Ihram, Tawaf around Alkaaba, arafa mountain,  muzdalifa and mina. Ihram which takes its name from the same origins as haram indicates a state of sacredness when otherwise halal matters are temporarily prohibited. It is getting ready for visiting the Holy mosque in Mecca.  It is the first place for worshipping on earth built by Prophet Abraham and his son Ismail.  Ihram is consisted of two pieces of unstitched sheets worn by the haji. One piece around his waist and the other one is worn round the upper part of his body.

Tawaf surrounding Alkaaba. It is said that Prophet Adam who originally built it and later on it was rebuilt by Prophet Abraham and his son. As we mentioned, it is the first place for worship on earth. It is blessed and a source of guidance for the worlds. The kaaba is covered by a black lovely manufactured cloth, it is name Alkiswa which is renewed and replaced annually after the Kaaba is washed.  

We will continue later, for more details see my previous blog about Hajj.

The countdown has begun. In a few days' time Hajj is coming. For those who are able to perform Hajj, they should perform it sooner. Do not say, I am young, I will postpone it till I am old. As long as you are able, do it at once. As for the ability to perform Hajj, the Haji should be healthy and have some mean of transport to travel to the  holy house of Allah. Pilgrims can  travel by planes, cars, animals or choose whatever means of travel they can afford to get there. It depends on the ability of the pilgrim himself. He must have enough provisions for the journey, back and forth, that are above what he needs to support his family until he returns from his pilgrimage. The woman must have her husband  or a Mahram if she intends to perform Hajj or Umrah.  As for the reward of Hajj, it is according to the person's sincerity to God. The performance of the rites, the prohibition he avoids, the money he spends for the perfect performance of Hajj. Prophet Mohammed, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) said, ((Hajj mabroor has no reward but Jannah)). 

Mahram  = a male relative who is unmarriageable

mabroor = accepted

jannah   = paradise 

Haji       = pilgrim

2-                Algiran is to combine both Umrah and Hajj. Meaning to say, when you make the intention at migat, you say,       ( labayka Allahuma Umrah wa Hajjah ), it means, oh Allah I am answering your call for Umrah and Hajj.  In this type of Hajj, the pilgrim does not take off his Ihram after he finishes Saai.  Saai  is performed once because of the intention of the combination. Here, the pilgrim must also make hady as a sacrifice. If the is not able to sacrifice an animal, he can fast three days at Hajj and seven days when he gets home.

3-                Ifrad is to intend to perform Hajj only. It means that when the pilgrim reaches migat, his intention was to perform Hajj only. He declares, labayka Allahuma labayka bihajjah.      (oh Allah I come to answer your call for Hajj). Then the pilgrim proceed to Makkah on the eighth of Thulhijjah to carry on with his rituals,  (see my blog Hajj).  Almufrid, (the pilgrim who performs ifrad) removes his Ihram after he finishes throwing the seven pebbles at jamratul Agaba and the cutting or shortening of the hair, and no sacrifice is required  from him. For the sake of knowledge,  when we say, the pilgrim, we mean both male and female. The female pilgrim differs in slight things during Hajj or Umrah rituals such as; in Ihram, running between the green pillars during Saai, the cutting of the hair and some other minor differences.

There are three types of performing Hajj.

1-      Atamattu

2-     Algiran

3-     Alifrad

Atamattu  is to perform umrah during the months of Hajj. And when Hajj is due, its rituals must be performed.  Almutamtii (the pilgrim who performs atamattu) must sacrifice a sheep. The same rituals are done in both Hajj and umrah, but the main difference is, standing on  mount  Arafa. Standing on Arafa is the main corner of Hajj. ((Hajj is Arafa)) according to hadeeth of the Prophet Mohammed, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The steps of umrah are as follows: migat, tawaf, saai, hair cutting or shortening.

          Migat, the place where the changing of clothes and intending to enter Ihram. Here Almutamatii must say, (labayka Allahum labayk, labayka biumrah), it means, oh Allah! I am answering your call for umrah. almutamatii must continue to say this until he reaches Kaaba for tawaf. Tawaf; circumambulating  Kaaba seven times. Then Saaii. Saaii, going between mount Assafa and Almarwah, seven times, starting from mount Saffa and ending at mount Almarwah. At the seventh time which will be at mount Almarwa, almutamtii cuts or shortens from his hair. And he can take off his Ihram and wait for the eighth of Thulhijjah to perform the rituals of Hajj. Next time, we will talk about the other types of performing Hajj. For more details, see my blog Hajj.  

 The letter "a" is  the first letter of the English alphabet. But it seems that the small word has other meanings. Let us see some of those meanings together:

1-   It Is used  when referring to someone or something that is mentioned for the first time.                         ( I met a tall man).

2-   It can be used to show or indicate a rank, type or a membership of a person or something,                    ( he is a basketball player )

3-   The letter "a" can be used to show a musical note. (Imagine is a song in the key of A)

4-   It can mean one, (I have taken a bag)

5-   The letter "a" can be used  as a degree or a grade given to a student for his or her work. (Leila has got grade A on the test).

6-   It can be used to show the meaning of something called "a" ( I am having a blanket)

7-   We can also use it in front of someone's family name to mean they are a member of that family,             ( Is that a Daragino near the door?).

8-   We can also use it in front of a person's name when we do not know that person,                                   ( There was a Mr. Dara to see you)

9-   It can be used before a singular countable noun if the person or a thing is mentioned for the first time.  (when I came back I saw a dog)

10-  The letter "a" can be used for rate or ratio. ( he ran five kilometers per a hour).

11-  The letter "a" can be linked or attached to some preceding words, ( kinda, gonna )

12-  It can be used as a function word with nouns to make adverbial phrases such as,                                ( she looked a bit worried)

13- The letter "a" can be used before  cardinal and ordinal numbers , ( a hundred ) , (a third ).

14- "a" is a determiner or an indefinite article with singular nous when the indicated is not specified,            ( a boy over there ).

15-  It can also be used as a function word with singular nouns if a restrictive modifier comes after it,          ( a woman who was here a minute ago ).

16- It means a group or type of blood in medicine.

This small word is so meaningful. We will try to continue about its other meanings later. Maybe, after Hajj.

 Sarah and Adam decided to make their wedding on Monday. Adam is very mean. He did not want to spend more money on the wedding.  Sarah told her fiancé why on Monday, and he replied that most people would be busy with their work and no one would pay any attention. He told her that they would need her father and her mother. He said,

 "My uncle is the only person from my family."

" But why Adam?"

"There will be no expenses, a small piece of cake will finish the occasion." He replied.

" What about my sisters, my brothers, uncles and aunts. Adam! I have a big family!" she yelled at him.

Then he said sarcastically, "They will be at work my dear. They will know later."

"How,,, how could you? No, no I won't accept that. There will be no wedding at all." She said angrily.

This story reminded me of that story about the man who fled from his wife after they had been wed. It began like this:

The husband dressed in complete suit and a blue hat said,

" At last honey, we are alone in our kingdom."

"Yes darling,"

"I guess, we will be happy forever," she answered.

Then suddenly, he looked at many hats hanging on the wall and said, "What are these hats?"

She said, " dear, this is a long story"

"No, no I want to hear it." He prompted.

She began narrating,

" The first black hat belongs to my husband who died at war in Afghanistan. The second yellow hat belongs to my husband who passed out because of the fire from the kitchen.  The third white hat belongs to my husband who drowned in the sea. Oh! This one, the green one, oh! It belongs to my husband who died in a car accident. The pink hat belongs to my husband who fell from the fifth floor and broke his neck.,,,,,, the grey hat ,,,,,"

Without waiting for her to finish, the man took off his hat slowly and hung it up near the rest of the other hats and ran away saying, " and this hat belongs to your husband who escaped saving his skin."

Tomorrow Thursday might be the last day for this admirable guest.  We have to wait another eleven months for him to come back. Naturally, some of us may not be there next time. Our ages have certain terms.  The guest took from us many burdens and sins.  He cleaned our bodies and souls from the  dirt that we have had. Our upcoming  sins are forgiven too. Consequently, we are going to enter through that door. Alrayan door on The Last Day. ( you can read my blog, Ramadan two or three to know about the benefits ).

Eidul Fitr is expected to be on Friday.  We will start the day by having breakfast and then we will pray the Eid prayer and thank Allah , the almighty for his great favor.  Happy Eid my friends!