Domestic Flight

We took one domestic flight in Iran via Iran Air, from Tabriz all the way to Esfahan.

So naturally I am having a bit of jitters when I heard the news of Iran Air crashing near the Orumiyeh City. Orumiyeh is to the west of the big lake (Lake Orumiyeh)at the North west of Iran, in the Azerbaijan province. Near what I marked as Tabriz.

My heartfelt condolence goes to Iran especially to the family of the victims. May Allah have mercy on their souls.

It made me think. You know when I was there very eager to play the real deal fresh snow, everyone said, this year was different. Too little snow. Not much snow. Qadr Allah. We were not disappointed though. Any snow is good enough.

Picture is the winding road along the mountains. Picture taken when in the car.

But as we drove up on the winding road climbing slowly up the mountain for hours, I asked our driver, "If it snows heavily, would this be dangerous?" and he replied, "Very!" And I believed him.

And the air crash currently are blaming the sanction on Iran and the very bad weather. Iran snowed heavily after we left. the tell tale was there on our last day in tehran. It snowed heavily such that the rescuers could not get to the crash site quickly enough increasing the number of death.

Praises are to Allah that He had kept us safe throughout this journey.

Taking the domestic flight though, had allowed us to get among the best view of the mountainous scape of the Northern Iran. I am limited to small camera. But trust me, it is definitely a Subhanallah moment! We cannot stop gawking at them.

Drinking tea in Iran

Tea is the way to drink in Iran. We drink tea in the morning, afternoon, for tea and dinner and in between.

I read that there is Iranian coffee something like Turkish coffee they said, but never found it in any shop. When I ordered coffee, my driver said, "This is Iran. We drink tea,". tea hea hea.

There are infact tea houses in Iran. Just like our kopitiam. So I suppose no one makes the coffee-shop joke in Iran.

Do you know that Iran plants tea? On our way north to the Caspian sea, tea is planted at every corner of someone's house. It's either paddy or tea or both.

I find the tea a bit bitter. I had to put 3-4 sugar cube to sweeten it. And also I was worried about sembelit, looking at the colour of the tea, I diluted it.

Until I found the right way to drink it. You are suppose to put the sugar cube in between your front teeth and sip the hot tea through it. The sugar cube is not like the gula batu, hard and rocky, rather it is sugar being compacted.

So as you sip your tea, the sugar would dilute with it. If you can time yourself well enough, you just need one sugar cube for the whole cup.

And after that, I find myself liking the drink.

Eating in Iran

Breakfast food

What I can say. The food in Iran is just for me. Even the thought of the food makes me drool.

First of all, whoever runs a hotel or similar service which provides breakfast in Iran have it the easiest compared to those from malaysia for instance. The breakfast we had everyday was most importantly bread. The nan bread not the gardenia kind of bread. Also honey, cheese, butter and jam. Usually carrot jam or sour cherry jam. We would be served telur mata lembu with runny yolks.

No assortment of nasi lemak, mee goreng, waffle, pancake, creal, roti canai and so forth.

Jackjack was just in love with the eggs. To the extent when we actually go to a hotel that did not serve eggs, we would actually order some. And Subhanalllah the food helped us to not be hungry for quite sometime which was quite strange because we were in cold weather. Alhamdulillah.

Since we were served typically the same thing everyday, we expected the same thing again and again. Then when we got to Kandoven, the most Northern place that we went, we were served about the same thing but with a twist. Cewah! The honey they serve was straight from the honeycomb and the butter is just something that one would die for. Especially creamy and delicious. Both are the speciality of this town!

And the other food was superb! The kabab is out of the world. The yoghurt here, which is normally too sour for me in the arab side, is just nice, mildly sour, the tomato soup is perfect, the baklave which is melenting sweet in the arab side is just just perfect. What can I say? If you do go there, eat all you can. tee he he

Alhamdulillah for every daily thing that we do, there is always something we can point out to each other and as for myself to my kids. Perhaps there are some food that we might not favour. Knowing the sunnah will help us know how to react.

For example, the picture is perhaps the best roast chicken I ever had. The salad that comes with it (not in picture pun sangat superb. They use the oil dripping as the dressing). But the cauliflower (in the picture) was actually pickle. And I am not in favour on anything sour, what more pickle.

As good manners, we should not spill the food back onto our plate especially when the host is there. ell we were in restaurant but our Iranian driver was there. If there is still a need to take the food out, we must try to do it discreetly. Spilling food out in front of everyone is quite gross.

And most importantly not to criticise the food that you do not like.

Narrated by Abu Huraira:

The Prophet never criticized any food (presented him), but he would eat it if he liked it; otherwise, he would leave it (without expressing his dislike).

Bukhari : Volume 4 : Book 56 : Hadith 764

I was with an elderly lady who went with us from Esfahan. I was on my way to tehran while she wanted to stop halfway at Qom. We had lunch together. She doesn't speak english at all. We smiled a lot.

Anyway we were given this bowl of yoghurt each to dip into with our bread. They would also just eat the yoghurt by the spoonful. The yoghurt is ok not like the sour laban I had here. But I still cannot make myself eat plain yoghurt like I would with the commercial packed yoghurt that comes in variety of flavour. The lady asked me (I think) why I did not finish my yoghurt. I hope she understood that it is not the favourite of mine.

Anway I remebered a story when rasulullah sallallhu alaihi wasalam was presented with dhob (desert lizard). He left the food not eating it.

Book 21, Number 4791:

‘Abdullah b. ‘Abbas reported that Khalid b. Walid who is called the Sword of Allah had informed him that he visited Maimuna, the wife of Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him), in the company of Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him), and she was the sister of his mother (that of Khalid) and that of ‘Ibn Abbas, and he found with her a roasted lizard which her sister Hufaida the daughter of al-Harith had brought from Najd, and she presented that lizard to Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him). It was rare that some food was presented to the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) and it was not mentioned or named. While Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) was about to stretch forth his hand towards the lizard, a woman from amongst the women present there informed the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) what they had presented to him. They said: Messenger of Allah, it is a lizard. Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) withdrew his hand, whereupon Khalid b. Walid said: Messenger of Allah, is a lizard forbidden? There opon he said: No, but it is not found in the land of my people, and I feel that I have no liking for it. Khalid said: I then chewed and ate it, and Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) was looking at me and he did not forbid (me to eat it).

Anyway just for extra knowledge, he did not prohibit eating the lizard either.

I, myself, find it hurtful, when people from other country, even though they are not used to our food, criticises it. Understandably some food do not suit a foreign's tongue, but criticising them is another matter altogether.

Anyway, when we try to follow the sunnah, Insya Allah there is ajr for that. What more, there is always good manners that we can exhibit to other people. Who are we to preach about Islam? Thus good manners from us supercedes everything, Insya Allah.

Everyday there is always something to point out on how we can apply the sunnah.

Qtar-Dubai-Iran-Dubai-Qtar

Alhamdulillah we are back.

The trip has been very good nearly every second except the time when I gaduh with my lover. It's all his fault. :P

We started off with the cold desert in Qtar and dashed through more desert in Saudi and most part of the UAE until we reached the metropolitan Dubai.

Subhanallah Dubai's skyscrapers are a feat to look at. And as you drive onto the 6-lanes highway of Sheikh Zayed Road, you can't help be amazed at all the man-made surroundings. Currently they are leading in terms of scraping the sky compared to its counterpart but perhaps Qtar with its money and vision will come close soon. Assuming they are competing that is. Which naturally remind me of this hadith Jibrail.

He (The angel Jibrail) said, “Inform me about the Hour (yaumul qiyamah).” He (the Messenger of Allah) said, “About that the one questioned knows no more than the questioner.” So he said, “Well, inform me about the signs thereof (i.e. of its coming).” Said he, “They are that the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, that you will see the barefooted ones, the naked, the destitute, the herdsmen of the sheep (competing with each other) in raising lofty buildings.” Thereupon the man (Angel Jibrael) went off. (Part of hadith of Iman, Islam and Ihsan a famous Hadith Jibrael. Teh angel Jibrael came to Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihiwasalam and the sahabah in the form of a man)

And of course the best thing about Dubai was meeting friends. Masya Allah, I am happy to chat with them, laugh, listen to their ideas and opinions. I am happy to note also that we are taking steps to fear Allah in our daily life. I love my friends for the sake of Allah.

Flew off to freezing Tehran and made way to highland with rugged mountain covered in snow. Drove further up north, the climate became warmer (around 15C perhaps) and towns looking like Bandar Muar.

Further up autumn was taking place. The scape was filled with plots of paddy field and bushes of tea. Red and brown and yellow leaves were falling leaving the trees bare. People are still out camping and having fun with their family around the little campfire. The Iranians love outdoor. And I can understand why, with such beautiful outdoor place to go, I would do the same.

It gets colder as we reached Masouleh, the town where they build houses at the hillside and your roof is other people's walk of way.

Then we dove further deep in the western area, Zanjan. These cut across the range of mountain. The drive was scary and breathtaking at the same time.Rugged mountain and snow at the top.

Zanjan itself was covered in frost which reminds me of Manchester. It snowed a bit when I was there.

As we drove up to Kandovan, the scape was white with frost at first but slowly changed to many colours after that. Brown, green and yellow scape.

I must say the best view is when we are on the journey itself which I couldn't photographed much because we are in the car and someone else is driving and I am polite sometimes.





Then Kandovan, where early generation's creativity and the need to survive is now a tourist attraction. The rocks are carved into the house and people still live there. Sherpeding, doing trade, sending kids to school.

Throughout the journey we viewed stream trickling, water flowing in between the rock, some frozen and some calm.

We saw view that are breathtaking. We saw the marvels of Allah's creation.

Allah Al Musawwir. He is the one who fashions everything. He shapes His creation. He colours it. He makes it as what we see. The world shared among the believers and those who do not believe.

If this is paradise on earth, what will jannah be like when Allah is preparing it especially for those who believe in Him?

When Going Abroad

We are taking a winter break and will be travelling Insya Allah. I thought of putting down some reminders for them in their excitement. May we not bring back things that do not please Allah.

I thought of sharing this story with my children (taken from Ar Raheeq Al Makhtum; The Sealed Nectar).

The story is about Amr bin Luhai. He is the chief of the tribe Khuza'a. He was also known as one of the righteous person in Makkah in his time. Do read on.

-------------------------------------

Most of the Arabs had complied with the call of Prophet Ishmael alaihi salam, and professed the religion of his father Prophet Abraham alaihi salam. They had worshipped Allâh, professed His Oneness and followed His religion a long time until they forgot part of what they had been reminded of. However, they still maintained such fundamental beliefs such as monotheism as well as various other aspects of Abraham’s religion.

Until the time when a chief of Khuza‘a, namely ‘Amr bin Luhai, who was renowned for righteousness, charity, reverence and care for religion, and was granted unreserved love and obedience by his tribesmen.

One day, he came back from a trip to Syria where he saw people worship idols. This is a phenomenon he approved of and believed it to be righteous since Syria was the locus of Messengers and Scriptures.

And then he brought with him back an idol (Hubal) which he placed in the middle of Al-Ka‘bah and summoned people to worship it. Readily enough, paganism spread all over Makkah and, then, to Hijaz, people of Makkah being custodians of not only the Sacred House but the whole Haram as well. As a result of this, a great many idols, bearing different names, were introduced into the area. [Mukhtasar Seerat-ar-Rasool p.12]

An idol called ‘Manat’, for instance, was worshipped in a place known as Al-Mushallal near Qadid on the Red Sea. Another, ‘Al-Lat’ in Ta’if, a third, ‘Al-‘Uzza’ in the valley of Nakhlah, and so on and so forth. Polytheism prevailed and the number of idols increased everywhere in Hijaz.

It was even mentioned that ‘Amr bin Luhai, with the help of a jinn companion who told him that the idols of Noah’s folk – Wadd, Suwa‘, Yaguth, Ya‘uk and Nasr – were buried in Jeddah, dug them out and took them to Tihama. Upon pilgrimage time, the idols were distributed among the tribes to take back home. [Bukhari 1/222]

Every tribe, and house, had their own idols, and the Sacred House was also overcrowded with them. On the Prophet’s conquest of Makkah, 360 idols were found around Al-Ka‘bah. He broke them down and had them removed and burned up. [Mukhtasar Seerat-ar-Rasool p.13-54]

Polytheism and worship of idols became the most prominent feature of the religion of pre-Islam Arabs despite alleged profession of Abraham’s religion.

Listen to this: Traditions and ceremonies of the worship of their idols had been mostly created by ‘Amr bin Luhai, and were deemed as good innovations rather than deviations from Abraham’s religion.

I wrote down my lesons from this story in the other lollies' site. Read HERE.

Do share what are the lessons you derive from this story so we can help enrich one another.

Winter Break

The school will be off for two weeks by this Tuesday. I will be taking a break too.

We will be going to Dubai this Tuesday to visit so many blogger friends there, Insya Allah. Will be driving and staying over at Elisa's from the defunct elisataufik.blogspot.com. Hoping to meet Ruby from maknenek blogspot. Thetha from anamcarathots blogspot, blabs from blabarella blogspot and of course nazrah from nazrahayu blogspot. All of the blogs are defunct or almost defunct. hahahhahaha. But the person are functioning extremely well!

So I am staying until Wednesday and then will be flying off somewhere else. he he. We will, insya Allah fly off to Iran. :D.

So this is the plan and as usual I will put a map.



So like I said, I will be flying to Tehran from Dubai, Insya Allah. Immediately the next day we will drive to the north and our stop will be in Dizin - ski resort. Main snow and perasan boleh ski walhalnya tak boleh. I am still praying the snow is good enough.



We will overnight there. And the next morning will travel further north driving along the Caspian sea and stopping at wherever that is worth to stop. Which is plentiful.



And the next day we will travel even further north to visit and stay at the village of masouleh famous for their charming village by the hill.

Will then go to Zanjan and visit Sultaniyeh and its famous 'washing room."



If Allah permits, we will then move even further to the North to the town tabriz. and Insya Allah to visit its Bazaar and other things. But my main highlight will be the village of kandovan, the kapadokkya of Iran.



We will then fly to Esfahan, the jewel of Iran. This is my lover's main interest.



We will end the Iran trip back In tehran and visit their famous museums Insya Allah before flying back to Dubai and spend sometime with good friends over there.



We hope to see some of the beautiful sceneries there and even more.

We ask Allah to protect us during the journey and the journey will enrich our experience and will only increase our eeman.

Adik Beradik

Haziq shares the room with Jack while Sya sleeps on her own. That's the plan.

But sometimes jack is found in Sya's room. Sometime Sya is found bunking in with her brothers. And sometime to the annoyance of haziq, he sleeps in Sya's while the other two cramped in Jack's small bed.

But now they have a plan and both of them told little jack to sleep with me instead. So they could have privacy in their rooms.

I don't mind Jack sleeping with me. I do miss his presence. Lover is annoyed though. But still say yes and send him to our bed when Jack ask for his permission.

And this was tonight. Each of them told jack to sleep with me. Of course I told the two of them off for sending jack out of their rooms.

Anyway, before he sleeps, I read with him the story of habil and Qabil. A simple one with pictures to colour. And when come the part that Habil got killed, Jack began to look sad.

And when we finish it with Habil being buried, he cried.

I was not expecting that.

I hugged him and reminded him that he has brother and sister who loved him.

Ooooppss I forgot, the two just send him out of their rooms.

Haziq was already feeling guilty when I told him off earlier. And when I called the two of them, and when they saw him, they hugged him and treat him like a baby until a smile came back to his face.

Then Haziq accussed me of purposely chose this story tonight.

Later I told Jack that Allah tells us stories in the quran for us to take lessons from. I cried, I told Jack, to many stories because of the lessons that I derived from some of them. Understandably that you cried in this one. Allah wants you to take lesson from this story. jealousy. Siblings rivalry. Fear of Allah. I didn't use these big words though.

I ask Allah that my children will continue to love each other for the sake of Allah even without my presence. May they live their life in taqwa.

Quiz

The New President of the ASS (the Malaya association that i was the editor for in 2006-2007) asked me to participate in a quiz for the Qtar national day. The quiz is for the non-arab expats in this country.

Hmmm hmmm hmmm.

Punyalah banyak hmm, finally I did agree to it. I don't know why I agreed. Whereas I know I have exams and TONNES of unfinished work this week. Sedikit menyesal pun ada.

But I went on anyway along with nine other team members who are more knowledgeable than I am. He he. We had to read up the history of Qatar. How it was found, formed and general knowledge.

The quiz was held last night. SOme written questions and some verbal. Thankfully it is team work effort. Kalau sorang-sorang mati kot.

The other countries that participated were India, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Phillipines and I cannot remember the other one.

I haven't read anything factual as much as this in a few hours. To the extent I can now recite to you the country's national anthem. I can also list down the rulers of this country since 19th Century.

Kepala pun tepu.

Once in a while I would disturb one of the participants and discuss through. I think that was helpful. Talking helps?

Anyway the important thing to tell you is WE WON! He he. Cash plice woooo!!! QR5000 for the group. QR500 seorang. Alhamdulillah

Penyesalan yang sedikit itu tadi nampaknya sudah hilang.

Siapa nak kasi 500 ya tak?



Page 3, the Peninsula, 17th December 2010.

In case you are looking for me, I am right at the elbow of the quiz master.

Bakar Semangat

Subhanallah! I am feeling overwhelm. It's like I am chasing things but it always slip off my hand.

Perhaps the lessons are getting tougher. And Subhanallah things are always piling up. One will always be busy. And one will get busier and continue to be busy.

This is what I said to the girls in the teenage group that I handled before (not anymore). they didn't believe me. They think that their busy studying for exam is the ultimate busy of their life. Ever!

And I smiled at them for I have eaten loads of salt and I know that these girls whose life are in the best comfort life can give. Chaperoned everywhere. Kerja rumah pun minimal. Schooling international. Busy?

They wouldn't know they will get no less busy than what they have.

So many knowledgable people have attained the best of family life, the knowledge of the deen and the knowledge of dunya and can still manage their life. Do they have 24 hours like me? Allah Mustaan. May Allah put barakh in my time.

In short, take care of your time. take beneficial knowledge. Because dunya will get busier. make time, then you will have time.

Anyway, just something to burn the semangat for me. The comment says it is a funny video.

Then why am I crying?

The Day the Horns Honk!!

Qtar won the bidding to host the World cup in 2o22!!

They won hands down against Korea, Japan. The States and Ostrolia.

These are the number of votes
First round
Qatar 11
South Korea 4
Japan 3
US 3
Australia 1 (eliminated).

2nd round
Qatar 10
South Korea 5
US 5
Japan 2 (eliminated).

3rd round
Qatar 11
US 6
South Korea 5 (eliminated).

4th round
Qatar 14
US 8.

I petik from one of my facebook friends who said he takes it from Reuters. he he.

And Qtar ran wild the very night and the following. Horns echoed everwhere. people honked their car horns. People blow the vuvuzela. People dancing on their car. Sitting out of the window of a moving car. Driving crazier than normal. Accidents too.

The first ever Middle east country will host the W0rld cup! Wow!



Anyway the truth is I was actually hoping that Qtar wouldn't win the bid. I have been through the experience of this country hosting a smaller event that World Cup which is the Asian Games. And the havoc the country runs into was a burden to people like me.

The house rental would go sky rocket high. Seriously during the time of the Asian Games, they even rent out houses which was build from gypsum for thousands. This year the house went down a little bit making normal houses more affordable. But with the coming sport event, I speculate the rents would go up.

Why just this morning we went to scout a house for a friend, and the same house we asked before has increased by QR2000 and upon questioning, the owner said, "It's the Games."

And they will get the experts to build the nation so they can spend billions on making the event. Experts selalunya mat salleh who will put up high demand and high perks and affording all the good houses. reflecting back in the year 2006 during the Asia Games. We were left with partitioned houses paying 10k at that.

The grilled chicken now cost QR4 more than yesterday.

I wonder also would this country be ready for the ripple effects that come with the events. Woman in little fabric. Booze. Mingling.

The general ruling in this country is that woman are not allowed to wear skimpily and everyone should obey this. When I came in 2005, people were more modest. I have heard of the locals would tell the women off for dressing too tight, too low and too short. Nowadays people do not seem to mind anymore. We'll see more of this or less of fabric in 2022.

Up to 2010, alcohol cannot be drunk in public.

I don't know how long will I be in this country. Would I even be here in 2022? I would be 50!! Would I even be alive?

But for now, I'll probably observe what this country will have to go through to be among those who host the world's most watched game.

And I suppose congratulations are in order. Hope it doesn't kill us too fast.