If Allah permits it, perhaps I would be able to see more of how people live in the mountain areas around the world.
We saw Misfah Al Abreyeen in Oman. I wrote it HERE.
In Iran we saw two beautiful mountain areas where the residents have adapted themselves to the mountainous building in their own unique way. First there is Masouleh. It's near the town that is near to the caspian sea. It is in the forested mountainous area and thus to travel to it, one has to go through beautiful forest.
The unique thing about Masouleh is the houses. The terraced houses by the hill village is at least a millineum old. The houses are built as such that the roof of the houses below is the walking path for the people above.
The path are really confusing. Sometimes you think you are walking straight through wanting to go to the house you see at the end of the path, only to find yourself going downwards. You can miss the uphill path or downhill path without noticing it. Walking about in the village is a labyrinth that is pleasant to get yourself lost in.
And they have lived like that for a millineum old.
In further North, kandovan, we visited the mini kappadokya of Iran. Kappadokya is actually in Turkey. (I have been there. he he). Like Kappadokya, kandovan also have mountains formed by compressed volcanic ashes. But the best thing, is, unlike Kkappadokya, people stll live in the very same house they lived centuries ago. People have been boring the mountains to make lovely homes within it. Hard Rock Villages.
It is really amazing here. I went to one of the houses and experienced myself how the houses were naturally warmed when it is freezing outside. And they told me, that it is cooling in the hot summer.
The main livelihood is through sheep rearing and little business of honey (really good), walnuts and dairy products.
Mountains are a marvel to look at, to walk on and Insya Allah to live in.
Al Qaf 50: 7 And the earth! We have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and have produced therein every kind of lovely growth (plants).
An Anbiya' 21: 31 And We have placed on the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with them, and We placed therein broad highways for them to pass through, that they may be guided.
And mountains are big and solid and strong.
Al Isra' 17: 37 And walk not on the earth with conceit and arrogance. Verily, you can neither rend nor penetrate the earth, nor can you attain a stature like the mountains in height.
Subhanallah! One of Allah's greatest signs in His creation.
I heard, from reading and from what the people who have been Iran, that the young ones in Iran love to approach foreigners and practice their english. In certain sense I think that is quite daring because i cannot remember myself doing that when I was younger. But then there are not many foreigners in the town of muo anyway.
But i remembered we had an exchange student in our school. She was from amayrikah. She had blonde hair. So many girls came up to her and ask her for a strand of hair. This of course happen before we knew that we can get somewhat similar effect by bleaching our hair. We asked her many things and she in return. But when the teacher made a question-answer session in class, and asked us to ask her questions. None of us did.
Anyway, we were approached by a couple of iranian youth - but they are not couple according to her. She wanted to interview me and the guy will be recording our "session". I found out from her that she is an english teacher and also quran teacher. I reckon, speaking to someone who can speak english can help them improve their english.
However, out of habit, I might have spoken a bit too fast. I hope the recording helps though.
Anyway I just want to point out this. The standard greeting in Persia is "Salam". Literally saying the word salam. Greeting Assalammualaikum is quite rare. Sometimes even when we say Assalammu alaikum, we rarely get an answer back. Maybe it is the way we say it.
But this is a habit I am trying to cultivate, giving Islamic greeting to people first. Even in the society who knows this greeting, I am already mentally ready to only be responded with a blank stare, Insya Allah. And I would tell those who are trying to live this sunnah to not be frustrated when people do not reply. It starts with you first.
And in Iran if you say salam, you can be sure of a good respond and a smile.
We saw the oldest fire worshipping temple in Esfahan. Magians or majusi or Zorostrian is among the oldest religion in Iran. When Islam came, most people became Muslim except in the area of Yazd where people still practise this religion.
We cannot pass by the city of Esfahan without narrating the story of one of the greatest sahabahs - Salman al Farsi. When I first heard this hadith my heart swelled so much to learn the journey of one who seeks the truth.
Here goes..
Ibn Abbass RA once asked Salman al-Farsi RA about his story and Salman narrated his story to him.
I grew up in the town of Isfahan in Persia in the village of Jayyan. My father was the Dihqan or chief of the village. He was the richest person there and had the biggest house.
Since I was a child my father loved me, more than he loved any other. As time went by his love for me became so strong and overpowering that he feared to lose me or have anything happen to me. So he kept me at home, a veritable prisoner, in the same way that young girls were kept.
I became devoted to the Magian religion so much so that I attained the position of custodian of the fire which we worshipped. My duty was to see that the flames of the fire remained burning and that it did not go out for a single hour, day or night.
My father had a vast estate which yielded an abundant supply of crops. He himself looked after the estate and the harvest. One day he was very busy with his duties as dihqan in the village and he said to me:
“My son, as you see, I am too busy to go out to the estate now. Go and look after matters there for me today.”
On my way to the estate, I passed a Christian church and the voices at prayer attracted my attention. I did not know anything about Christianity or about the followers of any other religion throughout the time my father kept me in the house away from people. When I heard the voices of the Christians I entered the church to see what they were doing.
I was impressed by their manner of praying and felt drawn to their religion. “By God,” I said, “this is better than ours. I shall not leave them until the sun sets.”
I asked and was told that the Christian religion originated in Ash-Sham (Greater Syria). I did not go to my father’s estate that day and at night, I returned home.
My father met me and asked what I had done. I told him about my meeting with the Christians and how I was impressed by their religion. He was dismayed and said:
“My son, there is nothing good in that religion. Your religion and the religion of your forefathers is better.”
“No, their religion is better than ours,” I insisted.
My father became upset and afraid that I would leave our religion. So he kept me locked up in the house and put a chain on my feet. I managed however to send a message to the Christians asking them to inform me of any caravan going to Syria. Before long they got in touch with me and told me that a caravan was headed for Syria. I managed to unfetter myself and in disguise accompanied the caravan to Syria.
There, I asked who was the leading person in the Christian religion and was directed to the bishop of the church. I went up to him and said:
“I want to become a Christian and would like to attach myself to your service, learn from you and pray with you.”
The bishop agreed and I entered the church in his service. I soon found out, however, that the man was corrupt. He would order his followers to give money in charity while holding out the promise of blessings to them. When they gave anything to spend in the way of God, however, he would hoard it for himself and not give anything to the poor or needy. In this way he amassed a vast quantity of gold. When the bishop died and the Christians gathered to bury him, I told them of his corrupt practices and, at their request, showed them where he kept their donations. When they saw the large jars filled with gold and silver they said.
“By God, we shall not bury him.” They nailed him on a cross and threw stones at him. I continued in the service of the person who replaced him. The new bishop was an ascetic who longed for the Hereafter and engaged in worship day and night. I was greatly devoted to him and spent a long time in his company.
It was not long before they found a man to replace him. I stayed with him, and found that there was none more ascetic than he, or more desirous of the Hereafter There wan none more persistent then he in worship, day and night. I formed a great affection for him, and lived with him for a long time. When he was on his deathbed, I asked him”
“Who do you recommend me to, and who do you advise me to go after you are gone?”
“‘Son,’ he said,’I know of nobody who lives as I did, except for a man in al Mawsil, his name is so and so, and he has not deviated or changed. Go to him.” “So when the companion died, I went to the man in al mawsil. When I arrived, I presented myself to him, and told him my story. I said: “My companion recommended, before he died, that I go to you, because you practice the correct way of life.”He answered: ‘Stay with me.’ So I lived with him, and found him to be a virtuous person. After a while, he also died. Before his death, I said to him: The time ordained for you by Allah has come, and you know my story. tell me, to whom do you recommend me?” “Son,” he said,”the only man I know who lives as we have lived is in Nassibayn, and his name is so-and-so. Go to him.”
“After he had been buried, I went to his friend in Nassibayn, and told him my story, and how my companion in Mwsil had commended him to me. he told me to stay with him, and I found him to be as virtuous as his two companions. It was not long before he, too, died. When he was on his deathbed, i asked him to whom I should go. he told me that the only worthy person whom he knew lived in Ammuriyah.
“So I went to him, and managed to earn, while living with him, some cattle and wealth. he did not live long, either. As he lay on his deathbed, he said: Son I know of none alive who still holds on to the way of life that we have practiced. But the time is coming for a prophet to appear from among the arabs. he will be sent with the religion of Abraham, and will migrate from his land to a land of date palms betweent two bare mountains. There will be signs by which he can recognised. he will eat from something given as a gift, but not from charity. between his shoulder blades will be a ring indicating the seal of prophecy. If you are able to travel to those lands, go and join him.”
A group of Arab leaders from the Kalb tribe passed through Ammuriyah and I asked them to take me with them to the land of the Arabs in return for whatever money I had. They agreed and I paid them. When we reached Wadi al-Qura (a place between Madinah and Syria), they broke their agreement and sold me to a Jew.
I worked as a servant for him but eventually he sold me to a nephew of his belonging to the tribe of Banu Qurayzah. This nephew took me with him to Yathrib, the city of palm groves, which is how the Christian at Ammuriyah had described it.
At that time the Prophet was inviting his people in Makkah to Islam but I did not hear anything about him then because of the harsh duties which slavery imposed upon me.
When the Prophet reached Yathrib after his hijrah from Makkah, I was in fact at the top of a palm tree belonging to my master doing some work. My master was sitting under the tree. A nephew of his came up and said:
“May God declare war on the Aws and the Khazraj (the two main Arab tribes of Yathrib). By God, they are now gathering at Quba to meet a man who has today come from Makkah and who claims he is a Prophet.”
I felt hot flushes as soon as I heard these words and I began to shiver so violently that I was afraid that I might fall on my master. I quickly got down from the tree and spoke to my master’s nephew.
“What did you say? Repeat the news for me.”
My master was very angry and gave me a terrible blow. “What does this matter to you’? Go back to what you were doing,” he shouted.
That evening, I took some dates that I had gathered and went to the place where the Prophet had alighted. I went up to him and said:
“I have heard that you are a righteous man and that you have companions with you who are strangers and are in need. Here is something from me as sadaqah. I see that you are more deserving of it than others.” The Prophet ordered his companions to eat but he himself did not eat of it.
I gathered some more dates and when the Prophet left Quba for Madinah I went to him and said: “I noticed that you did not eat of the sadaqah I gave. This however is a gift for you.” Of this gift of dates, both he and his companions ate.
That confirmed one of the signs told to Salman al-Farsi RA. He then went back. Then Salman brought food again and told the food that he gave last time was for charity this is now as a gift, this time the prophet ate the food with the companions.
Then Salman al-Farsi RA went to Muhammad SAWS and went around him and the prophet noticed that Salman was looking for something so the Prophet took off the cloth to show him what is between his shoulder blades.
When Salman saw the mark between his shoulders, he knew it was the Seal of Prophet hood, and Salman RA said when he saw it fell down in tears and began to kiss the prophets feet and made sujudd to him. Rasulullah SAWS immediately told him to stand up and asked Salman his story, and then told him to tell his companions the same story.
May Allah grant peace to Salman al farsi.
Perhaps you like to listen to audio lecture by Anwar Awlaki.
It is really nice to say the country's name eh? Esfahan. Esfahan. Esfahan. It is so easy and beautiful on the tongue. And so is tehran and Suez and Timbaktu.
Anyway Esfahan when we got there was not strikingly beautiful. Its outskirts are mainy industrialised. I think a nuclear plant is somewhere somewhere. Perhaps I have always prefer sceneries rather than cities. But Esfahan stores so many jewels of Iran.
And I think if you make first research on Iran, most of the buildings that will appear on your google page will be of esfahan.
I have the tendency to choose the mountain when I go travelling. Perhaps this is because of my camping interest which when I was younger, tend to be at the mountain, or perhaps also the humidity of the sea always give me the rashes not to mention, takut melengut.
But I am young no more. So the work to have the best view of the mountain leave me lots of non-existent muscle pain. I didn't learn my lesson when I went to Taman Negara did I? Nor the steep hike that I had to take with flimsy slippers at Wadi Bani Khalid, Oman.
In Iran we hiked up a small mountain or a tall hill to reach Castle Roudkhan of what seemingly never ending steps.
I think I lost loads of kilos just going up and down the hill but happily gained back due to the delicious food in Iran.
Also, as if not learning our lesson that driving up and down the mountain and cutting across it will cause stomach to be tied into a knot, we did again what we did in Oman. Knot in the stomach.
We toyed with the idea of driving ourselves to Iran. We can drive to Fujairah in UAE. Take a ferry via Fujairah all the way to Bandar Abbas in Iran. It would be an adventure I think. But alas we did not do it.
And I am glad we did not.
Driving in Iran is crazy! I think by far this is the worse place for a foreigner to drive in. I thought Saudi was the worse, but Iran top them all. I heard Cairo is even worse. I cannot imagine.
In Tehran, people drive by mm away from each other and there seem to be no rule except that people should not take the two middle lanes of the road. Those are for buses.
Despite the my-heart-will-pop-out incident, so far i did not witness any accidents among them. They must have good brakes. The car may look like a scene out of Roger Moore's James Bond movie, faded and rustic, but I suspect teh brakes must be good.
On the highway, people don't like driving in their lanes. They like that the road lines to be in between them. At normal times these drive me crazy. If my lover the one who is driving, I would have nagged and nagged and perhaps pull the steering.
Oh the other thing was we could not access any satellite signal on our GPS which was frustrating. But yeah, I am glad we took a driver.
Anyway we asked for a driver and a car. We had three of them. Mr Rezai who drove us from tehran to tabriz, Mr Jafari drove us from Tabriz to Kandovan and back to Tabriz and Mr Rostam who drove us aaround Esfahan and all the way back to Tehran.
Of them three, only Mr Rezai can speak reasonably good english. And when he runs out of english word he would speak arabic. He is an arabic teacher. Yes he has two jobs. Generally everyone has two jobs because, well, time is hard. Mr Rezai said, "Teacher pay is little. Driver pay is alot."
Anyway, it was really nice to speak arabic to a foreigner. It feels sometimes that I know more arabic than english. When he is trying to say that there was an earthquake which destroyed part of a castle, he had to use zalzalah because he doesnt know the word earthquake in english. sometimes he asked me questions in arabic too.
I understand why our travel agent prefer that we take tour guides with us because most of the drivers cannot speak english which was really hard. So we tried using as much farsi word we learnt and a lot of sign languages or in the end polite laughs because we could not understand him and neither can him, we. I used pictures that I took using the phone and words in the guidebook. Otherwise I would hentam an arabic word just in case or perhaps even a malay word.
By the way we share words with Iran like Bandar which means port in farsi, anggur, takhta which is actually an arabic word and salam which means hello.
After travelling to some countries (Baru sikit aje), I must say Malaysian drivers are not so bad. But perhaps we are the only one with the most rage. Eh wait, the italians are the same. They curse alot.
In the middle east and Iran, people don't get so angry if people cut queueu ke apa. In middle east they would beam you and horn you but rarely people glare at you.
And I suspect no one carries a baseball bat under their seat also.
Mr Rezai laughing at us after the more than one hour huffing and puffing climbing up the mountain to view castle roudkhen. Most Iranians are very fit and slim.
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.
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.
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.
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?
