activating synaptic junctions

Gaza Plastic Mosques Welcome Ramadan
August 26, 2009 - 05:29

GAZA CITY — "Allah-o- Akbar (God is the Greatest)" resonated across war-ravaged Gabalyia refugee camp in southern Gaza and worshippers instantly started to flock from all directions.

But instead of the performing the Tarawih prayers, a special nightly prayers during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, inside their tranquil oasis mosque, Gazans gathered to pray in their new makeshift place of worship built with plastic walls and palm leaves ceilings.

"We have rebuilt our mosques from plastic and nylon to keep them populated with worshippers," Mohamed Badr, a Gazan youth, told IslamOnline.net.

Gazans welcomed Ramadan on the ruins of their mosques, destroyed by Israel’s gun machines in the December offensive.

But ahead of the holy month, when Muslims dedicate their time to become closer to Allah through prayer, young Gazans like Badr worked hard to create makeshift places of worship to receive the worshipers.

With no Israel’s stifling blockade which denies Gaza basic materials to rebuild ruined houses and mosques, volunteers had nothing but plastic, woods and palm leaves.

"Our mosques are not a mere building of walls and columns. The whole earth is a place of worship," Bilal, a friend of Badr, stressed, while the two engaged themselves in cleaning and making simple decorations in the plastic mosque, an easy task with no light to fix or luxurious carpets to set.

"If building materials are late, we still have plastic and palm leaves."

At least 1,417 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, were killed in the Israeli air, land and sea attacks.

The three-week war wrecked havoc on the Gaza infrastructure, destroying some 100 mosques, 20,000 homes, 48 government offices and 31 police stations across the impoverished territory.

Hard, But…

Abu Ahmed, a Gazan elder, watched the youngsters as they took every effort to make the makeshift mosque as comfortable as possible.

But he lamented that despite their efforts, he might not be able to pray in the plastic mosque.

"I've never missed Tarawih prayers under any conditions," he lamented. “But this year would be different.

"The atmosphere inside the place is smoldering hot that I can’t bear in my age and there are too much crowds to get inside.”

Islam Muslim, Imam of Al-Qe'qa' ben Amr mosque, admits that it will be hard for worshippers to pray whether in the plastic or the semi-wrecked mosques.

Being the biggest mosque in eastern Gaza, Al-Qe'qa' used to host 1500 worshippers. Nevertheless, after the war, it can only accommodate 300.

“There is also the lack of windows and doors, the lack of electricity and the problem of street noise with no walls to muffle.”

Muslim, however, affirmed that all the problems could not break the spirit of Gazans.

"We affixed decorations, Ramadan bulletins and prayers on the walls," he said. "We also fixed a huge lantern before the door of the mosque.

He added that their efforts will continue to rebuild even a tiny part of the mosque.

"We will do our best, even if we have to pray at the street."

Badr, the Gazan youth, is no less determined.

“They may have destroyed our mosques, but will never destroy our will.”

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1251021160334&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

truly, ujian kesenangan is harder for us to pass as opposed to ujian kesusahan..

every single day, one is tested on how much one expresses shukr to Allah and how frequently one remembers Allah..how many are really being God-conscious and how many actually forget?

every time i feel malas and actively force the neurons in my cerebral cortex to hibernate, this is what i say to myself:

Dear wani,

you are here in medical school with that God-given gifted brain of yours..do u think that the brain is sitting there in your skull for nothing? of all the people in the world, why are u one of those being blessed with the ability to easily grasp and understand the knowledge that is being transmitted to u?

My, my..it's there for a reason..for many reasons..and that special ability is not an absolute right but a responsibility! It's for u to utilise..kalau u takmau pakai otak untuk pikir, dont u think God can easily take it away from u and give it to somebody else yg akan lebih manfaatkan kepandaian tu?

and i'd go..

"noooo! xmau jadi budak tak pandai..ok ok i'll use my otak to think.."

so there..utilising ones brain does not only mean one has to read medic-related materials..it can be just about anything, as long as it can lead one to think and contemplate..

happy thinking ;)

a dilemma

Last weekend was the beginning of Ramadhan. I went back to KL (as usual) to celebrate the first day of Ramadhan with my family and beloved husband. Being married means you have an extra family. Being the good couple we are (^_^), we always try to be fair as much as possible in going back to our parents’ homes. Their homes are ours, too, anyway. I always believe that this is a very crucial part of married life - to ensure that both sides get equal share. We women have to make sure that we don't get greedy and keep our husbands to ourselves only. Kesian kat family diorang.

To be fair to both sides, we decided that we would sahur in Maluri (my place) on Saturday and then commute to Klang (qayyum's place) after Subuh. Berbuka will be in Klang. The following sahur would be in Klang and after Subuh we'd be heading back to Maluri. So all in all, both sides would get approximately 24 hours of us. Sounds tiring? Heheh. At some point, you'll get used to it.

Traveling from Maluri to Klang means having to use the KTM Komuter. The trains to Klang has had a bad reputation amongst us because of their frequent delays. Alhamdulillah, their system worked well that weekend and there were no delays of trains. Otherwise, our pahala puasa would surely be at risk of being deducted! Or come to look at it from a different angle, it could have actually opened an avenue for us to collect extra pahala puasa. Ain't life easy?

On Sunday before going back to Maluri, we had a couple of pit-stops to go. The first stop was Pekeliling to purchase the bus ticket for me to return to Kuantan later that evening. Next was Pustaka Mukmin in Jalan Tar for Qayyum to buy several Law textbooks. From Klang to Pekeliling to Jalan Tar to Maluri, we utilised the KTM Komuter, Monorel, and STAR LRT.

So there we were, the two of us with the backpacks on our back in the midst of hustle and bustle of a city life. Throngs of people crowded the train station, fighting silently for seats. Streams of cars lined the busy roads, polluting the air with fumes of smoke rich with carbon monoxide. People of young and old, rich and poor, citizens and foreigners appeared from every nook and cranny of the city. Nobody seemed to be withheld by the hunger and thirst of Ramadhan. Life went on as usual.

Students are a common sight in KL, especially in the areas of KL Sentral and Jalan Tar. One could easily identify them from the way they dress, the looks on their face, and the bags they carry on their back - just like we did. So in a glimpse from afar, we would be perceived as two students walking about aimlessly in the morning of Ramadhan.

Suddenly a thought striked me...

Picture this: Two Muslim students of opposing genders holding hands, walking about in Jalan Tar laughing gleefully at one another's jokes..in the train they sit very closely with their arms hooked together, conversing endlessly..

hey, isn't this Ramadhan?

and they have the audacity to act shamelessly in public in the midst of Ramadhan???

Tak puasa ke diorang tu? Bulan puasa pun boleh lagi nak buat maksiat?? ish2..

If you were a person, a stranger, you wouldnt have known that we're actually already married, would you? And the thoughts above would easily be played in your mind. It would be much different if I were a person who wears tudung labuh or tudung 60" because then people would be kinder and immediately guessed that we're married. But I wore a blouse and a pants and a 45" tudung. I was modest and covered. Yet I bore a typical student appearance, an appearance that wouldn't instigate people's mind to think that perhaps this girl is already married.

This is nobody's fault to blame. But it made me feel uneasy..

Uneasy because we could easily tarnish Islam's reputation by 'portraying' ourselves as Muslims who don't know better, who couldn't care less. Uneasy because we could be wrongly exemplified as Muslims who are not married but are cool with holding hands thereby acknowledging this act. It's a dilemma, people. A dilemma that has been unjustly imposed on us. At least on me.

I wanted to get married to shoo away fitnah yet fitnah is what I can easily create in a wrong place at a wrong time. I have never really thought about this until yesterday.

It's unfair, really. This generalisation is inaccurate. And bersangka baik is all that it takes to prevent such misunderstanding. But bersangka baik is hard when it is so obvious that there are MANY unmarried youngsters who do not observe rightful muamalah. Again, it's a dilemma!

Do I start wearing a larger-sized tudung? Or do I start wearing a flowery mak-mak blouse/dress to make me look twenty years older? Should do I colour my fingers with henna and flash my blaring-red fingers to signify my status as a married person? Sometimes I simply feel like wearing a tag with big letters spelling WE'RE MARRIED..