Spot the difference

Assalamu Aleikum!

The Hajj season is fast approaching and so to help me understand the pilgrimage I'm reading two books written by men who went on Hajj. One is a modern account and the other is a medieval account. There is quite a distinct difference in approach by both men. I thought I would quote from each book and see what you think.

"At dawn on Monday, we sailed from this place, by the favour of Allah Most High, under a light breeze - Allah is the disposer of all things. There is no Lord but He."

"I share with them a love for the great achievements of Muslim civilization and culture, but I can only perform the rites knowing that I act simply for pure pleasure and the desire to understand - with respect, of course, for the pilgrims and their beliefs, but unable to adopt the truths of absolute knowledge they profess."

Masalamah

Yahya

You know Eid is near when...

Assalamu Aleikum!

You know Eid is near when you start seeing goats tethered on the front lawns of the houses.

It's Jummah here in the Empty Quarter and as I made my way to prayers I noticed that many houses had new visitors. There were goats tied to trees eating out of cardboard boxes. They looked calm and serene; oblivious to their fate in a matter of weeks.

The translator at our school is going to perform the sacrifice himself. He's never done it before but he says he has a few brothers who will advise him. Over here in the UAE there are fewer rules with things Islamic (other than Islamic rules of course). I just imagine the bureaucracy involved back in the UK. All because of health and safety.

It puts me in mind of my daughter's aqiqa a few years ago in Wales at one of the New Muslim Project camps. A very good friend from London had bought a farm in rural Wales and was running it despite having no experience in farming. My daughter's aqiqa was performed by his son. I must say how professional he was. And also how well the family ran the farm. The meat was made into a delicious meal for all the guests at the camp. One sister even made our daughter a cake. Truly unforgettable. But despite all this it will be a very long time before I would wield the knife.

Masalamah
Yahya

Tents and houses

Assalamu Aleikum!

I drove over to visit an imam with one of the Muslim brothers I work with. The imam is from Mauritania and his mosque is on the outskirts of the town. He was friendly and interested in meeting a Muslim from the UK. Unfortunately our conversation was limited as he spoke no English and I speak very little Arabic. He was from Africa but he didn't look African. He looked either Arab or Indian. I wondered about the Arab influence in that part of Africa.

When driving through the town you see lots of big tents outside the houses. This was especially so in the outskirts. The Bedouin have only been in permanent dwellings for a couple of generations and their ties to the nomadic lifestyle are still strong. It reminds me a bit of Gadaffi's tent in Libya. It also reminds me of something I read a long time ago about the Australian govt building houses for the Aborigines and the complaint from the whites that they didn't look after their homes. That they slept outside! The Aborigines were still tied to the land and their nomadic existence.

An excellent book about nomadic lifestyle/Australia is Songlines by Bruce Chatwin. In fact I would rate it as one of my all time favourite books. It has little nuggets like the idea that babies cry when they're not being rocked because in a nomadic culture the baby will always be carried on the mother's back and hence be rocked as she walks. If there is no rocking going on then the adult is not around for protection.

I guess things like the hajj are nomadic experiences. It has always been my dream to do the hajj 'properly' i.e. overland. It always seems a bit of a cheat flying. One minute you're in London and a few hours later you're in Mecca. In the old days doing the hajj took years and was a real achievement when completed. It would be marvellous to recapture some of that in this modern age. Maybe stop over in Bosnia, Istanbul, Damascus etc for weeks at a time.

Getting back to the local Bedouins they will often go to the desert. This includes the kids and it is often a complaint from the teachers here that kids will be absent from school for weeks. They're usually looking after their family's camels. They range over the Empty Quarter into Saudi Arabia and Oman. With it being desert there are no real borders or at least none that you could see. In this day and age with passports and visas it is refreshing to hear of people travelling without these boundaries.

Masalamah
Yahya

Holidays are over

Assalamu Aleikum!

I'm back at work. The 2 day holiday is over and I've returned to a strangely quiet school. Exam season is upon us and the pupils are only coming in for their exams and then going home again. It means that the teachers are all busy with administering the exams, marking the exams or sorting papers. I guess it gives us all the chance to prepare for semester 2 when a lot of hard work will have to happen.

One of the great things about UAE is that with English being so widely spoken there are lots of bookshops selling English books, magazines etc. If you then add to the fact that it's a Muslim country you get loads of books about Islam in English. Suits me fine! I picked up a book translated from the Arabic into English by Ibn Jubayr. I had never heard of him but it appears he was a bit of an Ibn Battuta i.e. traveller. His account tells of his travel on Hajj in 1183 and visiting Egypt, Sicily, Baghdad etc. I'm looking forward to enjoying his accounts of Muslims of that era. One of the things that struck me when reading Ibn Battuta a few years ago was how each Muslim community had kept to the fundamentals of iman but had also developed a separate culture influenced by local surroundings.

The sun is still shining
Masalamah
Yahya

What's in a name? Part 2

Assalamu Aleikum!

I might have mentioned before that I finally moved into my apartment after too long in hotels. In order to make my stay here a little bit more comfortable I've signed up for internet access (fastest they've got) and satellite TV (lots of live football games featuring Chelsea). Each of these comforts require forms, forms, forms.

Signing up for the internet I sit at a desk in the local internet provider's office. Opposite me is a friendly and helpful Arab. He apologises at first for not being used to dealing with British/Americans (we're always lumped together).
"We usually only see Arabs or Indians here."
"No problem. I want an internet account; fastest you've got."
"Ok. Let's see. Your name is....." He looks at a form from my employer. Sadly it's the same form that translated my name into Arabic and back into English ending up as Joey.
"Yahya Joey."
I look a bit perplexed. "The first name is correct."
"Ah, Yahya. That's a Muslim name isn't it?"
"Yes, that's right. I'm Muslim."
"So, your second name is Joey. But that's not Muslim."
I go into the account of my conversion to Islam (edited highlights only) and he looks a lot brighter.
"But just one thing. Joey is not a Muslim name; in fact it's not my name. My name is Guy."
"It says Joey here."
"I know but it's wrong. It should say Guy."
A light appears to go on above his head. "So, what's Joey? Is it a nickname?"
"NO! My name is Guy. It was a translation error." I attempt to explain the English to Arabic to English phenonemon. At the end he says," Joey, Joey. He's in that American comedy Friends. You can get that if you sign up for satellite TV."
I thank him for his help and say that my next task is to sign up for satellite TV where I'm sure to see Joey.

Masalamah
Yahya

What's in a name?

Assalamu Aleikum!

I've got 3 names or at least I have for the last 17 years. I have my Muslim name of Yahya that I adopted on my conversion, my name of Guy given by my parents and my family name. I had always moved effortlessly between them depending on who I was talking to. At work and to most non-muslims I was Guy; to Muslims I was Yahya and to some people who knew me in both worlds I was both Guy and Yahya.

When you move to the UAE there are lots of forms to fill in and officials to meet (often on more than one occasion). At these meetings my name of Yahya (it's on my passport) is met by confusion. The pale skin and dark hair lead some to think I'm Lebanese until they encounter my poor Arabic. Almost all are even more confused when I explain I'm from Britain (I never explain Wales as it only adds to the confusion!). "But you don't speak Arabic." I patiently explain that there are many Muslims in the UK who are not fluent in Arabic and that I am not some weird aberration from Cardiff. At this they usually scratch their heads as if to say 'Well, I never!'

One notable exception to all this was while in the bank in my little town in the desert. I was with 2 non-muslim colleagues asking about bank cards and the like. The woman serving us was dressed in the full abaya and was helpfully answering all our queries. While looking through our papers she noticed the name Yahya. The confused look started to appear and she said," Yahya, that's a Muslim name."

"Yes, that's right. I'm Muslim."

"Oh really. Well, congratulations!"

Any forms we have in English are always translated into Arabic and there's a thriving industry of translators. While awaiting processing of my application for a UAE driving licence I took a look at a form in Arabic which had been translated back into English. The form included my name and had obviously caused a lot of head scratching by the translator to judge from the scribbling out. My name of Guy had been translated into Arabic but there was no 'G' so the original translator had opted for jeem. Being put back into English made my name Joy. That was the translator's first choice but unfortunately Joy is a female name and I am most definitely male. So he opted for Joey. The only Joey I could think of was the character in Friends. So here I am with another new name. How am I going to break the news to my parents?

Masalamah

Yahya Joey

Happy Birthday!

Assalamu Aleikum!

I missed a day writing this blog as I was out celebrating. 36 today! Not me, the UAE. The UAE was created 36 years ago and it's currently the school holidays for 2 days at least. Yesterday I ventured into the big city for the first time in a long while. As it was a celebration the local lads went a bit mental and there were cars painted in the national colours, boys sitting on the roofs of speeding cars, confetti being thrown at everyone and me sitting in the longest traffic jam ever trying to get to the mall. The last time I experienced anything like this was when Wales won the 6 Nations and all of Cardiff ground to a halt. In the end I gave up and headed off for the desert at about 11pm. I think I will try again on Monday, inshallah.

Back in the desert the celebrations are altogether more civilised. So on Thursday our little town had a procession of people riding camels and horses, and lots of school kids. Ours had been given the day off so the headteacher had to go around persuading a few to join the procession. But the Scouts were there in full regalia with the scout leader (one of our teachers) marching in front. A Bedouin village was set up for the day with traditional singing and dancing, food (my favourite) and as much coffee as you could drink. Some of the Bedouin boys brought their falcons and explaining the training regime for them. Apparently they only fly in the winter as the summer is too hot for them (interesting fact No 1). The Bedouin women gave me some food that was delicious - a bit like pancakes. At this point the dancers started up and they reminded me of morris dancers - all in white, carrying sticks and skipping/walking around to a set pattern. They danced to songs sung by a line of men. I didn't see it but my guide, the PE teacher, told me that when the women dance they swing their long hair around. He said it's an amazing sight. He's from Jordan and said he didn't really meet Bedouin up there as most people were city-dwellers.

All of the above was for the local Bedouin peoples. A celebration of their culture. There was not one tourist in sight. It's a real privilege to join in with the celebrations.

At the end of the event I went to a building where there was some more Bedouin music going on. As I get to the steps I noticed about 12 policemen spread out in front. I turned to the PE teacher and asked," Are they expecting trouble?"

"That's for the children. Only adults are allowed inside."

I looked at the police with their truncheons at the ready and moved inside. I enjoyed the singing inside and when we all stood for the national anthem the police must have decided to let some kids in. It was just after that I heard a scuffle behind me and saw a young lad bearing a remarkable resemblance to my over-the-wall escapee running across the tops of the chairs with a policeman in hot pursuit. I sighed to myself and thought about my 2 days off and fresh challenges when I return.

Masalamah

Yahya