Juma-tul-Wida

Faisal Masjid is truly a beautiful masjid. No doubt about it. As I had promised myself that I would offer my Friday prayers in Faisal Masjid, I went there for the first time without my family or friends. I still remember the first time I went there. It’s a very vivid and a very fond memory for me. When it was constructed, my Mamoo had brought my nani to our place in Pindi so he could take her to see Faisal masjid. My nani and I were very close and she loved me dearly. Everyone used to say we looked like each other. Anyhoo, I remember how much my nani loved the masjid and on our way back she blessed my mamoo with these words ‘sohni ja wikhaii aa Shalla sohni ja waikhai’ these were her exact words. I was seven then but these words are still fresh in my memory. They’re Punjabi for ‘you brought me to see this beautiful place, InshaAllah you will see a beautiful place yourself’ a clear indication to Makkah and Madina. Well, I remember that less than a year later, my mamoo got a job with Bin Laden Company and has been in Madinah since.

I went there the last time in summer of ’99. It was our NCC trip for all the girls who had come from middle east to do their NCCs. So today, I went there after six years. It’s such a magnificent place with the mountains in the view. Though I had left the office early, the main hall for females was full when I got there. I preferred to be outside in any case. The thing I love the most about masjids, especially Masjid-ul-Haram and Masjid-un-Nabi is that it’s not just a holy place. The purpose of a masjid is to serve as a place for community gathering as well. I don’t like the way nikahs are performed these days in wedding halls. They should be done in holy places in simple ceremonies. I also don’t like the fact that masjids have ceased to be a part of our daily life. I think children should be taken to masjids from an early age so they develop the habit of offering prayers and reading Quran. I realized today how much I missed my life in Jeddah and what I miss the most is not being able to visit the two holy mosques. I especially miss the time of Hajj and I miss how Abu used to wake us in the middle of the night so we could drive to Makkah, offer our Fajr prayers there and come back in time for him to go to office and for me to catch the college bus. We used to spend our weekends in Madinah since both Thursdays and Fridays were off. When I had come back from Jeddah, I used to ask Allah ji everyday why I couldn’t be there where He was. And this question has started haunting me again.

Abu & uncle Khalid picked me up today. Uncle K was our neighbor in Jeddah and is with my dad in the ministry now. He asked me if I were in the mood for Pizza and being the paitoo that I am, I couldn’t say no. so we stopped for Pizza at Rahat and got home just in time. After Maghrib I went online to do some research about this project I have decided to take over. I met Noreen on-line after a long time and we ended up talking about work and life’s general miseries.

So tomorrow’s the 24th Roza I think, unless I have lost count again. Iftar’s at Amrat’s and food gonna be delectable. I can’t wait!!!
One more day to go before shan comes:)