Today vs the past.

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Went today for Jum’a prayer at the new King Hussien Mosque, the largest (and i think most beautiful) mosque in Jordan.

man, the adhan was so beautiful. it was… i can’t describe it. it was so beautiful and yet so heartbreaking. i was never moved so much by an adhan before..

subhanallah. subhannallah. I had only intended to go there once, to check out the place. But I intend to go next friday as well, inshalla, only for the sake of hearing that adhan. In fact, I wish everyone could hear that adhan once before they die. At least, I wish extremists would hear this adhan, that maybe it would remove some of the hardness from their hearts.

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(pic from gurry.jeeran.com/archive/2006/4/40775.html)

apparently jordan celebrated its 60th year of independence last week, so the khutba was about how important it is to love the country.. of the things that the khutba mentioned:

1) to love the county is to be proud to work for it, and to do anything you can for its advancement. it means not to stay away from any jobs, there is no such thing as a shameful profession. (there is a big problem in jordan that people do not want to work in “shameful” professions like construction, cleaning the streets, etc.. all these are left to tens of thousands of Egyptians, while there is a large amount of unemployment in Jordan.

2) to be kind to everyone in the country, and to help them, and think of them as your brothers. Whether or not they are of the same religion, they are still your brothers as the sons of Adam. The khatib then related a story of a man who needed something from the Caliph Muawiya. At the gate, he was asked who he was, and told the guards that he was Muawiya’s brother. They let him enter, and Muawiya said, “I was told that my brother wanted to see me, and you are not my brother, so who are you?” The man replied, “I am your brother from Adam”, and Muawiya honored him for that reply and gave him what he asked for.

3) how the Prophet loved his hometown of Mecca, and how he departed from it in sadness, but Allah revealed to him a verse assuring him that he shall return to it.

4) how Jordan is a country that has been doing a lot for improving the world’s perception of Islam, and has held many meetings of muslim delegations for the benefit of Islam. Therefore we should love the country and appreciate its leadership.

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(www.flickr.com/photos/42497497@N00/142626931/)

Now the mosque is near a military base, and a huge section of those praying there were military men. What is really strange, and sad, is that we have so many overweight officers! What kind of military is this? Why’s everyone so fat? (well ok, not everone). But i noticed this also with police men, or at least the higher-level officers… they’re usually overweight.

well, i’m here, alhamdulillah,

The trip was nice and short, and I read from The Hundred Letters of Sharafuddin Maneri, a great Sufi master and founder of the Firdausi order in India. The Firdausi order is a relatively small order in India, eclisped by the more famous orders like the Chishti and Qadiri, Naqshbandi, etc.. Yet this book, and this shaykh who wrote this book, have left disproportionately large effect, subhanallah, it won great fame and respect, and this shaykh is possibly the one sufi shaykh in India who is respected the most by Muslims and Hindus combined (well there’s also Kabir).

I know i had said i would be reading Prayer Fashions Man, a collection of writings by Frithjof Schuon, but I put it back in the shelf when a small book that I had ordered arrived, called Thrive. It’s a tiny book written by a Brendan Brazier, a vegan professional athlete, talking about how to thrive on a vegan diet. It didnt try to convince anyone to be vegan, it assumes you’re already vegan. While i’m not vegan, i learned some very important principles from that book that I will try to adhere to as much as possible. In the same way, discussion with Lucky convinced me to read “Fit For Life” which I found lying around in my father’s library. Again, I dont plan to follow it as it is, but I’m sure I will benefit a lot from reading it and incorporate some of its ideas into my nutrition plan.

I’m not sure how often I’ll be writing in this blog, cause now that I’m here I might start filling up my Notes blog with quotes and pieces of info that I think i might make use of later, from some of the books I have here in Jordan.

And finally, I want to share something with you… something very special to my heart. It’s an experience that I had when I arrived yesterday from the airport, an experience I have everytime I come to Jordan… It’s something I call the Elixir of Joy, the Coolness of the Eyes, the Scent of Layla, the Balsam of the Body, the Red Sulphur of the Soul, and the Incontestable Proof of God!