Feeling a bit under the weather

Being in a hospital environment helping others is always a rewarding and fulfilling experience. It brings satisfaction and joy internally being able to assist another human being in need. For a medical professional like myself, working in a hospital is a feeling of achievement as I now realize that a childhood dream has finally materialized.It has become a reality.However, these feelings quickly diminish when the roles are reversed and you become a patient in the hospital you work at. For the past few weeks now I have been experiencing severe coughing to the point where my body now feels sore and fatigued. Yesterday morning I had an appointment with the physician for a thorough head to toe check up. Whilst he could find nothing wrong with me during my examination, he instructed me to have a few chest x-rays done. At the same time I asked for a full blood report to be done as well. When I went down to the X-Ray department, I was surrounded by many people young and old. Some of the them were simply accompanying their family member to the hospital. As I looked across the large waiting area I noticed an old man in a wheelchair accompanied by two young men. Three seats away from me there was a woman probably in her early thirties who had sprained her ankle. Whilst she did not seem to be in much physical pain,she was in anguish as her baby had been diagnosed with a rare medical condition.In front of me there was a mom who accompanied her three abnormal children.How difficult it must be for her to cope with her kids. She probably spends most of her time visiting the hospital.Whilst sitting in the waiting area, I couldn't help but feel the agony and the distress of those around me and a thought came to my mind. Sometimes, we as medical professionals become irritated with our patients. Patients complain about long waiting times or staff being rude to them when they asking a question repeatedly simply because they do not understand.When you on the other side of the fence, you quickly realize their sentiments and feel for them.I am still waiting for my blood results. Hopefully God willing all will be clear. May the Almighty grant one and all good health and provide complete cure to those who are ill! Ameen

The Hanafi method of Praying for women

One thing I have noticed whilst traveling throughout the Middle East especially Saudi Arabia is that Arabs in general are not familiar with the other Islamic schools of thought with regards to the method of perfo

rming prayers. A few weeks ago whilst in Makkah, mom and I were breaking our fast in the hotel masjid overlooking the grand mosque as I had developed a severe chest infection and coming into contact with millions of other people would have simply exacerbated the situation.Mom and I found ourselves surrounded by Khaleeji women from Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Qatar and of course the local inhabitants of the Kingdom.I actually enjoyed sitting in their company and learning more about their customs and traditions. They offered us Arabic coffee (Qahwa) and dates along with an assortment of sweets and chocolates. The annoying bit kicked in though,once we all stood up to perform our prayers. According to the Hanafi sect of Islam, the women prostrate in a different manner to the men.As soon as I went down into sajda (prostrated) I had a few Arab women trying to straighten my legs.The one woman was mumbling and grumbling telling me that my position is wrong. Another woman was trying to straighten my headscarf even though my head was fully covered and a third woman was pulling my arms. And because I'm quite a ticklish person I simply burst out laughing in my prayers. Naturally, I was a bit annoyed that they broke my prayer but at the same time I thought to myself that it was a perfect opportunity to educate them about the Hanafi school of Islam so that they do not repeat this ludicrous behaviour in the future when they see other Hanafi Muslim women praying.The video below illustrates the Hanafi method of praying for women.