VISITING THE SICK IN SAUDI

The culture of visiting the sick in Saudi Arabia is very much the same to what I have experienced in South Africa especially amongst the South African Muslim community. Muslim families in South Africa are usually very close knit and hence when one family member is admitted to hospital it is not unusual to see the whole family gathering at the hospital including, uncle and aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews and oh yes let us not forget the 45th cousins, neighbours and the extended family as well. Gori Khala and Choti Khala will most probably take turns to cook up a storm for the patient preparing soup, kheer or badam dood ( almond milk) and oh yes there is always plenty of extra pies and samoosas for the visitors that drop by the hospital to visit the patient. The first time I visited a sick patient in a Saudi hospital was a few years ago. Ummi was a frail octogenarian Saudi woman. She hailed from a very well educated and illustrious family. Month after month she would accompany her son to the pharmacy to collect her medication. Over a period of time I got to know her pretty well. She was not very fluent in English but she spoke enough to make me understand what she was trying to say. Most of the time we would converse with each other in Arabic. Her youngest son is a medical engineer and is part of the Medevac transplant team. Her eldest son is a successful businessman owning a few well established companies.Her daughters are all married and scattered around the Kingdom. She has a daughter in Makkah, Jeddah, Damaam and of course Riyadh. Whilst visiting her daughter in Damaam, Ummi fell from a flight of stairs and fractured her femur bone. Ummi was hospitalized for a few days in Damaam and then asked to be transferred to our hospital as she is more familiar with the medical staff here. On the night she was admitted, I received a call from her son informing me of his mothers plight. The next day I decided to pass by the ward and visit Ummi. Before making my way to the hospital, I stopped by a flower shop to get Ummi a bouquet of flowers to cheer her up. Arriving at the ward I was quite flabbergasted at the number of visitors Ummi had. All her kids, grandchildren, son in laws, daughter in laws and extended family members were in attendance. Ummis daughter from Makkah was her Miraafiq. A Miraafiq is basically a "sitter";someone who stays with the patient in the hospital and makes sure that the patient is comfortable throughout their stay. The sitter will assist the nursing staff in terms of bathing the patient, feeding the patient and also taking the patient to the toilet. The sitter is usually a close family member or a relative although I have seen families hiring people to be sitters. A few minutes into my visit, Ummis eldest grandson arrived with his wife and new born baby. He lovingly kissed his grandmother on her forehead and hands as a sign of tremendous respect. They wheeled in a huge trolley that had a large pot of food on it. A beautiful big carpet was laid out on the floor and everyone was asked to partake in the food including the nurse on duty who was from New Zealand and was pretty new to the culture and customs of the country. After digging into the rice and chicken we ended the meal on a sweet note with an assortment of Arabic pastries and chocolates. Ummis two grandsons are huffaaz, meaning that they have memorized the entire Quraan. So after having lunch, they sat beside her and were reading verses of the Quraan. Ummis daughter from Makkah brought for her zam zam water as well and they were all encouraging her to drink as much water as possible.The Prophet (saw) said,“For whatever object Zam-Zam is drunk, that object will definitely be fulfilled. If one drinks it with the purpose of being cured, then Allaah Ta’ala will grant cure for the drinker, or if one drinks it for his thirst to be removed then Allaah Ta’ala will remove his thirst. Because it is the well of Jibraeel (alaihi salaam), and with it Allaah Ta’ala quenched the thirst of Hadhrat Ismaeel (alaihi salaam).

The nurse from New Zealand was astounded at the fact that the two grandsons kept on blowing over their grandmother after reciting verses of the Quraan. This is known as Ruqya. Ruqya is seeking a cure for any illness by reciting verses of the Quraan and praying to God Almighty. As reported in Sahih Bukhari, the Prophet Muhammed (saw) used to treat with ruqya saying, "O the Lord of the people! Remove the trouble. The cure is in Your Hands, and there is none except You who can remove it (the disease). "

Within Saudi culture tremendous emphasis is placed on being kind to the elderly and looking after old and aged parents. This stems from the fact that the Quraan has mentioned quite clearly how we should be treating our parents. In the Quran, there is a very beautiful description of how parents are to be treated; Allah Says: "And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as] 'uff' [i.e., an expression of irritation or disapproval] and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say: 'My Lord! Have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.'" [Quran 17:23-24].

Many Saudi families hire full time nurses for a sick family member. I know of one family that has two nurses and five other helpers for the mother of the house who is mentally ill after falling from the third floor accidentally. She is cared for like a queen. Her sons are by her side throughout the day and her every wish is fulfilled. The beautician comes to the house once a week to make sure that she is properly groomed and before every Eid she has henna applied to her hair and hands. Every effort is made to keep her happy despite the fact that she is not well mentally and physically due to a slight paralysis. Unlike in South Africa, in Saudi all patients admitted to hospital are provided with their own private room. Privacy is of utmost importance. The rooms in our hospital are all elegantly decorated. Each room is furnished with state of the art medical equipment. The doctors and nursing staff visit the patient with a laptop that is mounted to a stand. The doctor is able to gain instant access to a patients medical records, x-rays and blood tests. The doctor is also able to enter a prescription for the patient which is sent to the pharmacy immediately through sophisticated computer programs. In general, the hospital strives to be a paperless environment.Each room also has a beautiful leather relaxing chair with a foot rest.The bathroom is also specifically designed to be patient friendly.

A few months after visiting Ummi in the hospital she passed away quite peacefully after the morning prayers whilst sitting on her rocking chair reciting verses of the Quraan. She was a remarkable human being. She took me like a daughter and made me feel very much a part of her family.She is one woman that I will never ever forget in my entire life. The day she passed away I was filled with an inner sadness and emptiness. I felt as though my own grandmother had passed away.May God Almighty have mercy upon her and grant her the highest stages of paradise. Ameen!!

Saudi father pardons his son’s killer

A Saudi father pardoned his son’s killer if he successfully memorized the Holy Quran, a local newspaper reported on Saturday.
Rabi’a al-Dousary, father of the slain young man named Abdullah, promised to pardon the convicted felon, Faisal al-Ameri, if he successfully memorized all of the Holy Quran before leaving prison, al-Yawm Saudi newspaper reported.

Ameri was sentenced to death for killing Dousary during a quarrel that erupted in their neighborhood.

The Higher Committee of Correction in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom has persuaded the father to forgive and pardon Ameri.

The father, who refused to receive any blood money, to teach Ameri a far more valuable lesson, insisted on one condition: the killer to fully memorize the Quran before his acquittal from prison.

Source:

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/14/243752.html

YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!

                                                          memsaab.com - Picture

So chatting with a member of the nursing staff last night, I was shocked to discover that a young married woman was admitted to the emergency department a few days ago as she overdosed on sleeping tablets. When she finally came around, it was discovered that she wanted to scare her husband as he did not allow her to go to her sister's wedding a whole week ahead. The reason for this is because he did not have the money to buy her a plane ticket and meet her demands of a few extravagant evening gowns with shoes and matching accessories. He promised to send her two days prior to the wedding as he would have received his salary by then. What a bizarre reason to try and commit suicide in my opinion. This incident proves yet again that a relationship that lacks tolerance,compromise and understanding will ultimately lead to dire consequences. I am pretty sure that this relationship is on the brink of a divorce.

RED ONION RESTAURANT - RIYADH

This restaurant was established in 2006 and is situated in the heart of Riyadh city. The first time I visited the restaurant was four years ago with a group of South African friends prior to going to the airport to pick up mom. Whilst the decor in the restaurant does need a little bit of an upgrade, the food is simply divine and very reasonably priced. Whenever my best friend and I feel for true, authentic 'desi' food we usually hop over. Mom also loves the flavour and the aroma of all the dishes and makes it a point of visiting the restaurant whenever she travels to this part of the world. Best friend and I have virtually tried most of the dishes on the menu, however our favourite dishes are usually the chicken tikka, chicken malai boti, chicken samoosas for starters, prawn karai or mutton karai for the main meal along with vegetarian fried rice. During our last visit to the restaurant a few days ago, we decided to try the fried shrimps with chips and tartar sauce. It was absolutely delicious. The shrimps were nicely spiced and fried crisp to perfection. All the meals are served with a choice of naans. Best friend usually likes the plain butter naan whilst I love the garlic naan. The restaurant also offers free home deliveries and a special lunch buffet menu as well. Like most restaurants within the Kingdom, the red onion has a family section as well as a single male only section. The waiters at the restaurant are very efficient and friendly. In fact we now know many of them on a personal level. To find out more on what the restaurant has to offer kindly visit their website http://www.redonionrest.com/

TRAGEDY STRIKES THE KINGDOM

Just a few days ago I posted an article on my blog regarding the celebratory usage of gunfire at weddings whereby the minister of the interior, Prince Ahmed called for a country wide ban on the use of live firearms during wedding celebrations amid public concerns as there has been numerous fatal accidents that have occurred thereby marring what should have been a happy and blissful occasion. The ministers stance was definitely not taken seriously as proven this week. At least 25 people were electrocuted during a wedding ceremony in the Eastern province on Tuesday. According to Abdullah Khashman, an Eastern Province official, celebratory gunfire brought down an electric cable at a house in Ain badr village where the wedding was held on Tuesday night.Thirty others were injured in the incident near Abqaiq, a centre of the Saudi energy industry.

In a separate incident, 25 people have been killed and scores of others injured when a truck carrying flammable liquids crashed in Riyadh city causing a massive explosion yesterday morning. The accident occurred on Khurais road, where the driver of the tanker was trying to steer clear from an accident scene. However, his efforts failed dismally causing the back portion of the tanker to slam into a concrete flyover. Eye witnesses at the scene reported that the driver got out of the vehicle and started running after realizing that there was a gas leak. The explosion was so huge that my friends residing in the Olaya area, approximately 20 km from the epicenter could hear the blast. Apparently the blast measured 2.2 on the richter scale. My colleague Abdulla informed me that his brother resides one km from where the blast occurred. All of the houses in his neighbourhood are damaged with shattered windows and broken doors. Most of the victims were from the National Guard hospital as they were reporting to work in the early hours of the morning. An industrial building, several storeys high was brought to the ground. Various other buildings in the vicinity were also destroyed. In the wake of all the disaster, the Saudi government has stated that it would compensate all the families of the victims that have lost their lives or are critically ill in hospital. Damaged property and vehicles will also be compensated for by the government two fold. Critically injured victims were rushed to the National Guard hospital.

Source:

http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-wedding-guests-electrocuted-094239354.html

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/201211152712448325.html

http://www.almuraba.net/news_view_4924.html (For more pictures of the aftermath, click on this link)

Halloween- The Islamic Perspective

By Abu Muhammad Yusuf

Islam is a complete way of life. Its wisdom is profound. What Islam prescribes and what it prohibits is always of tremendous benefit for humanity as a whole.

Every year, on the evening of October 31st, millions of children in the Western world paint their faces, dress up in costumes, and go door to door collecting treats. The adults often decorate their houses with ghostly figures, carve scary faces on pumpkins, and put candles in them to create “Jack-O-Lanterns.” Unfortunately, among the millions of people indulging in this custom, some are also Muslims.

ORIGINS

Halloween originated as the Eve of Samhain, a celebration marking the beginning of winter and the first day of the New Year among ancient pagans of the British Isles. On this occasion, it was believed that supernatural forces gathered together, that the barriers between the supernatural and human worlds were broken. They believed that spirits from other worlds (such as the souls of the dead) were able to visit earth during this time and roam about. They also believed that on October 31st, the lord of the dead gathered all the souls of the people who had died that year. The souls upon death would dwell in the body of an animal, then on this day the lord would announce what form they were to take for the next year.

When Christianity came to the British Isles, the church tried to take attention away from these pagan rituals by placing a Christian holiday on the same day. The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, acknowledges the saints of the Christian faith in much the same way that Samhain had paid tribute to the pagan gods. The customs of Samhain survived anyway, and eventually became intertwined with the Christian holiday. Through social networking, mass media, television etc this custom has become popular internationally.

ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

In Islam any practice which does not have its origins in Divine Scripture and The Sunnah is totally prohibited. This applies to many Pagan practices such as Halloween, Valentine’s Day etc.
Virtually all Halloween traditions are based either in ancient pagan culture, or in Christianity. From an Islamic point of view, they all are forms of idolatry (shirk). As Muslims, our celebrations should be ones that honour and uphold our faith and beliefs. How can we worship only Allah, the Creator, if we participate in activities that are based in pagan rituals, divination, and the spirit world? Many people participate in these celebrations without even understanding the history and the pagan connections, just because their friends are doing it, their parents did it ("it's a tradition!"), and because "it's fun!"

So what can we do, when our children see others dressed up, eating candy, and going to parties? While it may be tempting to join in, we must be careful to preserve our own traditions and not allow our children to be corrupted by this seemingly "innocent" fun. When tempted, remember the pagan origins of these traditions, and ask Allah to give you strength. Save the celebration, the fun and games, for our 'Eid festivals. Children can still have their fun, and most importantly, should learn that we only acknowledge holidays that have a religious significance to us as Muslims. Holidays are not just excuses to binge and be reckless. In Islam, our holidays retain their religious importance, while allowing proper time for rejoicing, fun and games.