We're gearing up for the conference, now. Only one day to go, alhumdulillah. Some of the speakers have already arrived and i'm really looking forward to meeting Sh. Ja'far Shaikh Idris. I'm also hoping that a couple of the UK imams can sit down with Muhammad al-Shareef and work up a plan to try to bring Al-Maghrib to these shores.
May Allah make it beneficial for all those who attend it, and reward all those who will spend their weekend to try and make it a success.
Before signing off, i have to take my hat off (figuratively) to Arsene Wenger and his team of stars who have broken the record for going unbeaten in the top division of English football. 43 games! Pires, Henry, Reyes, and all the others - I salute you.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Camping
So, about the camping trip. It was an excellent experience, alhumdulillah. I went trekking in the mountains of the Lake District over the weekend with some friends. Its the first time i've been, and probably not the last, insha'Allah.
We arrived on a cloudless night and saw thousands and thousands of stars (plus the odd shooting one) as we climbed to our first camping point. I think i even saw a band of stars representing an arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
We went on treks of between 3-5 hours each. I found climbing up mountains harder than coming down, but what shocked me was the number of old people on the mountains, even into their 50s, scaling the rocks with ease!
We would normally camp next to a stream each night and drink from it and make wudu from it. Food was limited to some chocolates and fruit, and also noodles and other simple stuff.
Sleeping wasn't too hard - although it was always a broken sleep, sometimes due to the wind rattling the cage of the tent, or the patter of rain drops on the tent. One night i even slept for 9 hours! haha.
My only regret was not taking my camera with me - we saw some great scenery whilst there.
Anyway, i'm looking forward to the JIMAS conference next weekend. You can download lectures from previous years from their site. Unfortunately, due to all this craziness with the War on Terror going on and the paranoia that its brought on, the speakers list isn't as rich as in previous years (IMO).
We arrived on a cloudless night and saw thousands and thousands of stars (plus the odd shooting one) as we climbed to our first camping point. I think i even saw a band of stars representing an arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
We went on treks of between 3-5 hours each. I found climbing up mountains harder than coming down, but what shocked me was the number of old people on the mountains, even into their 50s, scaling the rocks with ease!
We would normally camp next to a stream each night and drink from it and make wudu from it. Food was limited to some chocolates and fruit, and also noodles and other simple stuff.
Sleeping wasn't too hard - although it was always a broken sleep, sometimes due to the wind rattling the cage of the tent, or the patter of rain drops on the tent. One night i even slept for 9 hours! haha.
My only regret was not taking my camera with me - we saw some great scenery whilst there.
Anyway, i'm looking forward to the JIMAS conference next weekend. You can download lectures from previous years from their site. Unfortunately, due to all this craziness with the War on Terror going on and the paranoia that its brought on, the speakers list isn't as rich as in previous years (IMO).
Friday, August 13, 2004
Eating out
I went out for a meal to Edgware Road (the Arab part of London) last night. It was like a flashback to my time in Cairo walking along Abbas al-Aqqad. The sweet smell of the smoke from the sheesha cafes, the young men hanging around in large groups checking out the people walking by, the over-use of car horns. ahh.. i miss Cairo :)
We ate at the Maroush Gardens restaurant which is one of the better looking restaurants, and the food was nice, but - as with most Arab food - a bit bland. The service was really good and i think i'll be visiting it again in future, insha'Allah. The only sour point was that they also sell alcohol. Bummer :(
I have a theory with Arabs. I think that when you say to them that you want your food a bit spicy, they understand that to mean you want more salt on it. Hmmmm.....
And guess what? I also went out for lunch this afternoon! One of my colleagues is leaving work today for a round the world trip that will end up in Australia, so our habit is to have the whole of the department go out for lunch as part of the goodbye.
I had this worker sitting next to me who ordered a beer - so when i told him that i can't sit at a table where alcohol is being drunk he shifted his chair to another part of the table and says, is it ok for me to sit here? lol. Anyhow, he kindly changed his order when i explained that it wouldn't be enough whereever he sat on the table :)
No football tonight because i'm going camping this weekend to the Lake District. I hate to have to miss footie this week cos i'm on a bit of a high at the mo. I scored two last Friday in our 4-3 win.
We ate at the Maroush Gardens restaurant which is one of the better looking restaurants, and the food was nice, but - as with most Arab food - a bit bland. The service was really good and i think i'll be visiting it again in future, insha'Allah. The only sour point was that they also sell alcohol. Bummer :(
I have a theory with Arabs. I think that when you say to them that you want your food a bit spicy, they understand that to mean you want more salt on it. Hmmmm.....
And guess what? I also went out for lunch this afternoon! One of my colleagues is leaving work today for a round the world trip that will end up in Australia, so our habit is to have the whole of the department go out for lunch as part of the goodbye.
I had this worker sitting next to me who ordered a beer - so when i told him that i can't sit at a table where alcohol is being drunk he shifted his chair to another part of the table and says, is it ok for me to sit here? lol. Anyhow, he kindly changed his order when i explained that it wouldn't be enough whereever he sat on the table :)
No football tonight because i'm going camping this weekend to the Lake District. I hate to have to miss footie this week cos i'm on a bit of a high at the mo. I scored two last Friday in our 4-3 win.
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