To trail the footsteps of the Prophets.. (2)

(con’t 1)

Our Middle East journey began in the Jumhuriyah Al-‘Arabiyah Al-Misriyah aka Egypt. We arrived in Cairo Airport on 4^th June at about 3am with 4 Malaysian students waiting for us; Hanna, Kak Pani and 2 ustaz. I was a lil bit blurred at that time. We had a problem when one of our friends who should arrive at around that time but was on another flight didn’t turn up. However luckily she managed to get into our group on the following day after going to the Malaysian embassy for help.

The next day we went to a place where Egypt is well known of; Pyramids and Sphinx in Giza. Other than Hanna and Kak Pani, we were accompanied with 2 ustazs as a guide, which is very necessary when it comes to traveling, moreover in Middle East countries. I discovered that in that place itself there were a couple of pyramids of different sizes, each portraying the power of the pharaoh buried in it. I mean the bigger the pyramid, the more powerful the person was. And perhaps everybody’s aware that the pharaohs buried their properties together with them, thinking that they could stash their wealth to the hereafter. A complete idiocy wasn’t it? The sphinx was located not far from the pyramids, and there were heaps of people there, tourists were everywhere as well as the locals shouting and selling their stuffs such as the souvenirs and drinks. But I honestly admit that the weather was burning hot. I think Egypt got me sunburned most, especially as it was the first Middle East country I visited, after nearly a year of life in a so-called ‘cold’ country. Hoho.

An unforgettable memory in my mind is that I had a chance to have a camel-ride. Sounds great, yes it was great but frightening too, especially when it comes to the transition part when the camel started to stand up and sit down. You better hold the handle tight or you can get yourself off the seat in a painful manner. Huhu. Actually the place where I rode the camel was a port for people to get the best shot of the pyramids, so we can find lotsa people there, and lotsa camels too! But let me emphasize that everything was never meant to be free, even taking pictures with the camels can cost you.

That night we had a wonderful time sailing a boat on the Nile River (or is it actually called a yacht? I’m not so sure). Sungai Nil! Unbelievable. Truly. We were accompanied by 2 new ustazs, one of them is Ustaz Mujahid. We were on the boat for about one our, experiencing the coolness of the Egyptian air slapping our faces. I got the chance to touch and feel the water in the Nile River as well. Plus eating burger. Huhu. Anyway a special thing about Nile River is that it doesn’t have a particular direction of current. So that’s the reason why the boat managed to turn itself back to the place where we departed, the man just used the wind to assist the boat’s movements. How amazing!

Just a lil bit of history about the Nile River, in the Moses a.s’ time, pharaoh declared to kill all males after having a dream where in the future this one male would rise and defeat him. So Nile River was the river where Moses a.s. was dihanyutkan by his mother to save his life. Another significant story about Nile River is that some time ago people used to sacrifice girls to the river to ensure that it would never dry up or stop flowing. Then during Sayidina Umar’s period, he realized that such practice was just a superstition, so he sent a letter to the Nile River stating something like “If you flow only due to Allah’s will, please continue flowing and if you not, please stop”. Then after that they stop sacrificing girls for the river and Nile River never stops flowing. Subhanallah.

On the following day we visited the memorial of Anwar Sadat where there was this pyramid-like statue with names of people who were killed (if I’m not mistaken) in this one war (which I forgot its name) written on it. Then we went to various mosques and Qala’ah (fort) starting with Mosque of Sultan Hassan and Mosque of Al-Rifai’ which were situated just next to each other. It is different there where people were allowed to build mosques close to each other which are not allowed in our country. Next we went to Ahmad Ibn Tulun Mosque, Sayidah Nafisah Mosque and Amru Al-As Mosque. Some of these mosques have this special ‘stage’ for the royals to pray to show the royals’ high standard. Some of them also have rooms for people to conduct religious classes such as learning about mazhabs.

(to be cont'd)

*Please note that if you find that I’ve stated something false or inaccurate especially on the history part, please don’t hesitate to rectify me okay. =)

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2 Throw A Word

Mai Shahira on 11:50 pm

salammmm
sronoknye!
mesti byk dpt bljr kan, bila kite tgk benda2 ni depan mata..
wish i can go there as well one day...insyaAllah.. =)
sarahyusof on 8:40 am

Salam..
yer sgt seronok. cmne ni mai byk lagi nk tulis.. baru satu perlima tulis kot..waa.. kt umah tenet slow sket, so payah sket la nk update2. huhu. a'ah, btul tu bile dpn mate baru kite nmpk sendiri betapa hebatnye ape yg kite dgr2 slame ni. and most importantly amik pengajaran drpnye kn?