Last days of Ramadan

Salamou alaikoum,

for the moment it is not clear if Ramadan’s end feast ‘Id ul fitr will be here in Morocco tomorrow or on Thursday. We have to wait for the sight of the moon this evening. But in the case that it will be already tomorrow, I have to clean up the house today, to do some more bakeries and to mentally prepare for the upcoming feast days – yeah!

Masha’allah, Ramadan went so quick and I hope so much that our efforts will be accepted. Inchaallah.

So for all people interested in some etiquettes of the Muslim’s feast day and as a remembrance for myself, I want to share with you some “etiquettes of ‘Id”. I think the list could be continued, but I hope to mention every important thing and not to say something wrong.
On the day of ‘Id ul fitr these things should be observed:

- Take a bath (ghusl), dress beautifully but modest and put on some perfume (only men in public).
- Never fast the day of ‘Id, because it’s a day to eat, to praise Allah, to be together with the family, to enjoy Allah’s favour upon his servants and to mark the end of Ramadan.
- Give the obligatory donation (Zakat ul’fitr) in the early morning hours before the feast prayer.
- Eat some dates before leaving the house.
- Go to the feast prayer which has to happen outside in the open air in the middle of the morning (at about 9.00 am).
- While going to the prayer place praise God with a constant”Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar…” (God is the greatest) for that the streets will be filled with glory.
- Take different ways to go to the prayer place and back home for the sake of meeting as much people as possible to greet them all with a “Salamou alaikoum” (Peace be upon you) and the best wishes for ‘Id and that their fasting may be accepted (‘Id moubarak oua Allahumma taqqabil minni oua minkoum).
- Everybody is called to participate the ‘Id prayer and the afterwards sermon. The young, the old, men, women (even women in their menses), rich, poor,… everybody should meet in the open to praise Allah on this special day.

Unfortunately in our village it is only the men going to the feats prayer in public. I don’t know why, because in other villages they allow women to meet the prayer according to the prophetic sunnah. That makes me sad every year and I wished I could change it…

So, I already know that I will have to pray at grandpa’s home… but incha’allah, the weather will be nice so we have the chance to see the men up to the hill and to hear the peaceful “Allahu akbar” – also this is something very beautiful, masha’allah…

I wish you all Happy ‘Id and a wonderful week of celebration!

And here are the wardrobes I would love to wear the next few days:

Days of Ramadan # 27 and 28

 
 
 

So this was our weekend: couscous and tea at grandpa’s house, henna painting on our hands, watching Mecca pilgrims on the TV, offering some extra prayers at night, doing some Id’ bakery, walks in the green, picking up some blackberries, red rosehips against the grey sky, welcoming dad/hubby at home, lots of rain, waiting for Id’ (the Ramadan’s end feast) and looking forward soon to be able to have some milk coffee during the day…  

Hello world, I wish you a blessed week of Id’ ul fitr !

Days of Ramadan # 26

 
 
 
Some of the felted products we did over the last few months.

 

…and the 27^th night

“It is called the night of Power (i.e Laelat-ut Qadr) or the night of blessing (Laelat-ul mubarak). The deed in this night is better than the rewards of deeds of 1000 months (about 83.3 years).”

So we already count the 26^th of Ramadan today, and that means the holy month soon will be over. But this coming night is a special one. It’s said that one of the impair last ten nights is the most blessed night of the month, we do not know which one it exactly is, but it is the night of Power, the night when the holy Qur’an was revealed for the first time by angel Gabriel to our beloved prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). So we as Muslims are supposed to spend these last few nights in deep devotion, offering night-prayers, remembering Allah, reading Qur’an…
IN Morocco people take the 27^th might as the most special one, men go to the mosque during the whole night, women meet at home, pray together and colour their hand with henna, which is known as a sacred plant, healing the skin and protecting against the evil eye.
So we will go this evening to grandpa’s house, spending the evening with the women there, decorating our hands with henna and submit together to our Lord, incha’allah.

“Indeed We have revealed it (the Qur’an) in the night of Power. And what will explain to you what the night of Power is? The night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein descends the Angels and the Spirit (Jibreel = angel Gabriel) by Allah’s permission, on every errand: they say “Peace” continuously till the rise of Morning!”  Surate 97 : Verse 1-5  

Wish you a blessed weekend and Peace be upon you!

 

Ten things I like about this year’s Ramadan

 
 
 

- the peaceful everyday rhythm of taking the breakfast long before sunrise, praying, slowly waking up, reading Qu’ran, blogging a while, welcoming the kids, doing some house chores and piles of office work, making lunch for kids, being with them, praying, having a rest and a read, taking a walk in nature, praying, preparing Iftar-meal, breaking the fast, praying, concluding the day by watching the pilgrims at Mecca, knitting and doing some extra prayers…

- the busy work in the kitchen right before breaking the fast, rushing to finish all the good food, setting the table, lighting the candles and seeing the kids waiting for the call to prayer;

- the time of harvest and gathering, picking fresh apples and walnuts for the meal;

- the outside walks with my kids, sitting in the grass, watching them playing and just letting time and thoughts passing away…

- my knitting work which nearly is finished (a poncho for the cold days): feeling the soft wool and touching the smooth bamboo needles between my fingers;

- having an really nice Au air girl staying with us, which allows me to take a rest, to relax a little and to share some beautiful moments with her, alhamdulillah!

- Watching the pilgrims at Mecca, listening to the recitation of Taraweeh’s prayers and dreaming about going once also to do the Hajj, inchaallah…

- reading other blogs of blogging sisters, feeling sisterhood, seeing how they spend their time and being inspired;

- the evening call to prayer, when the first “Allahu akbar” sounds through the whole valley, announcing the end of the day, giving the permission to eat and with it so much relief to all the fasting people;

… I am thankful for all this, and especially for living in a Muslim country, feeling the sacred atmosphere in the air, sharing the experience with the people around and feeling the brotherhood which makes Ramadan to something really special… Alhamdulillah!

 

 

Days of Ramadan #23 and my little space

 
 

Bismillah ya rachman a rachiem,

 

Since I am an interior architect and very interested in beautiful places to live in, I really love to see the living architecture of others, to be inspired by different styles and to know how others create their private spaces. For this purpose I had on my former blog a category called “corners of my home”, dedicated to the beautiful cosy parts of our home, to inspire others and to show how nice and comfortable a “mud house” may be.
Yes, we live in a house entirely made of earth, of some wood and stones and a lot of clay!
I fight for the preservation of this building technique because I know its benefits; I know how much better the living in it is, compared to concrete-houses, regarding climate, atmosphere, ecology and health. Once I will show you how these houses are traditionally built, but today I want to continue the interior-design-based-theme and I would like to show you the most important space during Ramadan: my mobile prayer mat!

It is just a little piece of rug, beautifully weaved (but it doesn’t even has to be always the same one…), which I put wherever I am, making sure to face Mecca (which is eastern direction in Morocco) and to be clean (after the mandatory washing) and properly dressed.
Subhan’allah, I love this little oasis of mine, full of peace, devotion and obedience. It is a mobile and flexible place of comfort and it allows me, at least five times a day, to make a clear statement, to mark off my private space and to have a little break wherever I am.

 

 

What about you, which is you most beloved corner at home?

 

 

Days of Ramadan # 22

Before Ramadan is over, I would like to share some of the Iftar meals we prepared over the last weeks.
We are having every evening something salty and something sweet, something cooked and something fresh, to have a huge variety of tastes and vitamins and pleasure for the eye and a feast for the soul.
Thanks God, I am so grateful for all the good in our life, for all the well-being and prosperity, alhamdulillah! And it is so good after a whole day of abstinence to see and to feel His goodwill every evening clearly on our tables…subhan’allah! That’s one of the perfect purposes of Ramadan…
 

So here are the foods we had. I hope they are inspiring for you; and if you would like to have any of the recipes, please ask…

 

These foods you find everyday on our table and on nearly every table in the kingdom of Morocco:

Dates,

Tea,

Chebbakia (honey fried winding pastries),

Smita (sweet spicy pastry with fennel and almond taste)

Hard boiled eggs,

Olive oil,

 

And then we had every day something different:

Clafoutis (my absolute favorite!  A sweet baked soufflé with different fruits added),

Kefta balls (minced meat),

Pizza,

French Flammkueche (like a pizza but with sour crème and onions, no tomatoes),

German Brezels

Fried vegetable rolls,

Fruit salad,

Noodle salad,

Potato salad,

Moroccan Harrira Soup,

Pancakes,

Fried potatoes,

Tuna dip,

Pasta with different sauces,

Quiche (French vegetable pastry cake),

Fruit juice,

Milk coffee,

Pomes grenade,

Yoghourt,

Rice pudding,

Water,

Etc…

 

Bismillah, I wish you a blessed meal and never forget what the prophet (pbuh) has taught us: one third of the stomach is for food, one for drink and one for the air to breathe…

 

Ramadan and some homeschooling-thoughts

 
 
 

Recently I am reading a lot about very inspirational unschoooling families and I wonder more and more if I would consider us as such, too.
Our kids still are young: my big boy is in kindergarten-age but does not visit one, and my youngest one is nearly two now. So we still have about two years until school is supposed to be mandatory for our oldest, but I’m already thinking a lot about what future type of education to choose for him.
 
I can feel already a learning atmosphere around here and since about a year now I am getting more and more familiar with the homeschooling-idea. Before that, I didn’t even know about homeschooling, I haven’t heard about such a way of life, and in Germany I’ve never met people practicing it.
A very good friend from England brought me to the idea and first I was very sceptical about it. I couldn’t believe that children could learn without a teacher, without schoolbooks and a fixed schedule. I’ve never thought about something apart from school and could hardly imagine an educational life outside a classroom.
But little by little I got the idea; I began to like it and to figure out the good within. I read books and websites and slowly I felt in love with the whole thing. My senses got more sensitive towards my children’s characters, their development and interests, and unconsciously I discovered hidden signs of unschooling in our daily life: My big boy’s interest in numbers and letters; his all-day-long-counting of everything he sees; the play with words and his natural and innocent attempt to write some down; his curiosity about life and everything; his energy and motivation while playing in nature – lost in thought and fully concentrated in what he does…

I’ve never pushed him to learn something, nor did I insist in imposing knowledge.

I strongly believe in the Montessori-theory that things will come on their natural way; things will become interesting for the kids once they are ready for it. I believe in the individual learning rhythm of every child and in letting they choose to learn what is appropriate to their needs in every single moment.

In our own life, we try to live at the fullest, we watch out for the beauty in everything, we try to do what we feel happy with in every single day and we try to accept as much as possible everyone’s mood and interest. We do not plan our daily activities; we try to let us lead by our own curiosity, by the seasons, by the weather and by unexpected things in the every day life.
 
I am not very good in just playing around with my kids and sometimes I do not have too much time to just be with them, but I am fantastic in going out for a nature walk with them, discovering things; I am good in storytelling, In finding new ways to put ideas into action and in trying to find answers together with my boys to all the big questions that appear; I am creative, flexible and ready to learn and to develop myself together with them every single day afresh.
I think this is exactly the be-all and end-all of unschooling: to be ready and open for the challenges of life, to warmly welcome surprises and to enter into the life-long path of every-day-learning.

So now, when I am looking at our actual way of life, I am proud to say: “Yes, we are on our way to become an unschooling family”. We do not know how life will become, nor how our way will continue, but I am happy and very thankful for the possibility to live life as we do and I trust in Allah that it will be good as it continues…

What about you?

 

Days of Ramadan # 19

   

Yesterday, while reading the noble Qu’ran, I was recalled to the beauty of this verse.
Subhan’allah. What a clear and beautiful poetry.
And because our felted lanterns are matching so well with the picture within these words, I send some more pics of them…

 

May you all have a blessed weekend!

 

Surat 24 Al-Noor : Verse 35

 

God, Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as if there were a niche and within it a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west *, whose oil would almost glow forth of itself, though no fire touched it.
Light upon Light! Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and Allah is the All-Knower of everything.
*(i.e. neither it gets sun-rays only in the morning nor it gets sun-rays only in the afternoon, but it is exposed to the sun all day long)

 

Gott, Allah ist das Licht der Himmel und der Erde. Das Gleichnis Seines Lichts ist wie eine Nische, in der eine Lampe steht. Die Lampe ist in einem Glas. Das Glas ist wie ein funkelnder Stern. Die Lampe erhält ihren Brennstoff von einem gesegneten Baum, einem Olivenbaum, der weder zum Sonnenaufgang allein, noch zum Sonnenuntergang allein hin wächst. Sein Öl  leuchtet beinahe ohne dass Feuer es berührt.
Licht über Licht! Gott leitet recht, wen er will zu Seinem Licht. Gott führt Gleichnisse für die Menschen an. Gottes Wissen umfasst alles.

 

 

Days of Ramadan # 18

 

 

As every Thursday we met yesterday with the girls to do the felting together. The result was some really beautiful stones covered with colourful wool.

And for those who wanted to know what happened with the felted prayer mat from last week: we gave it, fisabillah, to the mosque to hang it as a wall decoration in the women’s prayer room; isn’t that a great decision in Ramadan!?

I wish you a blessed holy Friday!

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) addressed his companions on the last day of Sha`ban, saying, “Oh people! A great month has come over you; a blessed month; a month in which is a night better than a thousand months; month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time, and whoever discharges an obligatory deed in (this month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Heaven. It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer’s sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person, without his reward being diminished at all.” [Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah]

 

Days of Ramadan # 17

 
 
 

Thanks so much for the lovely comments yesterday!

That’s what I love so much about this blogging community: sharing thoughts and feelings all over the globe, subhan’allah, isn’t that great?!

 

Yesterday and today I am already feeling so much better, alhamdulillah. And you know what, autumn slowly begins now also out here.

Everything is about harvest right now and I just love it!

The nature still is green and rich but you can feel already the smell of winter in the air.
People are busily working in the fields, bringing home corn, grass, apples and walnuts. Fearing the late summer thunderstorms, they try to gather everything as quickly as possible before heavy rain destroys their fruits.
Ramadan rhythm fits well with the work now because they go to the fields in the mornings and come home in the afternoons just before the rain usually begins to fall to prepare Iftar.

We do not have fields ourselves, but grandfather has some. So we visit the family while working, we lend a helping hand, enjoy warm sunrays and sit in the grass. We pick some fruits, try nearly everyday new recipes with them and look forward to Maghrib prayer to eat…
I like those apples when they still are a little hard and sour; those walnuts, still soft and their skin easy to peel off; the corn, sweet and just right to be grilled over the fire; and not to forget the blackberries, which are my favourite… Praise to God, subhan’allah, September, I love you!
Thanks God for living in such a beautiful valley!