American Muslima Writer -Daring to Work Towards Jannah

Where on this whole earth would you want to live if you could go anywhere for free and live there? What's your dream?


In my Queenly domain of Al-Quoz Industrial, covered in sand and a few paved roads. A lone tree on the side of the road attracts many world-weary men to crouch under it in the heat of the day. It is the sole source of shade between an intersection of hot asphalt and the remainder of the journey across dusty sand. There is no sidewalk to ease the journey to the local market. If you can't bare another trip through the sands you can walk on the road, at your own hazard of being hit by speeding cars or large industrial trucks hauling their goods.

Once you finally reach your haven of home and the shade of the buildings there is relief from the heat for the skin, but what of relief for the eyes? The eyes grown too accustomed to the tan color of sand, the beige buildings that cry for color. Here and there a shirt hanging or a window left open provides a hint of brightness to a stark landscape. Sometimes I used to wonder why the native desert people had such garish taste in color patterns for their clothes. Now I understand. It's so damn dull to see sand color day in and day out, you need something garishly shocking to make you feel a bit happier.

There are sections placed in our area for plants and even black hoses to water them installed, but where is the greenery? There is nothing here to cool our eyes. There is no leafy tree for our children to climb and feel the amazing texture of bark. There are no flowers for young girls to pick and tuck behind their ears. There are no worms for young boys to dig up and explore. There is only sand, sand, sand, and asphalt. These companies that own these properties make billions and billions of dollars a year and they can't even put in a few trees and flowers!?!?!

Sure this is the price many must pay for city life. You get to be close to a Metro, Malls, Money-opportunities...all those "good" things that begin with M. But what is it doing to our children? I grew up for a few years in a poor neighborhood just off the ghettos of South Tucson. There were trailers and poor people galore, but AT LEAST THEY HAD TREES AND FLOWERS!!!! My best friend had an awesome climbing tree in her own yard! Man the joy we had on that! I'd wander the neighborhood collecting flowers and plants I liked. Sometimes I'd get told off in Spanish but it was worth the price. I helped my parents take care of our little garden. Enjoyed running my feet through the grass. With such richness to explore what does a child care about poverty? What do my children have? Sand, lots of it. They have become excellent diggers. If I let them bring water they can make mud and build things.

Sure there are parks in Dubai. But for many families these aren't feasible to reach. Especially daily as kids need to get out and get rid of built up energy. It takes a long walk across aforementioned sand with the lone tree to reach the buses to take you to the park or you have to pay an arm at least to take a taxi. If you want to take the free shuttle to Mall of Emirates you cannot bring bulky items that you will be forced to haul around like scooters and such. Trying coordinate times to catch the next shuttle back home without missing the last one or having to sit for an hour or more with two fidgety kids is a tricky feat.

I want more for my kids. I want them to have their own space full of greenery. I want this for all the other kids suffering here forced to play with asphalt and dirt. Maybe we are better off then most but even many impoverished people have trees around them. When I get a job I was planning to save up and buy a lot of plants to put on our balcony and make it our own private garden. But when they go downstairs to play there will still be roads and dirt.

Sometimes the life of a farmer or nomad or anyone who gets to live off very close to the wildreness pulls at my heart. I'd love for my kids (me too) to be able to frolic through a forest searching for mystery around every tree. Jumping over a creek or climbing on rocky slopes. Feeling fresh and natural. Like life was supposed to be lived. Allah created plants for our use and for us to recognise His Greatness in the creation of Beautiful things. That is one of His Names: Al-Musawwir, the Shaper of Beauty. One of my favorite Names.
We weren't meant to be contained in a concrete jungle like we live in a zoo. Everything artificial and dull.
How do you gain such a life? How do you find means to live?


Where on this whole earth would you want to live if you could go anywhere for free and live there? What's your dream?

Three years of soaking up desert sun and sweating in blistering heat.

Three guesses where I get to go on January 19th!!!!  For 6 weeks!!!!!

INSHA'ALLAH!!!!

My kids took a long nap in the evening and woke up around 9pm refreshed and ready to rock, stayed up all night playing to the max. After Fajr, Hubby stayed awake and decided to take me and the kids for a ride to do an errand, since we were all awake. As we went outside the cool air hit my face full of morning mists. It felt incredibly refreshing and beautiful. I had forgotten what mornings felt like. With my kid's unpredictable sleeping schedules I rarely get to see a morning and I rarely get outside during the day hours. So this morning freshness took me absolutely by surprise. It gave me that amazing feeling that I was preparing to go on a journey of some length like to an airport for 6 days of traveling and flight catching kinda feel. Exhilarating!!! All around me I was absolutely shocked by the amount of people up and about. I do admit it made me feel worthless and lazy that I was not like them but then again they don't have MY kids... People dressed for business heading out everywhere. Truck drivers out on morning deliveries ready to re-stock stores. We reached our place of errand and did what we had to do but I was sitting there admiring the morning the whole time. It was amazing that early glow gives you such energy. Just before we left the kids were getting cranky and dragging and we thought they would fall asleep in the car hence why we wanted them to go for a ride. But that morning glow revved them up too! As we drove around and headed back home the kids and I were still terribly alert. I watched out the window almost non-stop seeing all the different people awake. We were mainly in the Industrial area of Sanaiyya, Al-Ain so mostly we saw Pakistani-Asian-Indian workers. Many were just squatting by the side of the road waiting for something.
How do they sit like that anyways? They look so comfortable! I'd just sit on the ground cross legged. We finally reached home and we made the kids sandwiches. Back in the darker interior of my house time caught up to me, the surreal beauty of the morning had faded to day and with it my sleepiness returned. Sadly though my children were still fired up and now had nourishment in their bellies. They didn't fall asleep until 9am and that was with some strong orders they they get in bed and STAY THERE! Finally FINALLY they slept! And OH HOW THEY SLEPT! Not even a toss nor a turn. I fell asleep around 10am just to make sure they didn't re-awaken. It was a beautiful morning though and It really made me pray that one day their schedules will normalize and I can get to take them out early in the mornings for some fun. I really felt like I wanted to run for miles straight into the sunrise. I recalled hearing how blessed this time of day was. How the angels were most active during this time of day. Makes sense because how many times do we succumb to Shaytan's Laziness to sleep in and waste a perfectly good morning. Yet when one does wake up early they get like a thousand more things done than normal. Subhan'Allah.
***
And to add for those curious when my Hubby got home and woke me at 2pm I couldn't bear to wake the kids after they only had 5 hours of sleep (though I only had 4) and let them linger on til 4pm. Then woke them and they were still groggy but I couldn't let them sleep a full 10-12 hours since that would end us back at square one of them waking at 9pm. Both were cranky all day which explains my previous depressed post and I got my son to go back to sleep from 6-9pm. We then went to bed last night at 1am after a movie and popcorn to soften them up to sleep. I woke up today about 9:30am. I think I'll wake them at 10:30am see if they are receptive...
I do wish though we could all wake at sunrise and go to the park to play for the mornings.
....If wishes were fishes.....

As I have no way to access news besides net and I'm not dumb enough to turn on my PC in a rain shower I have no idea why it rained.

BUT THERE WAS RAIN TODAY!

Everyday is the same pattern as the rest with little differences but when it rains in the Middle East (and other hot countries) people take notice and the whole day changes.

I was sitting with my husband when he went out for something quick so I peeked outside the door while herding the kids back so I could close the door and I saw an orangy-dusty sky.

"Oh, is it gonna rain today?" I ask him when he comes in, feeling stupid because this is July, it hardly ever rains in July.

"Naw," replied Hubby, "It's a sandstorm starting." He shrugs and sits down and we keep eating. I drop a few pieces of mac and cheese onto baby's feeding chair for him to grab and thoughtfully add,

"That's funny that the sky looks the same as sandstorms for rain." And no sooner was the word rain out of my mouth then fat smacks hit our roof in quick succession. I stared unbelievably at my ceiling as my husband looked utterly confused at the sound.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " I cry with such glee you would have thought i was a 7 year old promised to use his new yellow umbrella and puddle jumping boots. I rush to the other room to look out the window and the world had turned 7 shades darker. I grinned hearing the fat drops continue. I cheered exciting my daughter. "It's raining! It's raining! Let's see it!!!" I open the door cautiously as i wasn't wearing hijab. No neighbors peeking their heads out. I see dry sandals in front of our doorstep and look about confused until i see the neighboring door soaked and their sandals wet. The rain is coming in from the East, very odd, normally it comes north or west and soaks my door. By then the family has caught my rain fever. They jump up and I rush to grab my son so he can experience the rare phenomenon. I demand hubby take him into the rain to get wet (baby loves water) while i grab the camera. I also put my prayer hijab on. Then i rush outside to film my son and everyone laughing about the rain. It wasn't much just a general rainfall. It started slacking off for a bit and i was like ok it's gone so we started to troop back in. Hubby had to get ready for work because his co-worker showed up just then to take him to work. I waited a bit longer in the rain until suddenly these really fat drop hit us, i didn't mind them because it made my baby laugh. But the odd thing was they were COLD where the previous rain had been lukewarm. I was just pondering the change of raindrop temp when hubby dashes outside to get in the car, he's shoving his shoes on and recommends we head back inside. I dilly dally saying I was on my way and start ordering my daughter in when i hear the sleet begin of freezing cold rain and still I'm like it's ok for baby to experience this once. Daughter has manages to kick off one sandal and Hubby has gotten in the car and I turn to wave bye when suddenly

I SEE a wall of rain swoop past the garden and the car hubby just got in and the palm trees are swaying dangerously to one side. I'm protected by the corridor wall but the giant metal gates that have been stuck in the open position start rattling and swaying in the wind as if they were made out of straw. Daughter has managed her second sandal by then and I shove her into the house shouting, "Oh my God, It's a hurricane!" The wind is kicking muddy sand everywhere so I plop baby down on the floor (and he cries at the abandonment) and turn to close the door. Just then I see the sandals starting to fly around and think 'I must save them". I fetch a plastic bag and order my kids back from the door and brave the elements. I'm shoving sandal after sandal into the bag trying to keep my prayer hijab from flying off when a loud crash sounds to my right. I jump startled since i had been focusing on the ground. My neighbor's shoe cabinet had been tossed across the small hallway to my wall. My eyes widened shocked and the gates swung madly so I grabbed my shoe bag and tossed it in the house and sigh with relief as I close the door firmly grimacing at the mud blown in. I rub my eyes achingly since grit had hit them. I peal off my soaked hijab and lay it to dry on my ironing board but I hear a flapping sound. I rush to the computer/play room to see the thin board covering the hole where you can install an AC flapping (since hubby hadn't gotten around to sealing it closed yet...) and letting mud and rain come pouring in directly onto my computer. I quickly grab a plastic sheet used for ramadan floor meals and wrap it around the monitor but already a few inches of water is on the floor. I snap off the outlet's power (a good thing they do in this country have on/off switches for each socket) and grab floor towels to soak the water before it can run off into any wires. I drape more floor rags over the main computer itself and the outlet. Satisfied I turn back to my astonished kids who are just staring at the flapping board. I'm enjoying the breeze blowing in that is cool and refreshing. Then about five minutes later it died down and stopped completely. My husband calls me right then and says he's having a hurricane force go past his workshop. On the way to work two trees fell down into the road, scary stuff. And later that night he told me the water container (the size of a spa jacuzzi) on the roof that was empty cause a lot of damage to the area as it was flung about in the winds.

I was pondering where did this sudden rain come from? Was there a freak hurricane off of Oman that rode a skip and a jump to AL-Ain? Did Dubai and Abu-Dhabi get this action? Habayeb let me know k. Or was this a result of man-made weather? I didn't believe it either when i first heard of it but apparently if you have the money and equipment you can try to produce rain. You need certain chemicals and an airplane that can fly really high. They release the chemicals into a cloud i believe then it causes these freak storms. A man who works under my husband who's been here in AL-AIn for over 12 years says if they put too much of the chemicals it makes the storms too fierce and people have died. I was just shocked and incredulous. I'm a desert girl and I have never heard of man-made weather.... we just waited for the monsoon seasons in Tucson, AZ, USA. So maybe this was part of the gov. plans to welcome in the holiday tomorrow for the Prophet Muhammad's accession to the Heavens. No matter how it came it was a relief. Energizing, awe-inspiring, forces of nature. Masha'Allah. I gave my daughter a lesson about, Allah is the one who Created the rains, thunder, lightening, winds and we have to say alhamdulliah that we are safe and that baba is safe at work too.

"Alhamdulliah, baba is safe." she smiled.

Alhamulillah indeed that our mini-hurricane didn't last long. But it was spectacular.

_____________________________________________

UPDATE: I found this finally on Gulf News about the rain...

"Heavy rain and thunderstorms hit Al Ain and its surrounding areas yesterday afternoon.
The rain was accompanied by strong winds that first kicked up sand and later blew away satellite dish antennae. Numerous trees, road signs and signs were broken.
The rain started at 4.45pm and lasted until 5.10pm in the downtown area. Rainwater also accumulated on different roads, forcing drivers to take extra care.
It was a welcome respite for residents who have been suffering from a heatwave which has hit the region for the past several weeks.
A meteorologist said the dust storm was caused by atmospheric low pressure that is currently moving over Oman and Saudi Arabia and also extending to the UAE.
He said Al Ain had earlier been recorded as the hottest city in the country, followed by Liwa where the maximum temperature was recorded as 47C (the ground level temperature was 50).
Meanwhile people in Ras Al Khaimah braved temperatures of 46C.
Over the last few days, the mercury has shot up and broken Al Ain's top temperature record. The temperature went up to 48C (ground level 52C) recently."

Ahh good so it wasn't false rain alhamdulliah ;) By the way before it began to rain my thermometor in the room with no AC (that half-boarded up AC hole from the above account remeber) said 100 degrees F and i was like Ugh it's 100 in this room!?!?! And me and the kids are in it everyday.... alhamdulliah at least the bedroom has an ac and we have fans in the house. some people don't even have one ac.. poor them :( .

Onto face the humidity in Dubai and Sharja tomorrow. Sorry Hab it was short notice and I couldn't contact you. :(