There are no more classes scheduled, so from sunrise to 'asr we did nothing because the electricity was out and none of us could summon the energy to do anything. The electricity has been crazy all week, and we've been stuck without AC for a couple of hours at least twice this week—thank God for the mulan-style fans, I think they're the best thing we bought :)
Today we also attended a hadra [gathering] after 'asr, where we basically recite a number of qaseedas. Habib Umar's wife then gave a small lecture about the benefits of dhikr and doing salawat on Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
There were women selling stuff there so I ended up buying one of the Tarimi straw baskets they put heef in—In Egypt we eat baladi bread which is also big and round so it's perfect. I also bought some Tarimi straw handheld brooms—as a souvenir, of course :) And of course some of the great Tarimi cupcakes (they put heel (cardamonn) in them which gives them a really great taste) and Tarimi mint.
Today the ring I had ordered also arrived, it's a really pretty one with Prophet Mohammad's seal imprinted in it.
After Maghrib was the Dowra's closing ceremony in Dar al-Mustafa, and it was packed. We could see (on TV of course) men sitting in the doorway and beyond.
It was a really beautiful two hour program. Qasidas were recited, including Imam Hadad's that we studied in the rawha, and then some men got up to recite things they had memorized from their shar'ia books. Young boys recited some hadiths, and others the du'ua you make when you leave the house. Other men got up and said the most important thing they learned from the Dowra. So basically, snippets of what they'd learned.
Then two men from the English Dowra spoke, and one of them said he couldn't understand his wife's longing to come here, and only understood it when he came. That's so true—unless you come here, you won't know what you've been missing. Like he said, Tarim represents everything Islam stands for, and here you feel that every single person is better than you. If you find yourself weakening and getting engrossed in the dunya when you get back, he advised, all you have to do is close your eyes and remember everyone you've met here.
Another British guy then spoke (a lot of Brits come here by the way because the habayeb visit England a lot more often than they do the States) and said how incredible it was to sit with people who have seen faces who have seen faces who have seen faces who have seen the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Then a lot of different men spoke—one recited some slightly peculiar poetry, one Egyptian (go Egypt!) gave advice, one was Tanzanian etc. One scholar (I think his name was al-Shattery) said that if we leave here having memorized Imam Hadad's qaseeda and implement it in our lives, then that would be more than enough.
Finally, the night ended with Habib Ali and Habib Umar speaking.
Today's Quote: People are sick of kalam [talk] and they won't listen to it anymore. We don't need people who talk anymore, we need people who act, and who do da'wah through their character and behavior, not their speech. Habib Ali
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