Monday 1 September 2008

Welcome


Al Salam 'Alaykum wa rahmatu Allahu wa barakatu.

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Welcome to my blog.

This blog is about my trip to Tarim, a small town in Yemen. As is mentioned here:

Tarim is a historic town situated in the Hadhramaut Valley of eastern Yemen. Tarim is widely acknowledged as the theological, juridical, and academic center of the Hadhramaut Valley. An important locus of Islamic learning, it is estimated to contain the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (sayyids) anywhere in the world. The city is distinguished for producing numerous Islamic scholars, including Imam al-Haddad.

I traveled to attend the summer Dowra, an intensive 40 day course in traditional Islamic sciences. Like one of my teachers said, we got the opportunity to study blessed topics in a blessed city.

I've tried my best to recount the experience as it was, though of course my account by no means does it justice. The experience needed someone who could wax poetically over it, and unfortunately I was not up to the task. Because of time constraints and our intensive schedule, I haven't been as articulate and thorough as I could have been, so forgive me if some entries seem choppy.

Any mistakes are completely my own, and if you were with me on this Dowra, please do let me know if I've misquoted someone, gotten something incorrect, or mentioned you and you'd like the mention removed. It was an honor to meet you all, and please forgive me if I somehow offended you or caused you any kind of distress.

This blog took up a lot more time than I thought it would when I began, so I hope it is beneficial to those of you who were with me, those of you who are thinking of traveling to Tarim, and those of you who want to know what life is like in a place where Islam is truly a way of life.

I've tried to split up my posts according to the topics I address in them in order to make the blog easier to browse through, since I've written quite a lot. But to get the real 'feel' of the experience, I'd advise you to bookmark the blog and read it from beginning to end.

I've also tried to include as many photos as I can to convey what I can't in words. If you use any of them, please do credit me as the photographer.

One last note: this blog is in no way affiliated with Dar al-Mustafa, Dar al-Zahra, or anyone of the Dowra administration. It is simply an account of my journey and my reflections.

I'll end this blog in the way the Dowra administration has been answering my emails to them for the past three years:

Please overlook my shortcomings, and keep me in your du'uas.

Awrad

Elhamdulela I have finally managed to upload the Awrad, which follow Khulasah al-Madad al-Nabawi (The Essence of the Prophetic Support), a book of duas, dhikrs, awrad, and spiritual odes (qasa'id) which we used in Tarim and is compiled by Sayyidi al-Habib Umar b. Muhammad b. Hafiz (may Allah help us to benefit from him!). You can download it here.

In some instances, I have broken down the awrad into parts to make them easier to follow, and provided you with the full version if you want it complete. Most of the files are .mp3, some are .wav

I hope they are beneficial to you all, and please remember me in your du'uas.

Tahajud
Subhanoka eny kont men al-dhalemeen x 100
Asmaa' Allahu alhosna (Names of Allah) du'ua
Tahajud Qaseedas

FULL tahajud (59 mins)

Fajr
After praying sunna (Version 1)
After praying sunna (Version 2)
From Dar al-Mustafa right after prayer
Saqqaf and Nawawi wird

Extra du'ua for Fajr and Asr

FULL after fajr prayer (38 mins)

Dhur

After Dhur prayer

'Asr
Aby Hassan Al-Shazely
Surat al-waq'ea
Extra du'ua for Fajr and Asr

FULL version of after Asr prayer (13 mins)

'Maghrib

Before Maghrib with adhan (call to prayer)
Before Maghrib (Version 1)
Before Maghrib (Version 2)
After Maghrib (Version 1)
After Maghrib (Version 2, Longer)

'Isha

After 'Isha Prayer

Friday

On Friday Night

Staples

After any prayer (bad quality, sorry)
Sh. Abu Bakr Bin Salem Wird
Salat ala al-naby
Surat al-Kahf
Surat Yaseen
Wird al-Latif

Misc

Adhan (Version 1)
Adhan (Version 2)
Adhhan uwais al-qarni

Aqeeda (Creed of) Imam Hadad
Burdah
Clip of Imam Hadad's Qaseeda
Du'ua after listening to a dars (lecture)
Maqam in mawlid
Prophet Hud Salams
Rateb Imam Hadad (Version 1)
Rateb Imam Hadad (Version 2)
Rawha Qaseeda 1
Rawha Qaseeda 2
Qad esta'antoka raby (Qaseeda)