Cant believe how fast the Month of Ramadhan has gone

Hello all,

Start off with the customary apologies for not blogging enough, but our trips to the internet cafe have been far and few this year, as opposed to last year. Probably having to do with the Month of Ramadhan, as our nights are busy along with our days. We cant believe how fast this Holy Month has flown by, only 5 or 6 more fasts to go, unbelievable. We ask Allah SWT that he accept our fasts and prayers, and IA give us and opportunity to do the same, but better, next year.

Our school organized Aamal nights (prayer nights) for us at our school, and all the students came along with some other students from England who are studying here. Sheikh Mohamed Ali Ismail delivered some very nice lectures and then they had an Arab lecturer come and recite the Masaeeb portion of the Martydom of Imam Ali AS. After which we had our Aamals. It was nice to do it in a group environment, and since we have more students this year, it was a really nice atmosphere.

Quick mention that last time we blogged, we mentioned that one of the couples is from Peterborough, but it turns out they are from Portsmouth... (have no idea about the spelling ...) so we are sorry about that mistake :)

We went to the Haram on the day of the Martydom of Imam Ali AS, and it was amazing. We got there about 20 minutes before the time of Fajr prayers and the Haram was packed. Alhamd we got a place to sit and recite our prayers... Right after the prayers, they had set up a Minbar (pulpit) inside the Haram and a lecturer got on to recite the Gham.. it was amazing, to be in the presence of Sayyida Zainab AS and to be hearing about the tragedy of her fathers death, was really moving. Right after the Lecture, they removed the barrier between the women and the men, and a taboot (coffin) representing our Imam was carried in from outside and it went around the actual Tomb a few times... Truly amazing, it was like a wave, Jaffer got caught in the wave and it moved him without him having to walk... really amazing... and then they had Matam outside in the Sahan for an hour and everyone then went home. Another great experience in Seyyida Zainab AS :)

Anyways, thats it for now... iA we will have more to write about in the near future....

Take care and remember us in your prayers!!!

Finally a day off... kind of :)

OK... so after a nice and long week, a week that we really found productive, we have finally come to our first well deserved weekend break...lol, and if you have been reading our blogs from before, you will know that it means one day off! but its ok, we kinda used to it after going through it last year. We have received information that some of the Coordinators of the course are coming down this weekend, or that they are already here, and they are hosting a student seminar that begins, yup, you guessed it, on our day off...but really, its all good, iA it will make our fasts go by that much faster. The really good part is that the seminar will go into Saturday and Sunday, so we will miss two days of classes. So it all works out :)

We got a message on our blog from someone wanting to know where the other couples are from. One is from Peterborough, one is from Ottawa and one is from Dar. Good variey and mix,and Alhamd all are really nice. But besides the students, there are a whole bunch of new teachers for the 2nd year students, and being really honest, they are all fantastic. So far, we have a few that are our favorites already, our teacher for Fiqh (Islamic Jurispudence), our teacher for Mantiq and Aqaid (same teacher for these two classes) and our teacher for Tafseer. Amazing people!!

Besides that, we had half a day of class today, so we along with another couple went to Sayyida Ruqaya AS to pay our respects to her. The weather is still hot but its definitely better then when we first arrived last week. We have nearly unpacked all of our luggage, to be honest, Sabiha has done most of it, while Jaffer has been relaxing...lol... moreso because Jaffer knows Sabiha will do it better....:)

So besides that, the Holy Month of Ramadhan is already 1/3 over, amazing how fast this Great Month comes, and how fast it goes. We pray that all of us make the most out of this Month, and that you remember us in your prayers.

If you want us to write about something in particular, let us know by leaving a message.

Take care

Back in school again

OK... so now we are back in Syria, and back "home" again, so IA we will begin blogging again. After a long break between blogs, we do hope that people are still actually reading, but IA you are. We felt that no one really wanted to read about our 2 month vacation, but people actually cared about what we were doing here in Damascus. So now that we are back, expect regular blogs from us, please tell your friends to start reading again :)

We got back here last wednesday, the 3rd of September after a LONG flight from LA. We had to fly from LA to NY, then to Abu Dhabi and then to Dam. After a few days of extreme tiredness, our classes finally started. We never really got this tired last year when we came, or again because it was so long ago we dont remember.

So this year there are 3 more couples who joined the class, which makes it really nice because there are more people at the school, shows that the school is growing as well, and there are people that we can bully now, since we are the big kids on the block.. LOL.. just kidding...

So our school is WAY WAY more intense this year.. LOL, we kept talking about how crazy it was last year, doesnt compare at all.. lOl... its nice though, we have different teachers for every class, they come, teach and leave... not like last year where all the teachers were full time and were there all day. We have 10 different subjects our first semester.... they are: Tafseer, Uloom Al-Qur'an, Nahjul Balagha, Qur'an (tajweed and tarteel), Aqaid, Fiqh, Khitaba, Nahu, History and Mantiq (logic)... and since all are different teachers, all assign homework...LOL, almost :)

Anyways, almost time to break our fast... by the way Ramadhan Mubarak to all. Pray for us, and expect more updates in our blog IA....

Take care