WARNING! This entry is super long.
Having been back for a couple of days, Br. Kamran made it to our house at last. He brought along his cute, cuddly, adorable little Atiqa and Taha with him too. I just love playing with kids! Especially the cute ones. But all kids are cute, then that means I love playing with all kids..hrmm..ok, don't mind me. We spent some time catching up. He filled us in on this jord he attended back in Pakistan, along with giving us some targheeb. He said he met some Malaysian jama'ah over there. Well..Malaysian jama'ah is all around the globe now!
As for us, we were just really fortunate to have met one back on our first Eidul Fitri here, the Malaysian jama'ah whose 'amir sab was Br. Ismadi if I'm not mistaken. Br. Hanafiah from Sabah...I still keep the tasbih he gave me. He had a diabetic problem last time, hope he's alright now. ICR brothers were hosting them and that was when we first met Br. Kamran and the others and got connected with the local effort here at once. What a beautifully arranged destiny that was. Otherwise, we might have been complete strangers to each other. Enough with the reminiscing. So Br. Kamran left us with some souvenirs (miswak, kopiah, and cologne) from Pakistan and an invitation to jaulah after maghrib.
After maghrib we left in two groups; one group going to the Burmese community downtown, another going to some other housing area. Br. Kamran, Wae and me were in the first, while Mael in the second with Br. Irfan and the others. There is a Burmese jama'ah from Utica, NY staying at Br. Yunus's house, to which we were headed. His house has been made a musolla at which the Burmese have their congregational prayers. Our goal was to find out how many brothers from the Burmese are ready for next week's Winter-break khuruj.
They were at dinner when we came, and they gave us no choice but to join them. The Burmese is one of the few other communities like Somalian and Bosnian who live as refugees here, being under the protection of US government itself. Most of them don't speak English, only a few among the youngsters do. But in jama'ah, language barrier is never really an issue. We are brothers regardless of any physical, geographical or linguistic differences...and brothers always understand each other. Done eating, we went to the attic upstairs for a quick mesyuwarah with the Burmese jama'ah. Br. Kamran did all the talking on our side. Wrapping up, they said they would come to ICR for Isya'.
Back to ICR, Mael and I had some conversation with these two Arab brothers: Br. Saif and Br. Abd Majid. Br. Saif goes to Monroe Community College (MCC), the same school one of my housemates goes to near Rustic Village while Br. Abd Majid is doing his Master's at RIT. Br. Saif is a very handsome guy (speaking from the standpoint of a girl). He has the looks girls would fight over: Bright skin, sharp nose, thick black hair with thin beard wrapping his jaws. If I were a girl, I might have fallen for him. Just kidding. But believe me sisters, he IS good looking. As for Br. Abd Majid, he is just married, and he is taking the same Biochem class we are taking.
We had bayan after Isya' by a Burmese brother from the guest jama'ah. Br. Rauf Bawani was the interpreter. It was short yet packed with important messages. Among the few things I recall; "Don't worry if the people you are talking to don't understand what you're talking, or if they would understand it wrong, because Allah is the one who bestows understanding. And He is the one who makes you understand what I'm talking right now. Our responsibility is just to convey the message."
We had a mesyuwarah again afterwards on our upcoming Winter-break khuruj. We listed out all the potential brothers that came to mind and discuss the other details. The destination is still undecided, but there is a strong possibility that we'll go to Boston since there's gonna be an ijtimak there on this 23, 24 & 25 of Dec. Br. Intikhab was chosen as the 'amir for this jama'ah. After all, he is the most qualified among us in terms of experience and sacrifice level. He has spent 7 months before on khuruj, traveling around the world just for the sake of religion. I noticed Br. Ismail, son of Br. Gungor was there too. He has grown full beard now. Later when we were leaving I said to him, "Nice beard you have. I would die for that beard. Mine just won't grow." He just laughed at this (man..I was pretty serious~).
Wassalam
p/s: The title is an overstatement really. We have abandoned our jaulah for quite some time now. But its good to be back to work. Also it reminds me of "squad ziarah Cemara." Hm..I really miss those days doing ziarah with you guys. Hope you guys are keeping this effort close to heart. Next time...more pics, less words! =)
