hello, goodbye

so it’s been a while since i’ve last blogged. my apologies. a lot has happened and i’ve had so little time to sit down and write about them.

asmah and naba moved into our apartment around the middle of june. we had a lot of fun during our last days in egypt together. never went to sleep before 2 or 3 am...sometimes after fajr.

nadiya and i went to palestine and jordan for about 10 days. we had an amazing experience. i’ll try to blog about it later, insha’Allah.

nadiya, naveed and i took a one day trip to alexandria. the ride was supposed to take 2 hours but it took about 2 hours to get out of cairo. so basically, it took 4 hours to get there. unfortunately, i was sitting next to this burly egyptian guy who was trying to hit on me. he wrote his number on a slip of paper and kept trying to give it to me. he was also wearing a wedding band...how disgusting. i felt sorry for his wife. anyway, i met up with my ex-teacher, ustadh muhammad at the imam busiri mosque. that’s the imam who wrote the burda (the greatest classic poem in the arabic language in praise of the prophet muhammad (s) during the 13th century). afterwards, we ate at a fish market, got some dessert and took a taxi back to cairo.

i am now back in chicago. yes, i have said farewell to al-qahira which had welcomed me with arms wide opened. took me in like a lost orphan. i really felt like i belonged there. i miss it...my life there, the people, my friends, my teachers, my roomies and of course, the noise, the pollution, the heat, the satanic cats, the hustle and bustle of the crowded streets, the little ironing boy ringing our doorbell everyday asking if we needed anything ironed, the man on his donkey cart yelling, ‘bikya! bikya!’ asking for unused furniture, books and other junk and angry taxi drivers chasing after us demanding more money.

i received a nice welcome when i returned to the states. everyone seemed excited to have me back. my friends even surprised me with a welcome back cake. i was touched. but after all that, it sunk in that i was back to life in the u.s. looking for a job, living under my parent’s roof, the pressure of being an unmarried daughter, etc. i went out...to the mall and other places and felt like an alien...out of place...everyone seemed so strange to me...the way they dressed, the way they looked, the way they talked. and then i got sad...really sad. reverse culture shock.

day tripper

a couple of fridays ago, naveed, nadiya and i took a little day trip with a history professor...i forget his name but he's friend's with the administrator of our school. this professor has access to places ordinary people don't so we got to see some places that we normally would not be able to.

we started our day at the northern wall and gates that were built in 1087 during the fatimid dynasty. they were a shia dynasty that ruled egypt between 969-1171 AD. they built a city inside the walls and called it 'qahira'. we get the current name 'cairo' from 'qahira'. there are 2 main entrances to the city...bab an-nasr (gate of victory) and bab al-futuh (gate of conquests). when salah al-din gained control of egypt from the fatimids in 1171, he extended the walls to protect the city from further shia attacks.



this is inside the mosque of al-hakim bin amr Allah built between 990-1012 AD. al-hakim was an evil caliph during the fatimid caliphate. he made all sorts of irrational laws like he had all the dogs in qahira killed. he made sleeping during the night and working during the day punishable by death. he poured all the honey (a delicacy back then) into the nile. he banned the making of women's shoes and the list goes on. one night, he went around the city on his donkey and mysteriously disappeared. only his bloodied shirt was found. his disappearance was mythologized by extreme shia followers who said he was divine and had ascended to a higher spiritual realm. these people became known as the druze and still exist till this day.



inside the courtyard of a traditional muslim house that was built in 1645 AD. this house was huge...the upstairs was for the women and the downstairs was for the men. there was a courtyard, a prayer hall, steam room, delivery room, etc. in addition, there was a garden, a well, a place to grind flour and other grains, etc. we didn't see everything 'cause it was friday and we had to go to juma'a.


that's me looking out the windows in the haremlik (the place for the women in the house). the windows were made so that the women on the inside could look out but nobody from the outside could look in.

the 'burda' is written all around the salaamlik (reception room on the first floor) on cedar wood that was imported from lebanon.


the pencil like minaret of the suleyman agha masjid built in 1839 during the dynasty of muhammad ali pasha. we climbed this minaret. it was very narrow compared to the other minarets i have climbed. we prayed juma'a here as well. not only was this a masjid but it also comprised of a madrasa and sabil.


a sabil from the 13th or 14th century. sabils were used to provide people with free drinking water. underneath this building was a gigantic tank for storing water enough to quench the thirst of everyone for a whole year. the water would be scented with a sweet smell and served in beautiful cups. all the sabils were decorated with verses from the quran. in addition, above every sabil was a school for teaching orphans and kids to read quran so people on the streets could hear their recitation when they stopped by the sabil to drink water. so just imagine being thirsty during the 13th or 14th century...you see a beautiful sabil with quranic inscriptions, drink sweetly scented water in pretty cups while hearing the recitation of the quran. not only would it quench your thirst but it would satisfy your senses and your soul with the rememberance of God. there were many sabils on the same street but many were unfortunately dilapidated. they aren't used now.


a present day sabil. it doesn't exactly have the same effect on your senses and soul as the original sabils did.

will add more pic later, insha'Allah.

fight for your right

on thursday evening, we all went over to mona’s house for dinner and just to chill out. she’s like the mama who feeds you delicious home cooked desi meals. plus, she’s like the nicest person on the planet, masha’Allah. for example, she will take time off of class to take care of friends who are sick and cook for them and take them places and pick others up from the airport and host huge eid parties, etc. the list goes one. plus, she makes the best chocolate chocolate chip muffins. mmmm! i’m starting to salivate just thinking about them.

mona’s husband is into marial arts and has boxing gloves and shields and all that stuff. nadiya wanted to learn some self defense moves so mona said she would show her some. out came the gloves. as nadiya started to put them on, i felt inspired to let out some long repressed aggression. i put on the other pair of gloves and told nadiya i wanted to box her. but poor girl...she was so frightened by me and ran off hiding behind the sofas. i chased after her and started pounding her. i thought to myself, ‘hey! it’s a lot of fun beating the crap out of people!’ after i knocked out a few of her teeth, she managed to get away from me just in time to tag naveed. you see, i was a one man band and nadiya, naveed and asmah were a tag team. so naveed prepared to fight me. i was kinda nervous ‘cause she likes to bully me around. but that didn’t stop me! i gave her some upper cuts and jabs and she ended up with a black eye and bloodied nose. it felt so good to beat her up and to finally get my revenge. she started crawling towards asmah to tag her. by this time, i was on an adrenaline high. i was bouncing around punching jabs into the air waiting for asmah to fight me. she proved to be the most aggressive one from her team and put up a strong fight. a couple of hooks here and jabs there didn’t do the trick. so i added some kicks and she flew to the wall matrix style. that ended my fight with her. once again, tharwa, warrior princess emerged as the champion!

spice girls

on new year’s day, nadiya, naveed, bikey and i made new year’s resolutions for each other. naveed and bikey’s resolutions are private so i won’t disclose them but mine was to share my chocolate with everyone and nadiya’s was to cook at least one meal for us. i think amongst all of us, i'm the only one who's kept her resolution. i share my chocolate all the time...except the times i hide in my room and eat it by myself.

several weeks ago, i was cooking something and nadiya came into the kitchen and said, ‘teach me to cook.’ so i said to her, ‘desi cooking is very simple. allz you gotta do is fry some onions and then put in the basic spices that go into practically every single indian dish....mirchi, adrak laison, haldi and namak....’ (chili powder, garlic-ginger paste, tumeric and salt). of course, other spices can be added as well to add flavor.

so today was the big debut for nadiya. she bought some chicken breasts and potatoes. she also had an assistant...naba. while they were in the kitchen, i happened to peak in to see how the progress was going. nadiya picked up a container of chili powder and asked me what it was. that made me a little nervous. then she continued to ask me to explain all the spices in the cabinet even though they were labeled. oh boy! i thought. not sure if i can trust someone to prepare my meals if they don’t know what they’re putting in my food.

anyway, i went back to my room and left the chef in the kitchen with her assistant. i heard some screaming a bit later but didn’t bother checking. found out that nadiya had set the stove knob on fire. that’s pretty dangerous...especially since we have a tank of gas right next to the stove...enough to bring the whole building down, i think. but alhamdulillah, naba blew out the fire.

so the food was ready. presented on the table were the following: white rice; chopped fried potatoes spiced up a bit; a veggie medley flavored with desi spices; chicken curry, and yogurt with onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. i must say everything was delicious! masha’Allah, nadiya and naba! job well done. can’t wait till you guys cook again.

the village people

naveed and i went to a village called shabramand about 2 hours from cairo. we went with some People who volunteer their time to help the villagers with what they need. for example, they collect money to build water pumps, simple homes, a mosque, etc. and set up projects to help villagers become self sufficient. naveed and i wanted to check out the village to donate money for something useful before we left egypt.

there’s a stark difference between the city and the village/countryside. the village definitely has a lot more greenery. lots and lots of trees, and acres of farmland....corn, wheat, sugar cane and cotton. it was soothing to the eye and peaceful to the soul....something about the color green that makes you feel like that.

anyway, a branch of the nile river runs through it and is used for pretty much everything. i mean, it didn’t matter that a donkey was crapping in the water...boys were still swimming and people were taking baths in the very same water....alongside the animals crapping! unfortunately, it’s also used as a dumpster. tons and tons of garbage.


the people in the village are very warm and friendly. everyone says salaam to everyone else walking down the street or even in the car. it makes you feel like everyone is family. and the kids are oh so cute!


we made several stops to assess the needs of the village:

the village mosque does not have speakers for friday khutba and curtains for the women’s side.

a woman who has 4 children doesn’t have a 4 walled house. her ‘house’ literally has 2 walls and not even a complete ceiling to cover it completely.


we tested out a few water pumps that were recently built. many times, the water came out muddy meaning it wasn’t dug deep enough. despite the water being dirty, some of the locals started drinking from it. funds are needed to dig deeper for cleaner water.


another woman has a child who is paralyzed in both legs and the doctor told her the medical treatment required was something she could not afford.

the village doesn’t have a hospital. there is a pharmacist who collects unused medicine from sick patients who’ve become healthy and then he redistributes it to those who may need it but can’t afford it.

we were standing in front of a dilapidated building. i thought it was abandoned but then realized it housed the village clinic! the walls were unpainted and falling apart, and the stairs were crumbling...there was so much dirt and garbage on the floor. i felt like i was in an insane asylum from a black and white film. the ‘operating room’ was so small and ancient. the instruments and sinks had so much rust on it. the bathrooms were stained and filthy. even if someone were to have an operation there, they would probably die from infections afterwards. we asked if there was anything the clinic needed but the doctor seemed content with what he had.

there is this family of 4 orphans (ages 20, 18, and two kids) who had lived in a one room rented place for 9 months without paying the rent and were then kicked out by the landlord. so the People found an abandoned building in the village, cleaned it up and now the 4 orphans live there. but they don’t have any means to support themselves so the People want to start a project with them and teach them to take care of chickens and sheep, etc. funds are needed to start this project and also to fix up their decrepit house.


the People also have a place where they store donated clothing, shoes, furniture, etc. and distribute them to the poor.

at the end of the day, naveed and i were exhausted and sad to see the conditions some people lived in. alhamdulillah, it made us feel grateful for what we have and ashamed of the little things we complain about. we plan on going back after we have collected some money, insha’Allah. if anyone would like to donate money to help, please let me know. if enough people are interested, i’ll post up a contact.

flaming lips

today we (nadiya, naveed and I) went to masjid al-azhar to pray juma’a (friday prayer). it is one of the most beautiful mosques in egypt in my opinion. however, it gets really crowded during juma’a time, especially the women’s side. but there was an old woman who was in charge of directing other women where to sit during juma’a. she was a cute old woman...sorta reminded me of my grandmother. she was short and stocky, with a round sweet face and wrinkled skin and she was wearing white...very angelic looking. but oh my! she sure wasn’t! when the 3 of us entered the women’s section, we stood at the entrance for a second to determine where to sit. but this old woman didn’t even give us a chance to think. she jabbed me in the back with her pointy fingers and demanded us to go to the back. i was scared of her and we did as we were told. after we sat in our assigned seats, i continued watching this old woman in action. she pushed other women to their places, made others move if they weren’t sitting in a straight line and even scolded a BABY for crying during the khutba!

for some reason, after juma’a, the women like to argue. unfortunately, i’ve seen this happen every time i’ve been to masjid al-azhar. i don’t know what they argue about but it always involves a screaming match between two really big tough arab women. it’s like watching sumo wrestling without the wrestling.

after juma’a, we decided to sit around the marble courtyard for a bit and do some work...it’s a peaceful and cool retreat from the crowd and heat of cairo. naveed and nadiya brought their qurans with them and i brought my calligraphy homework to do. people were sitting around with their families and eating. others were pacing back and forth memorizing verses from the quran. still others were sleeping or sitting by themselves contemplating on life. children were running and playing in the courtyard. as i was doing my calligraphy, this old man saw my work and was very impressed. he said something in arabic as he was passing. i didn’t get it...but he was smiling and seemed to be praising my work. i was happy.


some strange lady drank from my water bottle and i couldn’t stop her ‘cause i know there’s a hadith about the rewards of giving water to a thirsty person. i had a big bottle of water out as i was doing my calligraphy and i happened to step away from my things for a few minutes. the next thing i knew, this lady had polluted my water with her backwash. her lips were around my water bottle! i had to bite my tongue from screaming at her. i was actually nice and told her to keep the bottle ‘cause i wasn’t going to drink from it anymore but she refused. first of all, i don’t understand how anyone could just approach a half drunk bottle of water and drink from it without knowing who it belongs to or how long it’s been there or where the water is from, etc. secondly, i don’t understand why she didn’t just go to one of the 6 water stations around the masjid!

afterwards, we decided to climb the minaret (pic was taken from on top of the minerat). this is the 3rd minaret i’ve climbed in egypt. it’s always a wonderful experience to climb the minaret of an old mosque. just imagine, back in the day, the mu’azzin (person who calls everyone to prayer) used to climb the minerat 5 times a day. it’s nice to imagine yourself in his shoes....plus, it’s good exercise.

ode to cow

cow left today to return to england so this is dedicated to her:

your 3 months stay was like a breath of fresh air
and now with you gone, our apartment is bare.
even though your time with us was brief,
your obsession with jinns provided great comic relief.
appearance wise, you look innocent and sweet,
but deep down inside, you really are a beast.
your impression of gollum (from lord of the rings) was damn freaky
and the tricks and mind games you played on people were pretty sneaky.
your baqaaqing (like a chicken), barking and meowing had people terrified
yet your pout, charming smile and baby face had men hypnotized.
but seriously, you are thoughtful, kind hearted, caring and generous.
a bit OCD at times, yet constantly at our service.
to the grocery store, fruit seller and vegetable man...you walked miles
and returned with borios and chocolates that brought us smiles.
to see you leave, we really were sad
but to Allah we are grateful for the experiences we had.
we wish you the best of luck in everything that you do
and that all your dreams and dua’as really come true.
remember the goals we set for each other to complete
and insha’Allah in the year 2008, again we shall meet.

NOTE: borios are a knockoff of oreos cookies and cow got us addicted to them.
the four of us (nadiya, naveed, cow and i) set goals for each other and decided to have a reunion sometime in 2008. i can't remember the exact goals but it was something like: nadiya has to do something with her calligraphy, naveed has to go back to university to get her master's degree, i have to work for a relief organization and cow...i can't remember.