Dua's for Pakistan

I rarely comment on politics, but the events of the last few days in Pakistan have had me on tenterhooks, hoping and praying and praying some more.  In the end Imran Khan didn't make prime minister despite the significant youth following and his amazing way of articulating his dreams (see my post here).  Nawaz Sharif (and his brother Shabaz) have won the election and have promised to hit the ground running with their agenda for the first 100 days.  I suspect that they have the experience and authority to start dealing with some of the worst of Pakistan’s problems insh’Allah.

Pakistan had had an incredibly tough decade with terrorism, sectarian violence, no electricity, limited gas and petrol meaning industry and business has shut down, unprecedented inflation and high crime.

In the last few years we have had to contend with my mum’s younger brother (one of my favourite people and a very sweet man) being kidnapped for money and not being returned for many weeks until we had paid up a significant amount of money (you can read about it here, here, here and here).  This is something that had been happening across the country making it unsafe for people to travel to Pakistan from abroad.

We've also been affected by the sectarian violence in Karachi with family members trying to move to other cities then moving back to Karachi again as they have networks and employment there.  Karachi is also dealing with gangs supported by local sectarian groups demanding taxes from shopkeepers and business owners.  Another of my mum’s brothers was targeted because he owns a curtain factory.  He refused to pay up and had people come to his factory to smash his equipment.  They caused significant damage and then only left when he paid up part of what they were demanding which is all that he could demand.

When Little Lady was ten months old (ten years ago now), we visited Pakistan and found that the living standards had become pretty good.  There was an emerging middle class which meant that unlike before we could easily find the same brand nappies, baby milk and baby food we used in London along with pretty much anything else we needed.  We felt safe travelling around Lahore and during the six hour journey to our village in Jhelum.

My grandparents village in Pakistan

We returned five years later with all three of our children and found a different situation (some memories captured here and here).  You could only get electricity a few hours a day otherwise you could sit in the dark and hot and wait for it to come back.  That meant you couldn't run the fans, refrigerate stuff or even go shopping in the evening when the heat decreases as the shop lights are all off.

That seemed pretty bad, but since then things have gotten so much worse.  Petrol prices going through the roof and still massive queues every time a fuel station opens, gas shortages.  There are food shortages meaning one week you can’t find flour and the next you can’t get sugar (although the bird flu scare meant that the poorest people could suddenly afford chicken at one point because no one else would touch it).  Inflation is so bad that even if you can find food it costs so much that it wipes out everything you have earned to purchase the basics.  Then there are the safety issues, there is the Pakistani version of the Taliban blowing up everything in sight without rhyme or reason with no masjid, shrine or public place exempt.

When people used to say Pakistan is a failed state or that it is too dangerous to go there, I used to think “what do they know?” But the country is now at a point that it seems foolhardy to want to take your children there.

But I am still hopeful.  Allah (SWT) tests us and then he sends us ease insh’Allah.  I am hoping that the election of Nawaz Sharif (and his brother Shabaz) forms a turning point for the country.  I hope he manages to calm the Taliban and get some control over the violence and gangs in Karachi.  I pray he gets the electricity running and inflation under control.

Pakistan was created with the noblest of intentions – a homeland for the Muslims of South Asia to call their own.  The Constitution defines the national purpose as: “To strive for a democratic order based on the principles of Quran and Sunnah.”  

I pray it is time for the dream of Pakistan to move towards fruition insh’Allah and that this stunningly beautiful place and its gorgeous people finally get the opportunity to prosper and create the country that Pakistan should be insh’Allah.

You can read Kook's wonderful post on the Pakistan elections here.

Deosai in Pakistan (image source)

Mingora in Pakistan (image source)

Badshai masjid in one of my favourite places - Lahore (image source)

Bustling Karachi (image source)

Muslim Bhaji on the Beach: Trip to Clacton

Earlier this week we decided to make the most of the bank holiday and take the kids somewhere for the day.  Hubby had been busy all weekend, so he was up for doing something fun on the extra day off too.

As we have a National Heritage family membership, we were planning to go to Audley End House and Gardens which had a Victorian fair on for the bank holiday.  Tickets were £15 each, but for us they cost £4.40 for the whole family. 

At the same time my dad had the bright idea of going to Clacton-on-Sea in Essex.  He rarely accompanies us on day trips anymore, but one of his closest friends lives there and he was up for it.  So when he suggested it, we all dropped our plans and decided to go as a large group with my family, parents, sisters, sister Fashionista’s lovely in-laws and my brother and his gorgeous little family.  I don’t think I can recall a time when we all went together anywhere so was up for it.

The only thing that was bothering us was that we don’t tend to go to the beach during summer because we look a bit out of place with so many clothes on amongst semi-naked people.  There is also the issue of lowering our gaze so we don’t have to look at semi-naked people.  We decided that we would go and find something other than the beach to do there as there was a rose garden, promenade and pier.

We spent the morning at a boot fair looking for bargains (Little Lady ended up with lots of fabulous books) and then drove to Clacton only to get stuck in the holiday traffic.  We finally got there feeling hot and hungry and unable to find a park to have our lunch in.  We found a strip of grass overlooking the sea and settled down to eat.

In the end, the food we brought from home was probably the best thing about the day.  Mum made spicy lamb burgers and very tender tandoori chicken chunks and I made chicken wraps, chicken and cucumber sandwiches and channa chaat.

As a child we rarely went to the beach because my dad didn't like to go where there are people not wearing much.  As an adult I love going to the beach with my family but as practising Muslims we try to be modest and are encouraged to lower our gaze.  This means we tend to go when the weather is cooler and people are not lying around semi-naked.

This bank holiday was fairly sunny, so it was probably not the best time for us to go.  We ended up avoiding the beach and looking for other things to do.  This left us with a visit to the pier which was dominated by gambling machines and a few fairground rides.

In the end, I enjoyed lunch, I enjoyed the sun on my face and I find being near the sea incredibly soothing and calming for my soul.  I enjoyed the company of my gorgeous sisters and sis-in-law and it was fun having the boys (my brother and Fashionista’s hubby and brother-in-law who is great fun) along.   However I don’t think I will be visiting Clacton-on-Sea any time soon as I didn’t find much to do there and I found the other visitors there a bit rowdy.

You can see Fashionista's pics and write-up here (complete with pics of the backs of lots of peoples heads  - and you can spot Gorgeous' missing tooth).  You can see Kooky Little Sisters pics here.  Also, a beautiful picture by Shutterbug Sister here.

Being lovely May as it is, we have another Bank Holiday coming up, so I am planning our next trip as we speak insh’Allah.

Any suggestions within and two hour drive of London?  I’m thinking old buildings, beautiful nature and lots for the kids to do.

Picture of the Day 02.05.13 - Bead Therapy

I have been going through my boxes of beads one at a time with lots of ideas and colour combinations coming together.  One of my favourite things to make though are my rainbow tasbeeh's (rosary) because they are one of the things I make that people really like to receive as a gift and that I always hope that they are actually using.

With Ramadan not far away and Eid right behind , I think I will be making quite a few of these insh'Allah.  More pics to come as Shutterbug Sister has promised to take some much better pictures for me insh'Allah.

Learning Arabic: Checking My Intentions

I recently posted about joining a Quranic Arabic course with the ustadha that runs the Arabic Gems website. I say recent, but before I knew it, fourteen weeks had passed and we were at the end of the first term. This meant two weeks to revise before sitting a vocabulary and grammar test.

In the past I was usually quite good at studying, but found the classical Arabic grammar we were learning quite challenging. I realised as I went along that I was not spending enough time studying and have since established a routine whereby I spend the time after fajr (dawn) practising my vocabulary and doing homework.

With the two weeks preceding the test however, I made the intention to study, but kept finding myself distracted and side-tracked. So a day before the test I was doing something I had always scoffed at: cramming.

So after two days of vocabulary practise, I sat the test and passed. After struggling with the grammar element, I spent a few hours trying to work out the relevance of case endings in classical Arabic (see here for an explanation which I found helpful). I then sat the test and...just missed the pass mark (shame face). Between the two however, I think I have just enough marks to get into the next semester which will lead up to Ramadan. This term homework is in Arabic, not English and we are expected to step up our game and work hard. But our teacher also reminded us that this term should be incredibly enjoyable as we really start to delve into the gems in the Quran in the run up to Ramadan.

In the day before the test, I felt that it was too much with four children, never ending housework, a project I am working on with my sisters and with my return to work next month. I really, really wanted to give up. So I mentioned to my husband about giving up and in his usual, sensible way, he suggested I ask myself what my purpose in learning Arabic was. If I was learning to be able to show off to people that I could understand Arabic, then maybe I should give up. I thought about it and concluded that I had wanted to understand what the Quran said as a child and was told I was too young. Now I still wanted to know what the Quran was saying without having to rely on the translation of others. It completely amazes me that the word of Allah (SWT) is on this earth, existing to guide and help us and that everyone is not rushing to learn what it says. I feel as if it exists for my benefit and that I would love to discover some of the treasures and wisdom from the Quran. I believe in making studying, understanding and implementing the Quran a life-long endeavour and learning the language is part of that. 

I think I answered his question. So I have scraped through to the next term and insh’Allah plan to work much harder. I am going through various websites and Youtube videos to find resources to supplement my learning.

For my vocabulary I have been using Memrise (this vocabulary game) and it has proved a brilliant tool, which costs nothing and makes my vocab learning easy. I heartily recommend it.

The other thing I have been thinking about is subscribing to Baiyanah TV which is the brainchild of Ustadg Nauman Ali Khan and includes his “Arabic with Husnah” video series. Have you subscribed or seen the visdeo’s? Can anyone recommend if this is a worthwhile resource. Would love to hear readers views insh’Allah.
Now back to my studies insh’Allah as term 2 starts tonight!

Picture of the Day 01.05.13 - Washing Weather

The last time my washing line looked like this was six years ago when Gorgeous was a baby, although then it was all jeans and little tops.  I never could have imagined that another little one would come along and make life so sweet mash'Allah.

Bead Craft Class

During the Easter holidays, I and Little Lady attended a family craft workshop at her school library.  The sessions was on jewellery making so I thought it would be nice for us to do as we both enjoy making our own jewellery.

We started by following instructions from a worksheet and the instructor to make a keyring in the shape of a little person.

We had to pick beads for the head, body, feet, hands and some long thin bugle-type beads for the arms and legs.

I watched whilst Little Lady threaded the body parts together

The whole person was fairly easy to string onto two wires up unitl the neck and an additional two wires for the arms.  The wire was looped back on itself at the hands and feet to secure the beads.

Where the wires emerged at the top of the persons head they were coiled tightly over a matchstick and then pulled slightly to make some crazy hair.

We the secured the keyring and chain to one of the wires.  There is a nice tutorial for how to make these here. 

The second thing we tried was simple bead-weaving which always seemed very complicated and fiddly to me.

We were asked to measure some elasticated string which was twice the circumference of our wrists.  We then picked out roughly enough beads to go round wrist twice. The beads used here were basic pony beads.

We taped our string to the table with masking tape and started threading the beads through one pair of beads and then the other string through the same pair of beads as below.

Little Lady quickly had enough to go round her hand.  I tied the two ends of the string up to form the bracelet below.

I haven't tried this before because I thought it looked like a lot of work for an effect that didn't seem a little too simple.  But after this workshop, I realised how therapeutic something like this and with the right beads and threads how pretty something like this could look.

We got home and Little Lady promptly made me this ring.  It's nice that she felt motivated to try other things and we both enjoyed the session.

Picture of the Day 24.04.13 - First Anemone

I finally started on the mess that we call a garden this week - so much to clear up, but this little anemone, the only bright thing to have grown in my garden so far helped spur me on.

Shutterbug Sisters Blog

My younger sister M, or Shutterbug as I call her on this blog, has always been a keen photographer.  Of all of my sisters she is probably the kindest and most selfless.  She wanted to buy a DSLR camera (apparently these are the serious cameras - I wouldn't know) for years but always managed to spend the money on someone else, or bills, or to help someone or on my parents.

I was so pleased when she finally got one and enrolled on a photography course.  I have been on at her for a while to share her images with the world, so I was pleased when she finally started blogging her journey as a photographer at http://everyphototunity.wordpress.com/ do check it out and let her know what you think insh'Allah.  Some of her images are below.

New Necklaces and Something Exciting

I finally got the chance to bring out my beads after what felt like a very long time.  I had finished the housework, the kids were school, hubby was on a  job and Darling was asleep.  My afternoon was MINE!!!

I love the glass crystals that are available right now and like mixing their sparkle with some semi-precious stone chips I sourced from another jewellery maker.

These are grape coloured glass crystals and quartz chips.

I managed to get a fair bit done and when the kids came home, they pestered me until I let Little Lady and Little Man thread some of the beads in the evening.  Little Man helped finish off this one.

I love turquoise (my grandmother who lived with me for  a few years and was an amazing woman was called Feroza, which means turquoise) and bought these turquoise beads a few years ago and couldn't decide how to use them.  I love the slightly matte feel of the discs.

Little Lady helped me play around with colour schemes until we came up with this one: turquoise, red glass crystals and green aventurine (another type of quartz) chips.

I love the textures and colour contrasts of this one, although I think I will have to live with it a little before I decide if this is the best use of the turquoise  - what do you think?

Part of the reason I picked up my beads again, was encouragement from my sisters (Shutterbug, Fashionista and Kooks).  We make a great team and although we constantly squabble we also bounce ideas off each other and can get so much done when we team up (like my brothers wedding and then Fashionista's).  Between us we have four bloggers, two keen photographers, four bibliophiles, one crafter, two writers and four girls who love to party, travel and learn and see new things.  So we recently decided to make good use of our skills with a collaboration.  I won't say what yet but insh'Allah more news and lots of pics soon!

Teething, Weaning, Loving

You might remember not that long ago we welcomed our fourth child, Darling as Little Lady calls her, into the world.  Well I'm slightly amazed that Darling is six months already.  Mash'Allah this little one has given me six of the happiest months in my life.  She has been an easy going, happy little sweetheart and I am grateful for her every day.

Now that she is six months, teething has kicked in.  She has two tiny little teeth which are set exactly like her dads, who she is the carbon copy of down to the dimpled chin.  We had about a month when her cheeks would go bright red and she would scratch her ears furiously and try to bite anything she could before her teeth broke through.  Thankfully she is a little more comfortable now, although everything she can reach, grab or lunge for goes straight into her mouth.

She loves slices of cucumber that are nice and cold and for some reason her favourite thing to bite on is one of her dads tasbeehs (rosary) which has very very tough string and quite small beads (I think its the right size to get her teeth into).

Mash'Allah she's sitting up now and rolls around all over the place.  When I pray I put her on a small prayer mat next to me and by the time I am finished, she is somewhere else (including half way under my bed one time). 

Alhamdulillah, now that she is six months we are started to wean her.  I've tried baby rice and cucumber and hope to try avocado and sweet potato this week.  I've come across some fab ideas on Pinterest which I have pinned to my Baby Food board to try out.  Alhamulillah, this little girl has brought me out from the difficult place I was in last year, she has helped me regain my mojo and most importantly, this is the first time I have immersed myself in motherhood without thinking about work or career or anything else and really, really enjoyed it.

Sunshine, Blossoms and Secret Gardens

Now I know why we had such a long, cold winter - so that we can really appreciate it when the warmer weather comes along.  The last few days have been lovely mash'Allah - bright sun, blue skies, a fresh breeze and everything starting to blossom.

I thought this weekend was perfect for taking the kids to the park, so that is what we did.

I love how blue the sky was and how all the pink blossoms on the trees look so pretty against it.  If there is one thing that nature does well it is perfect colour contrasts (think red roses with glossy green leaves or fields of lavender against blue skies).

The daffodils have finally starting appearing, this usually starts happening around February here, but I think they were waiting for the snowy weather to depart.  This wave of daffodils reminded me of the yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz.

We found a corner of the park that we had not explored and found that some formal gardens were being planted.  These were walled off into sections which led into each other.  It was fun to see what was through each arch.

Alhamdullilah, I always avoid going to the park and try to get hubby to take the kids instead so that I can catch up on housework and rest, but whenever I do go I'm so glad I did.  There's something about, greenery, nature, great big trees, sunshine and blue skies which is like medicine to me.