posted
Please let us know how your trip goes...realy wish i was still in Cairo for the end of Ramandan...
Posts: 306 | Registered: Nov 2007
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Alhamdulillah, I have done it. The trip was a great pleasure indeed.
I left Alex at 3:00 PM by train. Arrived at Ramsis Station at 5:30pm with 45 Minutes till Iftar time. (46LE)
I walked from Ramsis to Tahrir via Oprah squares around Maghrib and it was a unique experience. Cairo was mine and mine alone.
My Iftar consisted of some dates and fruits I had with me at Adly street. I had so many invitations to share food from shops workers, street stand attendants and store owners but I wanted to cover more grounds before the crowds came back in the streets. I wish I did share their Iftar though. I missed on the thawab and the experience. I took a taxi from Tharir to Fustat area where Amr Bin Alaas mosque is (10LE). I arrived 20 minutes before Isha time. Enough time for a cup of coffee in a coffee shop across from the Masjid (2LE). It was empty and lovely.
Isha and Qiyam prayers started a few minutes after Isha Azaan. Sheikh Mohammad Jibreel was not there. I am told he will be on the 27th night. Two excellent Quran reciters (Qari') lead the qiyam prayers. 4 rekaat each. May Allah swt accept from all of us. Witr (last rikaa) had a very long qunoot duaa and the prayers were over by 10:00pm. The Masjid layout reminded me of the grand Ummayad mosques of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria. Although it is obvious that this Masjid was rebuilt and is much newer.
I did not find a travel companion here or elsewhere prior to departure, but I contacted a friend of a friend from the US and arranged for a meeting with a brother after Isha prayers to take some pointers on how to do the other activities I had in mind. I met him around 11:00pm. He insisted on taking me to his home for a late dinner. We walked to his house as it was near by. Hospitality in Egypt is considered a duty. Many do it willingly for their own pleasure and as a means of being closer to Allah swt. Besides, Ramadan is the month of Karam (Generosity).
I managed to convince my friend that dinner would be too much as I still had a long night ahead of me planned and a full stomach would hinder the prayer's plans. There was no way out of the Arabic sweets, the tea and coffee drinks though. May Allah swt reward him and bless him and his family for their welcomeness. I felt I was among my own family indeed.
I wanted to do tahajjud prayers while in Cairo that night, but it was still the beginning of Ramadan and organized tahajjud isn't offered till the last 10 days of Ramadan. Tahjjud is a volunteer prayer that is offered during the night any day of the year, yet as it is Ramadan and I was in the city of masajids I really wanted to have the reward of these blessed nights.
I didn't tell you yet but my new found friend turned out to be an actual Imam himself. Sheikh Mohammad leads the prayers in a masjid in southern Cairo. My host made a few calls to inquire about a masjid in old Cairo that conducts the prayers this early in the month. Finally, Seikh Adel, an Imam of a masjid offered to make this an opportunity to start the nightly tahajjud early this year in his Masjid. Masha'Allah.
Start time was set for 1:00am. We took a taxi from Old Cairo to Sayyeda Aisha area (5LE.) I wasn't allowed to pay for it. Sheikh Adel was already there. It was a very old Masjid and we were very few. 4-5 people who gathered on a moment's notice to pray. Sheikh Mohamed conducted the prayer. We did 6 rekaat. Half a chapter of Qur'an in each. May Allah accept.
Around 3:00am we decided to go to the Al-Hussein area for suhoor (LE10). No fortune in paying the fair this time too. We ended up at a place called Farhaat. I was among very nice company with my new friends and the food was even more delicious that way. 1 Kg of kabab and mashawis plus all the trimmings was enough. (~130LE) The inevitable competition for payment ensued and all kinds of tricks were made to win the bill.
We stayed at Farhaat till we heard the call for Fajr (4:20am) from Al Azhar mosque across the street. Al Azhar was inviting and welcoming at this hour. There was already a decent crowd at the Masjid when we got there. Many sisters were there too. I think they prayed under the colonnades in the outside yard. Lucky sisters. The lighting inside was so soft it looked as if it was lit by candles. Fajr prayer was a moving experience indeed. The Imam's recitation was excellent. May Allah accept from us all.
We stayed in Al Azhar watching the daylight break out. An experience I advise you all to have. The serenity of the moment was awesome. The white stones of the minarate looked as if they were glowing from the inside. I have always been a dawn man I guess.
My friends were insisting for me to stay the day in Cairo. Sheikh Mohammad made it so tempting and easy. He even offered me an apartment to stay in that he he isn't using at the moment, but, I had to get back to Alex. The brothers wanted to stay with me till the last minute but I had to beg them to go back to their families and get some rest after the long night we spent together. It was very hard to separate from them indeed but had I left them to their will, they would have stayed with me till I boarded the train in which was not going to be for another few hours. Although I would have loved their company, I knew that it would have disrupted their day's activities big time.
So finally we parted around 5:30am. The night of prayer was over and here we are fasting on a new day.
I hailed a cab from Al Hussein headed towards Al Ataba. The cab was an Old Peugeot 504 with an open roof hatch. I spent an hour or so in the taxi wandering the cool streets of Cairo. Cairo in the early morning was even more empty than Cairo at Iftar time. We drove slow and I had an amazing relaxing time driving in Cairo. An oxymoron. I KNOW.
The cab drive lasted about an hour. The cab driver wanted LE80 but I gave him LE100. I had a very pleasant hour with him. The actual price is probably half that.
By 7:00am I was at the train station again. The train departed at 8:00am and alhmadulillah I was back in Alex by 11:30am.
Subhana'Allah. I entered Cairo, a city of 18 Million not knowing one person in it and feeling like an orphan, yet Allah swt is the Most Generous the Most Merciful. He didn't let me leave Cairo without providing me with a family there.
May Allah swt provide for all those who were a part of this trip, with His Mercy and Sustenance. May Allah swt forgive us all.
Since my first memorable trip, I managed, by the Grace of Allah swt, to go a second time a few days ago. May Allah swt accept from us all. Insha'Allah I will make it for a third time before the end of Ramadan.
Thank you for reading. Insha'Allah, you will get the opportunity I got some time soon.
posted
Yeah, the best thing I like about Ramadan in Egypt is Iftar time, when people in the street won't let you go without eating or drinking something, that's if they have anything to offer of course.
Posts: 6335 | From: Straight to my heart. | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
Wow Abdallah. Mashallah you had a great night! I really miss Ramadan in Egypt especially the Taraweeh. I used to do them in El Sultan Hussein mosque in Heliopolis. I used to love the little prayer the Imam said in the end.
Is this your first time in Cairo? Where are you originally from? You don't have to answer if it's too personal.
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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Sheikh Adel was already there. It was a very old Masjid and we were very few. 4-5 people who gathered on a moment's notice to pray. Sheikh Mohamed conducted the prayer. We did 6 rekaat. Half a chapter of Qur'an in each. May Allah accept.
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