Mariam - 4th Ramadhan 1435.

In the name of Allah, Most gracious, Most merciful.

 

 Indonesian women (borrowed from News24)

Alhamdulillah. The swoosh of tyres on wet asphalt lets me know that Allah has sent barakah to us and our fields and crops and the dams are filling up and I am grateful. The rain washes away the impurities and it is asif the sky hits the refresh button. This Ramadhan has had its fair share of all-weather types – to inspire us. And here’s the thing - as much as I love to cook and bake and brew, one should not be spending so much time busy with food, Ramadhan has far too many niyamahs. So, as much as my legs ache there is nothing I would rather do than burn the midnight oil-I can always sleep in a bit in the morning.

One Ramadhan, my youngest was still a baby, I asked the permission from my family to stay in Iktikaaf for one night. That year Kareema Quick and her daughters, a few women from Manenberg and myself made ourselves comfortable, kept busy with our personal recitations and duahs and when the masjid was completely quiet, we sat in a circle and spoke about Sietienah Mariam Alayhi salaam the mother of Nabi 'Isa  Alayhi salaam, from the family of Imran as a grace to all womankind.

Her life as a little girl and as a virgin young woman and as a mother should serve as an example to us all, her endless devotion and absolute faith, having been chosen over all other women by Allah. Allah SWT holds her in such high esteem that she is mentioned as one of the women of Jannah, Subhanallah. That evening was really a wonderful experience, not unlike other Kiyaamu Layl I had spent in the 80s and 90s, just better and more focused on ibaadah. When Fajr arrived one of my daughters stood tight against my shoulder and afterwards we all went home.

As women we should encourage ourselves and our daughters to frequent the masjid, this sacred place of ibaadah to contemplate, to recite Allah SWT’s Holy Book, to read other kitaab, to find solace and most importantly to stand shoulder to shoulder in saf. To to be present in mosque with all of our problems and dilemmas, to seek Allah’s help there, to beseech for His mercy there, no better a confidant to find. Also to celebrate with Allah your joys and give thanks, for a new baby or car or job or crop or marriage or good health. This stillness is perfect to study. Of course all one has to do is to throw open your prayer mat at home and do such. But nothing compares to the serenity and sanctity of sacred ground, why else did Mariam Alayhi salaam stay but to be the closest to her Rabb.

There is something to be said about standing in saf with one’s sisters, shoulder to shoulder or foot to foot as we did in Sudan - they even curl their small toes into yours. There is something to be said about the sanctity of the saf, the feeling of a continuous line of communication, strong in niyyah. uniform in ibaadah and firm in Ameen. There is something to be said of the feeling of safety in worship, though you may feel tired shoulders hold you up and a smile lets you know that you stand as one. There is so much to be said about being a part of a jama’ah of the world in Cape Town or in Joburg, in Peru or in Beijing, in Los Angeles or in Marakesh, in Gangam or in Reem all of us facing the Holy Ka’aba in different time lines but all the time.

Women in saf in Toledo

When I was a working mom, I would rush off to masjid for Jumuah, sometimes arriving out of breath because I had to take a taxi. Smiles all around and silent “you made it.” I’d go to mosque until my contractions started and be back with baby after Nifaas. I went during pregnancies particularly that Allah and the sounds and smells and feelings of masjid would permeate the consciousness of my children while they were in the womb. So that they knew that wherever they were in the world, at whatever time, Allah’s house would welcome them and they would surely find their way to it.

When we were in Makkah, Abu and I would go down to the Haram and conspire to meet after salah at Bab Fatag. I would wait for 15 minutes and if he was not there would make my way up to the beit. He would do the same. One jumuah I stood beside a woman working in Madinah and accompanying her husband to Makkah for an Umrah and a Jumuah and back to Madinah. As we completed salah, she was still sajdah. I sat waiting, not rushing to get out and the woman was still in sajdah. At first I thought that she needed to ask Allah something really badly. But the area was really becoming sparse so put my arm around her to ensure that she was alright. She signaled to me that she was grateful for the rescue and needed to complete her raka’ah with a sigh. So I helped her sit in Tahyaa and when she completed tasleem she asked me to help lie her down she had a slipped disk. She asked me to see whether her husband was waiting and to let him know to fetch her. As I looked past the golden screens there stood Abu and the husband making chit chat, waiting because we wanted to go to Sakeefah’s for excellent prawns.

It matters not that I forgot her name I still see her beautiful, pained face. “You from Kashmir too?”she asked. “I wish, but no, this nose fools many people”. Kashmir is just one of the places that I have travelled through books, Its snow caps mountains, fresh pine forest and beautiful rivers with quaint boatmen, ja I know Kashmir. So if we ever wonder why standing in saf in Jama’ah is something that we miss if we have not been to mosque in a while,  know that our souls knew one another at the Arawaag, long before we were born and probably we stood in saf.

Today’s blog would not be complete without mentioning a beloved cousin Mariam or Mayam as we called her. She was there and helped take care of us and spoilt us rotten. How else? we stood in saf in Makkah and in Madinah and probably long before we were born. May we all have success when we stand in saf Youmil Kiyamah.

Keep planting food even if it rains.

Yasmine