12 000 Believers will not be defeated

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful.

 

 13 December 2014.

Schools Out! Alhamdulilaah, on Thursday evening the reports handing over to students went quite well, paintings were exhibited, a quick watering of the gourmet gardens and a maintenance plan for the vacation period.

My favourite parts were the opening Thikr; “the year that was” and a heart-warming campaign by The International Peace College of South Africa to establish a Waqf fund.
But first the Thikr - led so soulfully and melodically drawing me in, drawing us all in. A connectedness of jama’ah of students and teachers and volunteers and teachers praising Allah the Exalted, the Eternal, the Everlasting, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting. Verily there is none to worship except Allah. Subhanallah!

Sheikh Dawood Terblanche recited the fourth Riwaayah, transporting me back to Madrassah with Sh Seraj Johaar. And the words came tumbling back. It was over far too quickly, there we stood shoulder to shoulder for the Ashraqal our hearts wrenched and for me a trip to Madinah Munowarah. Then it was Magrib.

Afterwards student matters were sorted out and I made a list of the students who really did exceptionally well in the final term on the Global Leadership and Life Orientation Course: Dilshaad Abrahams, Shahana Brey , Zaida Brown, Fahgmeda Cassiem, Suhail Dalvie, Nuhaa Doutie, Rachmat Ismail, Shaheemah Jamie, Juwairia Khan, Zulpha Mahrie, Aisha Rowbottom,Faheem Orgill, Ganief Rhode, Ismaeel Sadien, Qudsiyya Azad, Tay-eeba Banien, Raeesah Dien, Jubeada Goolam, Naa-elah Hollland, Fatima Thompson, Nishaat Karjiker, Malikah Mohamed, Nuraan Moos and Safiyyah Van Schoor. Alf Mabruk to you all and shukran to Waseemah and Ml Ebrahim for working alongside us!

 

Sh Igsaan Taliep invited everyone in the hall to join the 12000 Believers Campaign based on the hadith, “12000 Muslims will not be defeated for lack of numbers.” (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, ibn Maja). It’s a brilliant campaign as IPSA is now an accredited institution which needs to show long term sustainability. Thus a call to pledge whatever is affordable on a monthly basis. The campaign started with its own students, volunteers, teachers and parents to bolster the Waqf fund, bolstering their hearts and sincerity to rally support for an educational institution that serves the community.

Just think about it. Private institutions cannot survive without the goodwill of the community. We think absolutely nothing of spending more than R200 on take out, chocolates and niceties. If a few thousand believers pledged a minimum of R100 per month, the fund can start growing.  I am certainly pledging my support and I encourage others to establish Sadaqah tul Jari’ah just like I encourage to plant a fruit tree. It’s an investment that is eternal, inshaAllah. I would like to be a part of that 12 000 Muslims that will not be defeated, wouldn’t you?

Before I forget - the scrumptious vermicelli and a drink (forgot the name) served by Gadija Abdullah was sooo decadent. The drink was like gadat melk meets boeber, laced with cardamom  and much more nuts.

Plant food and support Learning institutions.

Yasmine

 

 

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

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

11 December 2014.

 

 

 Alhamdulillah, as the year comes to a close, I do a mental check. It’s IPSA's final Thikr and handing out of reports this evening; studies under control; Gourmet garden doing fabulously; The kitties are darling, so irresistible and naughty; Yay! Our iLABS e-newsletter (though a bit late of last term) is now on-line and furiously working on final edition. Have a peak the link is at the bottom of the blog.

 

I have visions of kicking off my gumboots; buying pretty summer dresses; strolling the beach; early morning swims; cool fruity summer breakfast and friends over for interesting conversation and no work – except in the garden.

Was the Stewardship module on the Enrichment course fruitful and interesting? Absolutely! The gourmet garden sports some handsome looking lettuce and basil and mints and lavender and everything that the students planted except the butternut seedlings that drooped and dried. Wethinks it may be the pretty ginger kittycat. The veggies and herbs are already finding their way onto sandwiches and cool spritzers. The IPSide Edge Blog is beautiful and interesting and the calligraphic paintings are so comely they will be exhibited tonight with the garden lit up with fairy lights. I do so look forward to the 2014 students handing over the gourmet garden to the new Enrichment students of 2015 as an amaanah inshaAllah.

Closer to home, the gardens are doing well, Thank you Allah. Though the wind has tugged and teared at the trees with some loss of small fruits, a solitary pomegranate stands in the midst of the blossoms blown off. The white fig tree has numerous little figs, alas not enough to make some konfyt. The chaste trees are starting to flower and we look forward to the berries which mind you is good for infertility, prostrate cancer, menstruation and menopause.

The sweetpeas then

The flower beds need some clearing up as the poppies are done blooming and heads harvested for seeds to plant next year. The sweetpea pods are dried on their stalks, waiting for us to harvest and store. The delphiniums are blooming in all tones of purples, a few Peruvian lilies have bloomed and a bright pink Barbeton daisy has graced our stoep. I strew cosmos seeds along the border close to the wall and maybe in a week or two we will have flushes of pink and white. In the meantime I seeded some snapdragon seeds in punnets also for summer colour.



I harvested about a lunch box filled with flaxseed and there are still many ears of it in waiting, one day at a time, Yasmine. Many artichoke heads have made their appearance and small small cucumbers hang on creepers. Water melons are sizeable and I cannot wait to harvest them for cooking and konfyting. The butternuts are so well formed and the squash, dark green and thick skinned will be cooked tonight still.

Wolverine Then

Wolverine now

Leo and Wolverine are growing so Ma shaAllah – and lekker stout! They strut around with me when I pick fruits and veggies. And at night after they have eaten, at Magrib they run around the entire property.

There we stand pssw pswws. They come closer and the moment we want to pick them up off they bounce again. They love the strawberry patches and I thought they may have a penchant for berries but they just brush up against it so they smell like ripe strawberries when they want hugs. And very late at night and early in the morrow, they frolic and slide down the passage on the magic carpet.
 

I love that many friends and family are buying plants as gifts, for weddings, end of year gratitude presents, Christmas presents, and presents to bribe teachers with. How cool is that? A small wooden crate with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (like in the Beatles song). I got the idea when my friend Athalie gave us a gift like this when Abu and I got married, thanks again Athalie.

rosemary and sage

So ja, it works perfectly when one wraps a bit of pretty tissue paper and some cellophane around the plant! Imagine that guests receive gifts at a wedding of a small herb pot plant, just plain awesome to encourage to start planting food.

So plant food and give plants as gifts.

Yasmine

Link for iLABS e newsletter :iLabs Newsletter 2 sept2014 sm

ps. finally an electric blue delphinium! 

 

 

Learning and teaching from heart to heart.

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

5 December 2014.

  Tonight there are many graduations happening all over Cape Town – schools out!  As we walked out of the Islamia Masjid this evening, the night was beautiful; the moon bright in her splendour; the wind had died down and our hearts were light.
 
I still can’t believe that I have been a part of a gathering, an esteemed gathering where students of Al Tanzil graduated who had completed their years’ work and were awarded Sanad (chain of narration) and Ijaza (teaching license).  Some of the students were awarded certification and some completed the Qur’an in different qira’at (methods of recitation). I can just imagine how it felt for them personally, sitting there in an audience of teachers and teachers of teachers and students of teachers, a very esteemed gathering indeed. I mean every time I finish a khatam and as the end of the Qur’an is approaching, the sobs crawl up one’s throat and tears roll. It is that sacred moment that is experienced like no other. It is the proverbial handing of all of one’s verses and pages and chapters of deep dedication and connectedness and lifting it high for the angels to take to Allah. Subhanallah!

It was an especially esteemed evening because a young woman was finishing her khatams to receive sanad and ijaza for ten different qira’at. This is the first time that a woman has completed in southern Africa. It has been done in other parts of the world in different eras but never here. Aisha Abrahams – I’d see a wisp of her flowing garb Saturday mornings when she comes to learn at the feet of her teachers.
This practice, as was explained with such clarity by Qari Ayub, has been executed from the time of the Prophet Muhamad, May Allah bestow peace and blessing upon him, from generation to generation by both men and women as students and as teachers  - men teaching men and women and women teaching women and men. And this was not just the case of the Qur’an I might add, but also Hadith and Fiqh specialist such as Sahabia Rubiyya bint Muawidh bint Afrah (RA); Amrah bint Abdur Rahman; The Caliph Abdul Malik b. Marwan, attended the classes of Umm Darda; Fatima al-Juzdani, a great scholar from Isfahan read one of the great books of Hadith, Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabeer, and taught it too. And this just to mention a few.

I can’t remember the story that Qari Ayub told of a village in India where daughters of every household learnt ten Qira’at. I can’t even conceive of it, the voices of the Qur’an in solo and in unison that must be something else, right?

So our own Aisha Abrahams did her public ending recitals in ten qira’at this evening and it was a unforgettable occasion for all who were there, participating and relishing in the barakah Alhamdulilah. I like the explanation of the kind of learning that occurs at Al Tanzil, it is from heart to heart and not just from mind to mind.  In a small way we felt a part of all the students’ journeys just being present here in Schaapkraal and to be present in this ceremony tonight, it was an honour.

Imagine a school where the students revise and recite and play and eat from the land (strawberries and veggies to take home). Imagine a school where teachers are dedicated and caring, where they sit outdoors and learn under the shade and in the fresh air

 . Imagine a school where there is no beating just earnestness and laughter, where the students look forward to school and are happy. Imagine a school where there is personal attention for every student. It’s true, it’s happening right here!

 Plant food and listen to qira’at.

Yasmine

 

Rhubarb stews

In the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful.

Rhubarb sorbet from simply recipes

2 November 2014.

Early this morning I asked Abubakr to drop me off at UCT I needed to go up to the library, stop sommer here I will dash up the stairs like I used to. Huge mistake. I walk up the stairs and my legs are not just aching it is in pain but I stand for a moment looking over the horizon and rub my legs. The day is beautifully cool and cloudy and temperamental.

I continue up the stairs and I realize I may be able to pull a 50 m heavy hose around, work in the beds all day take my little jog/walks around but I am unfit!!!! So I walk around leisurely into the shops and look for little gifts and when I look at the prices I change my mind and methinks giving gifts of nature of plants like strawberries and lavender wrapped up in cellophane is going to be it. 

Yep this is the time for gifts – end of year shukran gifts, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, anniversary gifts (hint hint). And ja, I do think giving a plant or a few and a bag of compost is an excellent choice. I have the perfect little gift plants.

Anyway so I make my way to the library and the scanner does not recognize my student card, heck I don’t recognize the photo myself. And then I try to log in and my passwords don’t work. But I am not fazed by small things. I take a walk have a tea and a gorgeous choc mousse croissant and make notes. I have my password reset, search for my research readings, take out my books and here I am writing a quick blog because I may get home and the electricity is off again.

Yesterday was a lazy day for me, I resisted my daughter’s book stack until yesterday. I am a book guzzler. I speed read for studies and can’t read slowly no more. I try, I go back savour the sections read it over but then I am off. So I enjoyed reading the Divergent trilogy and the Mocking Jay and with all of that out of my system I am busy with research again. 

As soon as I get home will be planting rhubarb and more okra and lots more danya inshaAllah. I also have a row of peas to plant. I want to try a rhubarb stew with yoghurt, but got to rush Abu is outside! But wait I have a look at this from

from http://shutitandeatyourveggies.wordpress.com

 

re Your Rhubarb Stalks Handy? Ready, Set, Cook!
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie (Vegan: veganthyme.com)
2 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb stalks (chopped)
2 1/2 cups strawberries (sliced)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t fresh lemon zest
2 t sugar to sprinkle on the top of pie
Preheat oven to 425. In a mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients and mix well.  Let it sit for about 15 minutes to marinate. Assuming you already have your pie crust in the pan, pour in your all of your ingredients.  Put a pie crust on the top of your pan to seal the deal.  Make slits on your upper pie shell for ventilation. Sprinkle on your sugar and throw that sucker into your piping hot oven.  Cook for about 30 mins.  Then turn down your oven to 350 and cook another 30 minutes. Gage it. Every oven is different.
You want a beautiful brown top and a cooked gooey inside.

Later

plant food, kick up your feet and read a book.

Yasmine

Koeksister Sunday .

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

30 November 2014.

Early in the morning, the world around us sleeps while I pick strawberries for breakfast; the world sleeps as I check the plants and soil. The worlds still sleeps as I sugar koeksisters and make a fresh pot of tea, allow it to infuse.  In the meantime, the kitties wake up and mew because they are hungry and as I open the backdoor they bounce out and amongst the rows and rows of potted plants. No peeing in my plants! Look what you did to The Sage.

I cast mine eyes unto the mountains and it looks superimposed on the blue skyline, breathtakingly beautiful Masha Allah.  As I do my rounds the artichoke bushes are crowning, yep baby heads are appearing and the okra bushes are starting to show their lady fingers. Small ellipses of eggplants hang on the brinjal bushes and the tomatoes are being reddened by the sun – big splenders and konfyt tomatoes and teenie tiny ones for salads, yay!  And I did cook the Chinese cabbage in oumense onder die komberse stew. It was not too bad but the texture is definitely softer but I did not want it to go to waste. It is much better suited for stir fries though,  in the stew it was grealyt enjoyed none the less.

A few nights ago we made a delicious chicken curry with aromatic basmati and I added some of the fava bean about two handfuls, unshelled. I added it to the curry just as I put in the potato and all I can say is wows all-round the table! It was soft and creamy and just downright delectable. I am so planting more. I have been giving everyone to cook and to taste and never got round to that vegetarian curry yet so ja, fava bean, broad bean is excellent in any curry. 

Went off to the movies yesterday, it’s been a long time. So we sat close to the front because Abu forgot his specs and man, the screen is in your face! But we had a lekker time, popcorn and chocolate and giggles. Today Abu and the kids are off – Luqmaan is druk busy with carvings and new designs. And it is so peaceful here. A dog yelps in the distance and occasionally a car passes I guess everyone is on the beach. Me, I am still marking with a smile on my face for some of the comments at the end of scripts. 

Yesterday I was in Zen mood  and would have loved a small Japanese garden with beautiful boulders to balance on and a rake to make neat little patterns  that make the mind peaceful . So instead took four square clay pots, transplanted the overgrown plants in them, washed them out and displayed them on the concrete bench. Like an artist I walked around them, perused it from a distance and then, a lightbulb moment. Hmmm some hardy plants, some white pebbles, go for the minimalist look. Could look grand down the centre of a dinner table ne?

I am not cooking lunch it’s far too good a day to be spent in front of pots. I am still looking for unripened green figs to make konfyt with – Abu bought me a konfyt pot and it is beautiful. It has a thick base and a good size so now I don’t have to cook in two pots Alhamdulillah.  The smaller fig trees are starting to fruit but alas too few about 12 green figs if I am lucky.  Next year is my fig year, should Allah spare me, the small trees have grown to over a metre already.  I am already thinking of ripe figs in salads; grilled with slices of camembert on toast; with ice-cream and on its own hhmmm. Hey maybe not to count my chickens ne the Lansdowne area fig trees were all infested with bumble bee eggs and had to be chopped down.

Well Abu is back with some fresh lamb chops. Did I say I am not cooking? I lied. While I make an awesome curry my daughter makes rotis. My grandson Mikaeel has a filled a bath of cool water and is lounging in it to cool off - hoping to entice the kitties to join him. They smell the bath and lift up their arrogant chins and strut off to lay in a cool corner somewhere, the heat is turned up today. If  I have energy maybe I’ll make some dessert or bake a bread, you know what Sundays can be like, it may just be a lazy day lounging around like the kitties.

Plant food and take a walk on the beach when it cools down.

Yasmine

Some pics from the Gourmet garden at IPSA:

Let nature do her thing

In the name of Allah, the Most gracious, the Most merciful. There is none like unto Him.



molesnake under borage

 25 November 2014

InshaAllah to have a successful garden of fruits and vegetables one has to get the eco balance right. So we do our best to make it easier for nature to do her thing.  In the words of bob flowerdew, “Nature always reaches a balance; we aim to move that point so that it is in our favour and not against us.” So the borage plants and nasturtiums provide not only shade for the plants but are excellent hiding places for insects and of late animals of the slithering kind such as geitjies and snakes.

In the past the use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers have wreaked havoc with not only plants but also to our health and as the world over gardeners and agriculturalists have realized the way to go is hand over to biological control – thus yields are up and we are all invested in using natural processes to our advantage.

Which brings me to encouraging wild life in this harmonious balance. We need to encourage pests as well as predators, pollinators and recyclers. Pests are only pests when they destroy our crops and plants such as an overload of snails but controlled in smaller numbers they feed birds whose droppings make the soil fertile and as a bonus snails eat diseased and waste material too. So before you scream when you see baby toads or frogs remember that they eat other pests. Beetles are friends when they are orange or yellow or red and covered with black spots – yep ladybugs. But the ones who bore into branches and stems are a no no though beetles are great pollinators in winter conditions when other insects can’t fly. Recyclers are insects that convert dead and diseased plant material into plant food both in the soil and on the soil.

Earlier we had a cricket overload and the birds helped to balance the scales again. Of late I see that there are many frogs around the smallholding – green ones and small black ones and I have been wondering which predators it will bring. I did not have too long to wait! Last week I was at a meeting, I noticed that the strawberry patch at the back of wall seemed a bit disheveled with the border onions looking verlep when I got home and did my rounds. Everyone was avoiding my eyes so I thought: “ Ag the boys kicked the ball into the garden again and broke something”.

By Thursday the word was out, “We saw a snake.” “It’s by time”, was my flippant reply. I had seen a molted snake skin and a small red grass snake at the compost heap. Finally I got out the story, no one wanted me to know because they thought it would scare me. How long was it, what kind of snake, what colour, where was it, who found it, who killed it, who buried it? These are the moments when I am not sure who was nearly wetting their pants or really brave, tee hee.

It turned out to be a metre and a bit long probably a mole snake. I think it really scared the boys picking strawberries and as they chased it the snake tried to escape down the rabbit hole, I mean gopher hole. There has been a lot of drilling and commotion on the street pavement and I kind of expected snakes to come and look for safety, which is what happened in Lansdowne when huge machines cut the bushes on the field. We also have lots of frogs and crickets, perfect hors d'oeuvres for snakes. So ha ha, the boys buried the snake and I had a heck of time explaining that snakes have a part to play in the eco system as well, why does everyone see them as evil serpents waiting to bite them? The gopher made holes through the beds and the snakes are subletting from them. Not that it does not make me nervous - just no more sandals in the gardens and knocking out of boots before we put them on. 

So ja, our eco system has developed well and makes for a very healthy environment for humans, plants and wild life and of course our kitties, who mind you are growing up so fast – mice, moles and snakes beware. I shake with laughter as they chase bees and flies and grrp in their mouths. They have extended their playground to the surrounding sections of the house and still dash in when there is an unfamiliar loud noise.

I continue placing logs and make corners of rocks as good hiding places for bugs and other things. I plant very particular plants to lure the pollinators, recyclers and pests and predators such as comfrey, borage, lavender, poppies, artichokes, fuchsias, sweet peas and fox gloves and I do think as city slickers we have to consider wild life more than just reacting to the fear factor. Spiders and wasps are such valuable friends. And one can learn to control ones fear around the bees. If you are calm and collected working around the same space where they are collecting nectar they can’t be bothered with you. Quite frankly, I used to be scared and make duah as I enter their space but I get over myself because we need them more than they need us. There would be very little vegetables indeed if the pollinators did not come and visit.

Plant food and get over yourself with being scared of bees

Yasmine