Project 365

In Saudi Arabia, black people are called takruni. These people have lived here for many years and generations, that some of them do not even know their country of origin anymore. They have no idea where they come from. They speak Arabic and live mainly on the streets, searching for bottles and cans in trash bins to be exchanged with money.

My brother asked me today, where did the word takruni come from? He was so curious that he started googling it. In the beginning we searched takroni and takrooni but found none. After googling and wiki-ing (?) for a while, we found the answer.

Takruni is derived from Takrur, which was an ancient kingdom of West Africa, including much of Ghana and Senegal and the western Sahara desert. Takruni refers to the people of this kingdom. Other known forms of takruni are Takarin, Takarna, Takruri, and Takarir. It is believed that the earliest West African Muslims to be seen in the Middle East in recognizable numbers may have come from that state.

The desire to write grows with writing.

— Desiderius Erasmus*

I haven’t been so good at keeping my promise on writing a blog at amellie.net on a regular basis. I used to write a lot of things related to current affairs, women’s rights, and many more. But I realized I had stopped doing that long time ago. Master’s studies have taken away my time and have successfully dropped my writing mood. I used to write a lot in the weekends, but I never did that anymore. I preferred to do other things.

But few days ago I encountered a report published by Human Rights Watch titled "As If I Am Not Human": Abuses against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia. I read this report with anger and it really disturbed me. This report fueled me to write a blog posting about domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.

Read the full post here 🙂

* Quote taken from Rahmah

Forgiving someone who has wronged you won’t make yesterday’s pain disappear, but it will allow tomorrow’s happiness to grow.

— Yasir Qadhi

I got this quote from a friend and it kind of struck me. It made me question myself: why did I forgive you in the first place?

Was it because I wanted to let go of the past? Or was it because I didn’t want to give a damn about you anymore? Or was it because I wanted to throw away all the burdens I had?

The answers were: yes, to all of the above questions.

But then, the question continued: why should I forgive you when I didn’t even want to deal with you anymore?

Forgiveness was one thing. To keep in touch was another thing. I thought.

But did it make my forgiveness genuine?

Well, let’s refer to the dictionary to know what ‘forgive’ really means. To stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw, or mistake.

The truth was, I was no longer angry at you. If I was, I wouldn’t be care enough to reply your messages. Or to ask how you were doing.

That day when you asked me if I would forgive you, I said yes. Yes. With no questions asked. No uncertainties inquired. And no conditions told.

Perhaps, this was the quickest way to officially close the book. I may or may not open the book again and continue with a new chapter. But for now, I’d prefer it to be closed and be stored in a dusty place. Just like I always did for the other books.

I had never felt so relieved until that day! 🙂

Goodbye, you.

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s the life in your years.

— Abraham Lincoln

What does it mean to be a 25 years old? I kept asking that question to myself but I can’t seem to find a clear answer. For me, 18 was the time when I acquired freedom. 23 was the time when I transformed from being a teenage girl to a woman. But 25? What does it exactly tell me?

I still have no idea. What I know is that I’m getting older. Years ago I thought I would be married by the time I reached 25, but look at me now… still flying freely like there is no tomorrow.

I’ve been through a lot these past few years. I’ve been fulfilled. I’ve been contented. I’ve been betrayed and lied to. I’ve hurt some people. I’ve lost some friends. I’ve gained some more. I’ve traveled the world.

But there is one unfinished business that I’ve been trying to ignore for so many times: to graduate. To finish my Master’s thesis. Motivation hasn’t been a friend, but I’ve been trying to get it back. I HAVE TO GRADUATE BY NEXT SEMESTER! Let’s do this!!! Ganbatte!

It’s time to let go those people who are not worth-keeping and to keep those who are worth-fighting for! 🙂

I have spent the last 6 years straight of Eid ul-Fitr without my family. And I don’t want to spend yet another Eid “alone” anymore! So today, insya Allah I’ll be flying to Saudi Arabia to join my mom, dad, sis, and bro for the Eid celebration!

I’ll arrive in Jeddah early Friday morning and I really hope I could perform Eid prayer over there! Or, worst case scenario I’ll be praying at the airport hahaha. Then hopefully I’ll meet some of my friends and former teachers at the residence of the consul-general of Indonesia. My family and I will also be visiting friends’ houses, so it’s going to be exciting! I can’t wait to eat the foods hahaha.

In the Netherlands, some people will celebrate the Eid on Friday. And some, including the Turkish people celebrate it today :).

So I want to wish you all, Eid Mubarak. I hope we have improved our faith and may Allah SWT accept our fasts and prayers, Ameen. Kullu 3am wa antum be7air! 🙂 Have a great celebration!

Among the Muslims the most perfect, as regards his faith, is the one whose character is excellent, and the best among you are those who treat their wives well.

— Prophet Muhammad SAW [Tirmidhi]

I just love to read and hear everything about Aisha RA, the third wife of our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW. She made a great contribution to Islam and became a role model for Muslim women all over the world, including her participation in the politics. Her loving and compassionate relationship with her husband and their fondness to each other is also something I really love to read; how she used to treat him and how he used to treat her.

(As I’m too lazy to write right now, I’d put some interesting aspects about her and Prophet SAW in bullet points)

• When the Prophet SAW was asked who the most beloved person to him was, he answered, “Aisha”. And when he was asked who the most beloved man to him was, he answered, “her father”. [Sahih Bukhari Vol. 5, Book 57, No. 14]
• She’s the complete example of what Muslim women should be like. She’s very charitable and generous, as well as soft-hearted.
• She contributed greatly on preserving the Prophet’s sayings and actions to be set as an example followed by Muslims. There are 2210 hadiths narrated by her.
• She possessed a great knowledge about Islam, as said by Abu Musa: “If we, companions of the Messenger of God, had any difficulty on a matter, we asked Aisha about it.”
• The Prophet SAW once said, “Whoever wants to see a woman from the women of paradise, then let that person look at Um Ruman RA.” Um Ruman is Aisyah’s mother. Her parents definitely made a good example for Aisha.
• The Prophet SAW asked his daughter, Fatima, “Do you love what I love?” and she responded with a yes. Then he said, “Then you must love this woman [Aisha].”
• The Prophet SAW one day said, “O, Aisha, I know when you are angry or pleased.” She then asked, “How do you know that?” The Prophet answered, “When you’re pleased, you say, ‘Yes, by the Lord of Muhammad SAW’ but when you’re angry, you say, ‘No, by the Lord of Ibrahim AS.’” [Sahih Bukhari Vol. 8, Book 73, No. 101] I just love this! This was how she displayed her anger towards her husband! No screaming, calling each other’s names, arguing, and other things you could possibly think of. What an amazing woman she was.
• The Prophet said, "The superiority of Aisha to other women is like the superiority of Tharid to other kinds of food." [Sahih Bukhari Vol. 7, Book 65, No. 330]
• Whenever the Prophet would leave for the mosque, he’d kiss his wife.
• The Prophet SAW and Aisha RA used to share utensils together. She’d take a drink from a cup, then she’d give it to him, and he’d drink from the same place she drank. She’d also eat some of the meat and she’d give the plate to him. Isn’t it wonderful? He would let his wife ate first before him. In today’s world, we call this “ladies first”.
• The Prophet SAW used to recite the Qur’an to Aisha during her menstruation period
• She used to participate in the battles of the Prophet SAW, collecting arrows or bring water to the fighters.
• On jealousy, she said: “I never felt so jealous of any woman as I did of Khadija, though she had died three years before the Prophet married me, and that was because I heard him mentioning her too often, and because his Lord had ordered him to give her the glad tidings that she would have a palace in Paradise, made of Qasab and because he used to slaughter a sheep and distribute its meat among her friends.” [Sahih Bukhari Vol. 8, Book 73, No. 33]
• During the Prophet Muhammad SAW’s last illness, he’d go to Aisha’s apartment and he passed away with his head in her lap.

Sources:

• Aisha bint Abu Bakr by Suhaib Webb [YouTube]
• Great Women in Islam: Aisha bint Abu Bakr
• Jannah.org: Aisha bint Abu Bakr
• Islam’s Women: Aisha bint Abu Bakr

• Called IND (the Dutch immigration office) and they told me that I could just go to Den Bosch to pick up my new residence permit. Yay! I was already stressing out that I couldn’t get my permit on time because of the stupid invitation letter that I never got :(. I’m leaving to Jeddah in 10 days and I need the permit ASAP, otherwise I have to pay 40 Euro for the exit and re-entry visa. So when they told me that I just needed my old permit and a passport to pick up the new one, I was relieved! 🙂
• I did a web development job for a new NGO company few months ago. The project has finished but it hasn’t been formally closed. My ‘boss’ called me today and we agreed to have a finalized meeting in Delft on Wednesday. Can’t wait to receive my full pay!
• Contacted a colleague at Philips and asked if he’s still interested to hire me for a thesis project and he told me to come over this week! Alhamdulillah! I couldn’t be more grateful. If I can do this project, it will be better — I’ll get paid (it’s not much, but it’s better than nothing at all!) and I’ll expand my network and contacts which will hopefully make it easier for me to find a job later when I graduate. I hope. I really hope. Ya Allah please open up the opportunity for me.

🙂

It’s just… I feel better somehow not to see your updates

That’s all I could say to you when you asked me for the reason. And I didn’t see the necessity for you to know how I’m doing either :).

Be it like that. Let’s just go our own separate way.

It was a tiring and fulfilling day for me. I have just came back from an ifthar  gathering with an Indonesian community here. I was one of the seksi sibuk (people who are busy because they’re in charge of the whole event). I was standby from 2pm til the end of the gathering! Helping to cook, clean, re-arrange, distribute the foods, and of course eat them! Though I was very tired by the time I reached home, I always loved to help :). It made me happy, somehow.

There were about 25 people came to the gathering. The foods were plenty! And they were so delicious! Again, I ate too much that my stomach complained all the time. I won’t eat again for sahur. It’s enough.

🙂