It's always good to reminisce a little, you know?

So, I can still remember the early morning Call to Prayer going off around 5:25 in the morning here in Hayy Al-Amal. “Allahu Akbar” still resounds in my memory and my thoughts reminisce with such fondness last year’s Ramadan celebration. Ramadan: a month of fasting, a month of prayer, a month of getting closer to God; a Holy month indeed. Ramadan Al-Mubarak, as it is called, requires that the believers fast for the entire month, from sunrise to sunset, that they may learn self-restraint, patience, humility, empathy, and many other divine attributes. I remember those early mornings during Ramadan, waking up at 5 in the a.m. for suHuur (which is the early morning meal before starting your fast for the day) and then fasting the entire day (no food, no water) finally arriving at home around 6 o’clock, as the sun went down and the only thing you would hear was the beautiful loudspeaker on top of the minarets announcing that the fast for that day was over, as “Allahu Akbar” reverberated all around you.



The fast was broken with dates and then a DELICIOUS bowl of Harira (Hmmmmmm) while we saw the live broadcast from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Imam leading the Mu’mineen (The Believers) in worship as he recited the Qur’an and prayed alongside them. It was awesome because the Qur’anic recitations were accompanied with English subtitles, so I actually understood what was being said. It was also a wonderful feat to see the Sacred Mosque in Mecca just filled with people, praying and worshipping the Lord and Cherisher of the Universe in a way that from my childhood I have always admired.


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Indeed, the images of Muslims bowing down in reverent humility at the same time and at the same place, always stirred such a feeling of awe and love for those people, who although different in their faith from me, were still humble enough to get on their knees and worship God. And it was also cool, because as the month went on and its days dwindled down, the mosque and the surrounding areas became more and more filled with worshippers, insomuch that by the end of Ramadan, people were everywhere (and I mean EVERYWHERE) facing the Kaba’a as they prayed: in the mosque, on the streets, on the roof tops (in fact on the very roof tops of the Sacred Mosque), and everywhere around the mosque. It made the Day-Without-an-Immigrant parade of last year look like a tiny speck when compared to the amount of people that were in Mecca during those holy days. It was, as we say in Latin, Mirabile Dictu!


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That was the daily routine as we ate and drank together and rejoiced to be in each other’s company. After some minutes, we turned the TV to MBC 2 where we would see this incredibly funny show in Moroccan Arabic called “Camera Lakum” which stared Moroccan Actress (I forget her name) and later on “Khalid Bin Al-Waleed,” a show which portrayed the beginnings of Islam, its rise and spread, and its arrival to the furthest lands of the West, a.k.a. Morocco. They were both wonderful shows, I must say!



But what I remember most during Ramadan was this hilarious Saudi satire featuring this guy named Fu’aad and his band of friends. The show was called “Tash Maa Tash Arbatash” (Arbatash means 14 in Arabic), because it was in its 14th season on the air! I don’t remember ever laughing so much and so hard in my LIFE, ladies and gentlemen; it was comical, it was entertaining, it was rated “the Best Gulf Series” during Ramadan . . . it was Tash Maa Tash! Priceless, just, just Priceless! I just remember this one episode where they were making fun of the extremist groups that exist in Saudi Arabia and which train Mujahideen (Jihad warriors) to blow themselves and to kill Kuffaar (Infidels) and how the guys who train these men to carry out these acts only speak fully-cased FuSHa (very antiquated and elevated classical Arabic with all it’s case inflections and proverbial mannerisms)



Something which I should mention is that Saudi Arabia and its interpretation of Islam is soooooo strict (according to the vast majority of Muslims) that it sometimes considers fellow Muslims who don’t adhere to its specific interpretation and application of Islam and Islamic law to be apostates and infidels. That is extreme, but we must remember that that’s just Saudi Arabia. Anyways, the episode was a satirical representation of those groups and the funny part was that towards the end of the episode, we have the Jihad Academy graduation and this big room filled with the Mujahideen-in-training among which three were selected to be top of the class. The graduates would then vote for who would make the best Mujahid and as a prize, they would give him an explosive belt. So the three finalist are of course Fu’aad (our main guy), and two other guys: Abu Al-Baraa’ and Abu TalHa. The votes are submitted and you see them appearing on a fluctuating meter off to the side, next to each of the candidates’ names. Fu’aad gets 10% of the vote, Abu Al-Baraa’ gets 25% of the vote and Abu TalHa takes it with 65%, upon which he jumps up and cries out “Allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahu Akbar!” And you have to understand the character which is Abu TalHa: here’s a guy (in the show) who’s skinny, who walks around with outstretched neck, hunched back, and whose lower jaw protrudes so much that it seems he’s always got a smile on his face. And throughout the entire episode, he keeps saying “Fajr! Fajr! Fajr!” (Explode! Explode! Explode”) and “Damar! Damar! Damar!” (Destruction! Destruction! Destruction!) and “Allaaaaaaaaahu Akbar” as a toothless old man would say it and you can’t help but laugh when you hear it (the former really long and the latter really short and crisp)

So, Abu TalHa is selected as #1 Mujahideen, Valedictorian of his Jihad Academy class, and celebrates his victory, exclaiming: “Allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahu Akbar!” with both arms in the air, while those in the crowd shout back: “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” The leader of the group, Sheykh Abu Leith then comes up to present an anxious and eager Abu TalHa with his prize and then helps him put the explosive belt on. He congratulates him with “Mabarakun 3aleyka haatha al-Hizaam yaa Abaa TalHa” and the crowd roars with 4 Allahu Akbars and Abu TalHa’s only response to his overwhelming joy is: “Allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahu Akbar!” as he presses the button to the explosive belt and blows himself and everyone else up! And you can’t help but laugh when you realize that he actually just did that, because he was soooooo ready to blow himself up and to kill some Infidels, but just then he blows himself and everyone in the room up, something completely unexpected as the entire screen turns into a mix of smoke and fire! It was one of the funniest things I ever seen and everyone who was there watching it with me, Barakat and Younis, and later on, Nadia, Sanae, and Baba, we all could not help but just DIE from laughter, it was soooooo funny! And you see, that’s the beauty of a satire! You can poke fun and make light of society and daily life and the reality that you’re living, whether you’re here in America or Saudi Arabia. That’s how life is and there’s nothing else to do, but to accept that it has its crazy moments and that oft times, it’s ridiculously funny! Except for the fact that the actors of Tash Maa Tash actually got a death threat by some of the extremist groups in Saudi Arabia, once they saw the episode. Now that’s NOT funny!

Coming Soon: Tales from the Qarawiyyiin – Part I: The Awakening