Friday Feature-Dayks/Catering

Asalam Alaikum,

For many of our parties/functions(engagements, mehndis, Qur'an khanees) we have some dayks delivered. Usually they have biriyani/pulao, or a quorma, with your choice of meat or chicken. They also have sweet dishes like zarda(sweet, multi colored rice with all sorts raisins/coconut/little sweet colored bits), or kheer(rice pudding).

For size comparison- Saad at 18 months next to a dayk.
Tariq transfers biriyani to a serving dish.

About an hour before the party starts the dayk wala comes by the house with the back of his truck full of dayks for his deliveries. He drops off your pot(s), and then goes to finish his deliveries. The waiters take over during the party and transfer the food to the buffet line, they are always busy carrying hot trays of food back and forth!

During the month of Muharram here in Karachi(specifically the ninth and tenth) people often fast. Commonly in our area the dayk walas prepare large amounts of haleem(kind of like a savory porrige, made with grains, lentils, and meat), which people will buy to feed people who are fasting, or donate to masjids.
A line of dayks full of haleem prepared for Ashura(tenth day of Muharram


Further away, since they take up so much space they are not inside but prepared on the side of the road.

He's selling what on his bicycle?

Asalam Alaikum,

Remember my post about walay? Since then I have taken some more pictures, while we hang out on the roof, of the door to door salesmen that frequent our neighborhood. It is always interesting to see who's coming down the street.

Who wants to guess whats inside?

This is a Qur'an wale. He has in this bundle on the front of his bicycle all sorts of different Qur'ans. He has the regular type of book that is what we normally read, and also the type that is separated into 30 little books called "sipara". The only time I ever see the second type is when people are having "Qur'an Khanees"(where a bunch of people gather to read Qur'an together and then eat food), and on bursees(death anniversaries when people get together to read Qur'an and then eat more food). It is pretty helpful, as each person can take one little book at a time and the gathering can very quickly complete a full Qur'an reading(or sometimes more than one). I do try to avoid going to bursees, as I am pretty sure it may be a bidah, and so to be on the safe side I just avoid them as much as possible. No one ever says anything about my non participation, and I kind of prefer it that way.

This Qur'an wale seems very dedicated. He comes down our street usually 3-4 times a week, and has been since we first came to Pakistan.

Friday Feature- Miswak

Asalam Alaikum,

Miswak is one of those things that, at first, I thought was kind of strange. Tariq showed me one that he had in America, and I wondered why you would use a stick when there are perfectly nice brushes.
Moist packaged miswak

When we were in Abu Dhabi I had read a bit more on the sunah of miswak and so when Tariq's sister offered to give me half of her miswak to try I decided to go for it. The one that she had bought was a dry type, not a moist one in a pack so I had to first soak it in a glass of water.

Soaking a miswak

Then peel off about half an inch of bark and chew it a bit to make it brush-like.
It was strange at first, but eventually I got used to it.

The brush end

I didn't use the miswak all the time, but recently I decided to use it more often. So every time I brush my teeth with a brush I always follow with a miswak and also use it sometimes between brushing. I have gotten into the habit and now it doesn't feel strange at all.

One of the benefits that I have noticed is that it helps me concentrate better during my prayers. The process of using the miswak and then making wudu seems to calm my mind so that I pay attention, instead of rushing my wudu and then not being able to concetrate during salat.

Friday Feature- Dhikr and Tasbeeh(prayer beads)

Asalam Alaikum,

These are Tasbeeh(prayer beads). Muslims sometimes use them when making dhikr(remembrance of Allah{swt}). They can be made of many different materials- wood, metals(like steel or silver), pearls, ivory, glass, or precious stones. Some tasbeeh have 33 beads with two separating beads making three sections of 11, and some tasbeeh have 99 beads with two separating beads making three sections of 33 beads. One of the most common forms of dhikr is to recite "Subhan-Allah"(Glory be to God) 33 times, "Alhamdulillah"(All praise be to God) 33 times, and "Allahu Akbar"(God is the Greatest) 34 times.

The ones in the middle of the picture above are a ceramic set of 33 that belonged to my mother in law. Tariq asked me to fix them because the string had broken and the beads were loose, but they are a little heavy and no one really uses them. Each bead says "subhanAllah". The beads on the far left and the second from the right are both wooden sets with 99 beads. The second from the left(light blue) and the far right(pale yellow/greenish) are both plastic sets with 99 beads.



Some people don't use tasbeeh to make dhikr, as they see it as a bidah(innovation), so they prefer to use the joints of the fingers. My view is that if you let the tool become more important than the action(like saying-"I can't find my tasbeeh, so I can't make dhikr"), then that would be wrong, but I don't have a problem with the beads themselves.

Tag! My hijab story

Asalam Alaikum,
So this tag is from Muslim Convert, Since I recently posted about hijab in one of my Friday Features, I thought a little more background/details might be fun.

Rules
The title of this tag is : My Hijab Story
You can tag as many people as you want
Please state who tagged you
Have fun!

Questions:

1. How old were you when you started wearing the hijab? 23, (after reverting in December 2006)

2. What or who influenced you to become a hijabi? I had researched Islam and met several Muslim women in our local masjid, from the moment I decided to revert I knew I would wear hijab.


3. How has hijab changed your life? I find it helps me to focus more on my good points, instead of spending hours looking at my faults(mind vs. body issues)

4. What does hijab mean to you? Total attitude, not just the scarf, but the way you present yourself.

5. How do you deal with the rude comments/stares you get due to being a hijabi? So far I haven't had to deal with too much rudeness, but on the rare occasion that somebody has said something or asked a rude type of question I just answer them politely and they tend to do a double take and realize how rude they sound.


6. What is your favorite thing about wearing the hijab? It feels so feminine, since I was pretty much a tomboy this is something kind of new.

7. What is your hijab must have accessory? Plain old safety pins, I never leave the house without them(and a bunch extra in my purse)!

8. What advice could you give a newbie hijabi? If it is difficult for you then take it slow, better to go slow than jump in feet first, get frustrated and then leave off the hijab altogether.

9. What is one hijab trend you never understood? The whole gulf fashion of useing huge flower pins under the shayla stlye to "poof out" the back of the head. It just looks really odd to me.


10. What question do you get asked the most due to wearing the hijab? When in America it was the classic-"aren't you hot in that?", to which I reply- "not really, the airflow is pretty cooling and the sun is not beating down on my head".

In Pakistan it is generally "why don't you loosen up your dupatta, isn't that uncomfortable?", to which I reply "no, thank you"

So there is a bit more detail on my hijab. I tag anybody who hasn't already done it and wants to.