Makkah & Madinah Part 2

June 3, 08

I woke up to the sound of azan but it was not Subuh yet. Turned out that they make the call of prayer twice; once as an early wake up call and the other to indicate Subuh. The former does not have the "assolatu khairum-minannaum" part in order to differentiate it from the latter. There is a 1-hour gap between the two.

After breakfast, I explored Masjid Nabawi's outer complex for the first time. The masjid is huge so circling it was quite an exercise. But it was a beautiful morning so the morning stroll was pleasurable. It was some time before I caught sight of the Green Dome - It was quite a sight which evoked strong emotions.

Dawn in Madinah

Everything in Madinah looks so foreign: the men in their aba and kaffiya, the women in their all-enveloping black veil, car plates with Arabic alphabets and numerical symbols, and beautifully carved wooden windows. Even the restroom signs are different! Pictures of a veiled woman and a man in kaffiya replaced the conventional stick figures. It's like I've been transported into a different world altogether.

Therefore I was very, very surprised to find the shop below 10 metres away from one of Masjid Nabawi's gate. It looks so out of place despite its Arabic scripts. One of those "clash of the civilisations" scenes.

Starbucks outlet

I tried to practise my Arabic there but it wasn't met with much success. I kept on forgetting the names of things. Further, most shopkeepers there know Malay. So, transactions were often done in Malay rather than Arabic.

One of these attempts at Arabic ended quite hilariously.
When asked by a shopkeeper how are we related, my Nenek incorrectly answered in Arabic "jaddati" (my grandmother) instead of "hafidati" (my granddaughter).
To this, the shopkeeper exclaimed in surprise: "MashaAllah, MashaAllah!"

*to be continued*