“O, Prophet of Allah! The rich among us have taken away all the rewards,” complained the poor Companions. “They pray as we pray, they fast as we fast, but they also give wealth in charity (while we have no wealth to spend).” (Refer Imam Nawawi’s 40 Hadith for the full narration.)

THE poor among the Ummah deserve a special mention because they are more often than not overlooked, their interests disregarded and their voices ignored. Throughout human history, they have always been the first to believe in the Messengers of Allah, and they will enter Jannah 500 years before everyone else.
During Ramadan last year, at the initiative of a friend, we stood at a traffic signal giving away dates, water and laban just before Iftar time for commuting people who may not have a chance otherwise to break their fast with food. We distributed all the food packs without realizing we had kept none for ourselves, which left us with no other option than breaking our fast at a masjid nearby. The adhan was called while we were heading to the masjid. Read the rest of this entry »

A FINE evening it was: the weather perfect, trees swinging, the sun not set, and children playing in the garden nearby. The only thing odd was a stopped car in the middle of the road. When I got closer, I saw an Asian man standing next to his car in a fit with two Saudi (or Arab) lads who looked no more than 12 in age. Read the rest of this entry »

Screenshot

JEDDAH - A cool new service to find hotels in Madina has been launched. The link – www.haraj.net/madina – shows a satellite view of the city with the Prophet’s Mosque at the center. The hotels around it are marked in color.
Simply moving your mouse over the hotels gives you the name of the hotel and the contact details. This gives people the option to see and choose hotels according to their proximity with the Prophet’s mosque.
The website, still at its initial stage of development, promises to offer much more in the future.
It plans to build an online market place for visitors to find any services they need, from the comfort of their homes or offices. – SG

Published on Sept. 2, 2008, in Saudi Gazette

Hussain Basha

JEDDAH – A 27-year-old mentally unstable Indian expatriate who was missing from July 4 has been found in Dammam Jail 91 with a case of mistaken identity.
The police have identified him as Chimparthi Fakruv Ali. His cousin Nizam claims the man is Hussain Basha. The Indian embassy can only cooperate as per police records. Read the rest of this entry »