PETRA

Assalamu alaikoum wa rahmatAllah wa barakatoh,
I had to leave the country last week because my visa was going to expire. I thought I could just get it renewed but apparently leaving the country and coming back was the only option. So I bought a ticket to Jordan to see my friends there and go exploring some more religious historical sites. I only had 3 days but I made the most of them. I arrived on the first day and surprised the family I know there again. I missed them a lot and it was soo great to see all of them again alhamdulEllah. There is something special about Jordan, I just feel very comfortable there. Even arriving to the airport was a comforting feeling. The first night I just went to watch a night soccer game and catch up with my friends. Then we had a nice late night meal of traditional Jordanian snacks. The next day we woke up early and left for Petra. The road on the way there was surrounded by desert until we began approaching Petra which revealed a range of high rock formations as we decended down to Petra. It reminded me a bit of the Grand Canyon back in the states. We arrived just in time for duhr Friday prayer in this little town just outside of Petra and the first sound we heard as we arrived was the Athan, the call to prayer. We then heard the khutbah (sermon) over the loudspeaker and got some snacks for the road and left. We arrived shortly thereafter in Petra. The first thing I saw was many little shops of souvenirs and then as I walked further I saw many horses. It was so good to see horses after such a long time. I missed horses so much and has expected to see more of them in the Middle East. We began the path to Petra, when I quickly realized that Petra was all around us the entire time. It was an enormous city of houses and carvings all the way down the long path. It took us about an hour though it may have been longer, I completely forgot time the entire time I was there. I didn't feel the time at all and at the same time it felt like we were going on forever, but in a good and fun way, not in a boring and tiring way. I was mesmerized by the power of the place. I fell in love with it instantly and the weather that day was absolutely perfect. The entire day was a miracle and a testament to God's power, love and you could see that day so clearly how everything Allah creates worships him. Even the couple of ants I saw when I was about to pray seemed to be in worship of Him. I couldn't have asked for a more glorious day and there is nothing I could compare it too. It was so peaceful and beauty was everywhere and you could feel it with every sense a human being possesses. The most powerful moment of the journey was as we approached the famous sculpture of the tall building in the rocks. I think it was not the main one but it was powerful enough that I could feel almost an energy from it even before I could see it ahead of me. But it wasn't the building that made the most impact on me actually, although it did take my breath away. It was seeing a camel up close for the first time in my life. Two of them were sitting in front of the building wearing traditional blankets and saddles. They were so amazing I could not take my eyes off them. I felt like in the movie Jurassic Park with the paleontologists first come across a living dinosaur. The sound the camels make is also just as amazing and powerful. I felt an instant connection with this animal. I was instantly taken away to the time of the life of prophet Ishaq (Isaac), alayhi salam and the story I had read in the bible of Rebekah, his wife. The story of Rebekah had a great impact on my life and every time I saw a camel I would think of her, and when I became Muslim, I also thought of Fatima, the prophet Mohammed's (pbuh) daughter and the story of her marriage to Ali. I will first start with reflecting upon Rebekah's story and how camels make me feel connected with her, especially on this day when I first touched on with my own hands.

Here is information about Rebekah I took off Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca):
After, Sarah, Abraham's wife, dies, and after taking care of her burial, Abraham goes about finding a wife for his son Isaac. He commands his servant Eliezer (meaning of name - my God has helped) to journey to his birthplace of Aram Naharaim to select a bride from his own family, rather than engage Isaac to a local Canaanite girl. Abraham sends along expensive jewelry, clothing and dainties as gifts to the bride and her family. If the girl refuses to come, Eliezer will be absolved of his responsibility.

Eliezer devises a test in order to find the right wife for Isaac. As he stands at the central well in Abraham's birthplace with his men and ten camels laden with goods, he prays to God:

"Let it be the the maiden to whom I shall say, 'Please tip over your jug so I may drink,' and who replies, 'Drink, and I will even water your camels,' her will You have designated for Your servant, for Isaac" (Genesis 24:14).

To his surprise, a young girl immediately comes out and offers to draw water for him to drink, as well as water to fill the troughs for all his camels. Rebecca continues to draw water until all the camels are sated, proving her kind and generous nature and her suitability for entering Abraham's household.

Eliezer immediately gives her a golden nose ring and two golden bracelets (Genesis 24:22), which she hurries to show her mother. Seeing the jewelry, her brother Laban runs out to greet the guest and bring him inside. Eliezer recounts the oath he made to Abraham and all the details of his trip to and meeting with Rebecca in fine detail, after which Laban and Bethuel agree that she can return with him. After hosting Eliezer and his men overnight, however, the family tries to keep Rebecca with them for another 10 months or a year. Eliezer insists that they ask the girl herself, and she agrees to go immediately. Her family sends her off with her nurse, Deborah, and blesses her, "Our sister, may you come to be thousands of myriads, and may your offspring inherit the gate of its foes."

As Rebecca and her entourage approach Abraham's home, they spy Isaac from a distance in the fields of Beer-lahai-roi. The Talmud (Berachot 26b) and the Midrash explain that Isaac was praying, as he instituted Mincha, the afternoon prayer. Seeing such a spiritually-exalted man, Rebecca immediately dismounts from her camel and asks Eliezer who it is. When she hears that he is her future husband, she modestly covers herself with a veil. Isaac brings her into the tent of his mother Sarah, marries her, and loves her.

Wedding Allusions

Some of the events leading up to the marriage of Isaac and Rebecca have been institutionalized in the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony. Before the bride and bridegroom stand under the chuppah, they participate in a special ceremony called badeken (veiling). The bridegroom is led to the bride by two escorts and, seeing her, covers her with a veil, similar to the way Rebecca covered herself before marrying Isaac. Then the bridegroom (or the father of the bride) recites the same blessing over the bride which Rebecca's family recited over her.

Marriage and motherhood

Both Isaac and Rebecca prayed fervently to God for offspring. God eventually answered Isaac's prayers and Rebecca conceived.

Rebecca was extremely uncomfortable during the pregnancy, and God is said to have told her that that was because her two twin children were fighting in her womb, and would continue to fight all through their lives. Her firstborn son was Esau, and the second was Jacob (Yakub).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca

I always envision Rebekah giving water to the camels whenever I see them. Seeing the camels made me feel so connected with Rebekah and with Fatima as well. I had told the story about Fatima in an earlier post but basically the way she married Ali made me want to marry in the same way. When I see camels I remember the part in the story when she rode on a camel on her way to Ali's house to marry him.

When I rode the camel, I enjoyed it so much I almost cried when I had to get off. I wanted to keep riding it all day.

I remembered my grandmother who was my only other family member who had ridden a camel before. I was so excited to return home so I could tell her all about this experience and show her the photos. But unfortunately, when I returned from Jordan to Kuwait, I received the news that my grandmother had passed away, so I lost both of my grandmothers in the same year. This was my father's mother. She was an amazing woman ma sha Allah. We were so close, and she taught me so much and was such a great mother and grandmother. From what I know, she was not a Muslim, she was Christian but I know she loved God and she gave so much love to so many people, and I pray Allah have mercy on her and we are All from Allah and to Him is our return.