Time keeps on tickin'

Something strange happened last night. My husband was in bed before I was. Now, that is something that doesn’t happen everyday. Admittedly, I went to bed a little later than usual, but he was in bed much earlier than normal. Of course the one night I had things I wanted to read before turning off the lights, is the one night he wants to sleep at 10pm. Oh, the compromises we married folk make!

A couple of us English speaking Muslim women here in town get together on Sunday mornings for something called a halaqa. That is basically an Islamic study circle, kind of comparable to Bible Study classes for Christians. Our Sunday halaqa is based on a series of books called the Islamic Creed Series by a contemporary muslim author named Umar al Ashqar. We all try to keep up with the assigned reading each week, and then when we meet on Sundays, we discuss what we’ve read, with a different sister leading the discussion each time. The assigned reading for today was about the attributes of God (Allaah), and, like the good student I am, I put off the assigned reading until 10:00pm last night when Mahmoud wanted to turn the lights off. I ignored his pleas and quickly reviewed the Quranic verses that I’m memorizing, and then got down to the text for the next morning’s get together. Something I came across really spoke to me. It is a du’aa (or prayer) that the Prophet Mohammed himself used to say. It goes:

Oh Allaah! By Your knowledge of the Unseen and Your Power over Your creation, keep me alive so long as You know that living is good for me, and cause me to die when You know that death is good for me.
I ask You to make me fear You in secret and in public.
I ask You to make me speak the truth and be fair when angry and when content.
I ask You to make me be economical in poverty and in richness.
I ask You for a life of ease that never ends.
I ask You for joy that never ceases.
I ask You for contentment after You have issued Your decree.
I ask You for tranquility after death.
I ask You for the joy of looking upon Your Face.
I ask You to make me long to meet You without undergoing painful sickness or misguiding fitnah (trials). O Allaah! Adorn us with the beauty of faith and make us guides to others who are also guided.

I feel that this prayer sums up everything that I want, too. I think I’ll copy it onto a pretty piece of scrap booking paper and hang it up on a wall somewhere around here to reflect on.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the trivial issues of this world and this life. Decorating ourselves and our homes, cooking and eating to our heart’s content, visiting and laughing and creating happy memories with friends. Finding ways to “pass the time”. I can’t imagine how much I’d slide off course if I didn’t have daily and weekly reminders to re-evaluate what direction I’m going in. Thank God for my friends, and my opportunities, my books and my ability to read them, my ideal Quraan teacher, Sara and my computer. So often we take basic things for granted.

Tariq just did something funny at dinner. The little kindergartener told us he already knows math- 1+1=2. I told him, “Yay Tariq! You’re so smart.” His older sister decided to quiz him and asked him “then what’s 2+2?”. Tariq holds up three fingers on one hand, two on the other and we watched his lips moving and then announced “4!” Yes, four. How you add 2 fingers plus 3 fingers and get 4, I don’t want to know, but at least he came to the right conclusion in the end. Tariq gave us a lesson that sometimes don’t add up the way you think they will.

Time is like that, for example.

Last Friday was the BIG football match in Egypt. It was the finals of the Africa Cup, Egypt vs. The Ivory Coast. Every self-respecting Egyptian male and most of the females, too, *HAD* to watch the match. (Think Super Bowl level “must-see” event.) Mahmoud, the kids, and I headed over to Uncle Mossad’s apartment after the Friday prayer, and were treated to a special occasion dinner with the family of fried brain, cow feet (yes feet- they’re pretty gelatinous and tasteless but supposedly a delicacy), home made bombaar (lamb intestines stuffed with seasoned rice) and Fattah (dried bread and rice covered in meat broth, topped with spicy tomato sauce). I stuck with the Fattah mostly. Then it was time for the match to start, so Mahmoud and his uncle left to go watch the event downtown with the whole family et al. at their shops downtown and I looked forward to watching something good on satellite TV, what with the men gone and all. But what did cousin Saara and Auntie Mother-Of-Essam turn on- the match as well. Oh well, I thought. I’ll give it a try, how bad can soccer be- isn’t at least half the world’s population crazy about it? Well… It was really uneventful. The match ended up going into overtime due to lack of goals scored. It was tied, 0-0. Finally they went into a kick off or whatever you call it (I am not a sports fan), and finally Egypt won, which I was predicting all along because if you ask me, Ivory Coast was just getting by on their blatant fouls and aggressive defensive. Their goal-kicking skills needed some serious help all along.

The funny thing about it all was that every time I looked up at the clock, despite my disinterest in the programming, it was an hour later. The time just seems to be flying by so fast. It seems there is nothing I can do to slow it down. Whether I am busy doing something useful, or just sitting watching a meaningless football match, the time just zooms by. My husband is here on a 6 week trip, and it’s already 75% over. How did that happen? I feel like he’s only just gotten here. How is my daughter almost 10 years old already? When did that happen? Oh my god, she’ll be getting married before I know it. Then next week I’ll be a grandma. I feel like there is something funky going on with the math of time lately. A two hour match plus a one hour dinner equals 8 hours spent over in the family house in Imbaba. One hour online, plus one hour cooking in the kitchen equals the whole day flown by. And before you know it, it’s already 8:45pm and Mahmoud’ll be coming home soon, wanting to go to bed early again, and I haven’t even washed the dinner dishes yet. Let me add my own amendment to the Prophet’s prayer above…

Oh Allah I ask you to bless the 24 hours You give me in a day, and allow me get more accomplished in the short time I have on this Earth.