i took a metered cab in cairo to the train station a few days ago. the driver and i started talking, and amidst our discussion, i told him that i lived in the us for the greater part of my life. he asked, “what on earth are you doing here?” in other words, “who in their right mind would come here when they have the option of living in the us?”
i gave him my reasoning and he wasn’t at all convinced. the conclusion of the discussion was this translated and paraphrased quote (based on my memory and understanding):
“in 20 years, you’ll think back and realize that you wasted your time here and that you should have stayed there. regardless of what good you see here, you’ll realize that things are better there (whether in terms of work, money, religion, or anything else), and you’ll regret the time you wasted here. at that point, i want you to remember that the old man who drove you in the taxi said so, and ask Allah to have mercy on me regardless of whether i am alive or not.”
i posted this so that 2 decades from now (if i am alive), i can insha’Allah remember to look back to this conversation and say, “al7amdulillah, he was wrong – i have no regrets.”
on may 17th, 2010, i left for alexandria. comparing it to cairo, girls seem to be slightly more conservative (in terms of the way they dress), people seem more religious (at least in terms of “outwards” religiosity – there are more bearded men to be seen on the streets), the weather is much nicer, and it’s a lot less crowded. after nearly a month of being in alexandria, i definitely can say that i like it better than cairo!
the first khutbah i attended in egypt this trip was in cairo a few days after i arrived. i decided not to go to the “zawya” (literally means “angle,” refers to a small masjid underneath an apartment buildings) near where i was staying and instead decided to go to the bigger masjid (near a really big church in the area).
i don’t remember what the khutbah was about – but what i do remember is being surprised at the usage of words like “neela” and “balawi” during the khutbah…
i’ve been in egypt for a little over a month now. i spent the first week of my time in cairo. the following are a list of things i noticed during that first week (which should not have been surprising to me, having been to cairo many times in the past, but i guess i forgot).
- in cairo, many times, i would say salam to people and would get no reply. maybe this was because the area i was in had many christians and staunch christians tend to not like to answer the salam greeting because some of them consider it a religious greeting.
- the attendance of the masjid near where i was staying didn’t have a large attendance for the various prayers. my friend later suggested that this maybe because there are so many small masajid in the area and everyone goes to the masjid closest to them (and thus you don’t see too many people in the small masajid).
- maybe this is also a result of the area i was in having many christians – but anyway, i walked into the pharmacy to get some medicine for my sister after prayer (and was wearing a thobe). the lady didn’t answer salam (ok, understandable) and was very arrogant in her treatment. my sister didn’t like the medicine i got her so she wanted to go change it. i warned her about the lady being arrogant. my sister went and in the middle of the discussion with the woman, mentioned to her that “i live in america, and there, doctors don’t recommend antibiotics unless necessary” – my sister mentions that afterwards, the lady’s treatment completely changed towards her, she was very friendly, and even offered her a discount.
- the type of clothes worn by girls in cairo is only slightly less bad than that worn by girls in the us. the weird thing is that this is against the culture even, not just religion – eastern cultures tend to be more conservative, and as thus, it’s really surprising to see that the western style of dress has become commonplace in major cities in egypt.
i’ll write my thoughts on alexandria in a later post insha’Allah.
