A Wonderful Place

Peace be upon all readers. I’m glad that finally I have a chance to update this site after weeks I didn't do it. I have been busy lately since many things need to be managed. For now, half of them were cleared up. I already got the residence and registered for the learning session at an institute not far from my residence. The classes have started three weeks ago, five days a week, morning and night.

A good news is my life here has not been so isolated since two of my college mates came here couple days ago. I brought them to some interesting places in Damascus, the capital city of Syria and I realized that this country is a wonderful place to visit because of its plenty historical sites and tombs of Allah’s prophet. The city is also a place that Rasulullah s.a.w. used to trade goods a long time ago, known as Syam in Arabic term.

One of the historical places is Umayyad Mosque. Located in Damascus city, the mosque was a church before it was conquered by Caliph Khalid al-Walid from the infidels and then was made as a mosque. It can be seen in the mosque some patterns which are usually decorated at church’s walls. Beside this mosque there is the tomb of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, one of the Muslim war champions. Moreover, there are also The Tomb of the head Prophet Yahya a.s. who was decapitated by the infidels and the first baitulmal(bank) of Muslims inside the mosque. Not far from the mosque, there is another historical place where the first murder happened on this earth(Maqam Arba'in). The story was Qabil, a son of Prophet Adam a.s. killed his brother Habil because of envy towards him. About 70 kilometres from Damascus there is a village where we can find structures like theatre and public bathroom which were constructed during the emperor of Roman. The structures are very interesting, wonderful and strong. Also, there are the tombs of Prophet Ayyub a.s. and Imam Nawawai r.a. nearby the village.

As I said earlier, Syria is a great place to visit especially for Muslims. We as Muslims need to know the histories in Muslim calendar, about the prophets, the warriors, the leaders and everything that can be imitated or make as an instruction. If compared, the Muslim histories are far greater than any other history in this world. Believe it or not, explore it by yourself!

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the White Minaret
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wonderful!
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what is this?
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the theatre
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the view of Damascus city from Maqam Arba'in

The Arrival

Alhamdulillah, setelah hampir 20 jam berada dalam perjalanan(termasuk transit), penulis telah selamat tiba di Syria pada 6 April 2010 sekitar jam 4 petang(waktu tempatan). Syria merupakan sebuah negara Arab yang masyhur dengan keaslian Bahasa Arabnya dan juga kelazatan manisannya. Penulis datang ke negara ini bertujuan untuk mengkayakan skill Bahasa Arab yang sedia ada, mempelajari sedikit sebanyak ilmu agama, menziarahi tempat-tempat bersejarah, dan juga membuat sedikit kajian tentang kehidupan masyarakat Arab di negara ini. Setakat ini semua proses berjalan dengan lancar kecuali tempat kediaman yang masih dalam proses pencarian. Cuaca di negara ini pula boleh dikatakan agak sejuk, iaitu sekitar 20 darjah celcius. Manakala pada sebelah malam pula ia boleh mencecah sehingga 10 darjah celcius. Keadaan ini dijangka akan berterusan hingga hujung bulan ini sebelum musim panas tiba pada Jun nanti. Berkenaan dengan masyarakat Arab di sini pula boleh dikatakan agak memuaskan. Masyarakat Arab disini agak peramah walaupun pada zahirnya mereka kelihatan kasar ; memang asalnya mereka ini kasar daripada beberapa aspek.


Seterusnya, perkara yang mengecewakan penulis disini ialah beberapa laman web sosial popular seperti Facebook, Youtube dan Blogspot disekat dan diharamkan di negara ini. Laman-laman web ini diharamkan oleh Kerajaan Syria atas beberapa sebab - setahu penulis ianya bagi melindungi rakyat negara ini daripada pengaruh Israel. Pengharaman ini agak menyedihkan penulis kerana mungkin agak susah bagi penulis untuk berhubung dengan teman-teman dan juga keluarga yang berada di Malaysia. Namun begitu, atas sedikit pengetahuan dan kepakaran penulis tentang proksi untuk mengakses laman-laman yang disekat, akhirnya penulis berjaya mengakses laman Facebook, Blogspot dan lain-lain laman web yang disekat. Akibat dari itu, penulis boleh menulis entri ini untuk tatapan para pembaca budiman yang ingin mengetahui perkembangan dan keadaan semasa penulis sepanjang berada disini.


Penulis ingin mengundurkan diri dulu memandangkan masa tidak mengizinkan, Insyaallah, penulis akan kembali menulis entri baru bila mana masa mengizinkannya. Setakat ini sahaja buat masa kini, kepada teman-teman yang penulis tidak sempat mengkhabarkan berita kedatangan ke negara ini, harap maaf. Semoga kalian semua berada dalam keadaan sihat seadanya. Ila lliqa'.


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the arrival


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airport Damsyik


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berhampiran telaga Nabi Ayub a.s.