Qatar, a piece of land engulfed in Mediterranean sea, tiny dot on the map. In the pictures above, you can see the Persian coast. blending in sand, sand which gathers into dunes, dunes which forms maze in valleys, valleys which welcome bewilderment, a confusion, confusion of different lifestyles, nomadic versus non-nomadism? Expats live like nomads here. We all know we are temporarily settled in Qatar. Even if you are born here, you are not considered a permanent habitant on a paper. Nomadic it is, falcon-hunting and fishing for pearls. Search for wild plants,a game in it. Nomadism is by far the oldest human sustenance method. Raising herds, driving them in long haul on this sun-land. This has changed now due to urbanization. Qatari lifestyle blends East with West. Despite living as Bedouins dependent on technology. For the desert is always surprising, even though you may have known it for years. Sometimes, when you think you can see it in all its rigidity and emptiness. Desert awakens from its dream, sends forth its breath - and tender, pale-green grass suddenly where only yesterday there was nothing but sand, suddenly pebbles. It sends forth its breath again- & a flock of small birds flutters through the air - from where? where to? - slim bodied, long winged, emerald-green; or a swarm of locusts rises up above the earth with a rush and zoom, grey and grim and endless like a horde of hungry warriors... Life in its majesty; majesty of sparseness, always surprising, herein lies the whole nameless scent of Arabia, of sand deserts like this one and of the many other changing landscapes. I have taken the above passage from M.Asad's book The Road to Makkah.
Arabia world had known for years, for its backwardness. Its tribal lineages, its intact clans, its old fashioned restrictive ideas. Rigid attitudes because life here was so less molded by modern human hands. After the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised Jews a Homeland in Palestine. Britishers never considered Arabia as something nice to have under their colonization rule. because Arabia owned nothing but dust, wind and thirst. Yet they bribed many Arab kings and had plans to discover oil later. Europeans had the technology to dig out oil. Religious debates & crusdaes exhausted them. Islam is yet another code of life which they never want to adopt. Arabs are adopting a western lifestyle and enjoying German technologies. They want to spend vacations in cold green pastures of Switzerland. A dazzling culture of modern Islam is in the air. The Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm prophesied earlier " A time will come when green grass will replace desert." His Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm companions asked, how can grass grow here in succumb land? Aspire Zone in Al Waab is a great example of well irrigated Park, Qatar. Below my daughter playing with her friends
Abu Hurayrah Raditala Anhu narrated that the Messenger of Allah Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm said, "The Hour will not begin until wealth increases and becomes abundant., until a man goes out with his Zakaat from his wealth and will not find anyone to accept it, and until the land of Arabs goes back to being meadows and rivers." (narrated by Muslim)
Mu'aadh ibn Jabal RA said, "We went with the Messenger of Allah Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm during the year of the compaign to Tabook, and he was joining the prayers; he Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm would pray Zuhr (afternoon prayer) together with Asr (Late afternoon prayer) and Maghrib (sunset prayer) together with Isha (night prayer) One day he Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm delayed the prayer, then he Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm came out after that and prayed Maghrib & Isha together. He Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm said "tomorrow you will come, inshaaAllah, to the spring of Tabook, but you are not going to reach it until mod-morning. Whoever of you reaches it should not touch any of it water until I come." So we came to it and two men had reached it ahead of us, and the spring was just a trickle of water like a shoelace. The Messenger of Allah Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm asked them "Did you touch any of its water?" They said "Yes," The Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasalm rebuked them and said to them what Allah willed he should say. Then they scooped up water from a spring, which then flowed with abundant water until the people had all drunk some. Then He pbuh said, "Soon Mu'aadh if you live a long life, you will see the space here filled with gardens." (Muslim)
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