06.15.08

Humorous Hair Care Advice

Posted in Girls Only, Hijrah Humor!, Natural Hair Care Tips tagged at 3:52 pm by Desert Diaries

As salaamu ‘alaikum. This brand of oil is very good despite the hilarious tip!

 
Haneefah

06.10.08

Map & Tele: Jeddah ‘Arabic Language Center (Women’s Summer Course)

Posted in 'Arabic, FYI, Girls Only, Seeking Knowledge tagged , , at 12:46 pm by Desert Diaries

Jeddah Center for \'Arabic

(Click on the map for larger view)

Jeddah ‘Arabic Language Center

Prince Sultan Street

P.O. Box 40987

Jeddah KSA 21511

Fax: 02-683-6829

Mobile: 050-662-8277

jeddaharabiccenter@gmail.com 

wjeddah@nooran.org

03.16.08

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear: Women in Saudi Arabia Enjoy a ‘Privileged Status’

Posted in Girls Only, Life in Jeddah tagged , at 2:35 am by Desert Diaries

 As salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Several sisters wanted to know how women are treated here in the Kingdom. Spoiled rotten! In Shaa Allaah I will share some of my experiences with you. Some things I just shook my head at. “Privilege” is one thing, plain old ridiculous is another. Enjoy this article in the meantime.

03.08.08

4 Day Women’s Health Conference in Jeddah

Posted in FYI, Girls Only, Health, What's Going on in the Gulf? tagged at 2:21 pm by Desert Diaries

Breast Cancer Cases on the Rise
Arab News
 
JEDDAH, 8 March 2008 — Breast cancer tops the list of various types of cancers that Saudi women suffering from, accounting for 19 percent of the total, the National Registry for Cancer said.The registry pointed out that about nine percent of women in the world suffer from cancer. About a million new cancer cases appear every year worldwide and nearly 400,000 women die of breast cancer.

The registry’s findings come three days before a conference on women’s health in Jeddah. Princess Al-Anoud bint Abdullah, the wife of Makkah governor, will open the conference on Monday.

More than 300 women doctors and specialists are expected to participate in the four-day conference to be held at Lailaty Hall. Organized by King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center in Jeddah, the conference will include awareness programs on breast cancer, heart diseases, AIDS and family violence.

It will also offer free diagnosis for breast cancer, blood pressure, cholesterol, and hepatitis-B, organizers said.

03.04.08

Humor: Pleasant Maxi Pads

Posted in Girls Only, Hijrah Humor! tagged , at 7:07 pm by Desert Diaries

As salaamu ‘alaikum. Here’s a quick funny one sisters. I was picking up a few snacks at the corner store and happened to notice a huge stand loaded with maxi pads all decorated with Pink and Lavender flowers. There’s a fairly new brand called “Pleasant.” The slogan: “Feel the Pleasant Sensation.”
I don’t even have to point out the joke here.
Haneefah

01.23.08

Remedies of the Locals: Tarthuth the Desert Thumb

Posted in Girls Only, Herbs tagged , , , , , , at 2:50 am by Desert Diaries

As salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. The author of this article has an interesting way of telling a story. It’s long so I’ll share it in parts In Shaa Allaah. Enjoy!
Haneefah


The Treasure of Tarthuth

Written by Robert W. Lebling Jr.

Desert Thumb HerbIt is early spring in the Dahna, Saudi Arabia’s northeastern sand desert. The winter rains have been over for several weeks, leaving a legacy of green foliage that spots the dunes and valleys—scattered arta shrubs, patches of grasses, low saltbushes. The clumps of vegetation provide forage for the occasional flocks of sheep and goats and for small herds of camels.Where there is livestock, there is always a person to tend the animals, keep them safe and prevent them from straying. On the slope of a dune, a Saudi youth named Ahmad settles down beside a stand of bushes and trains his eye on his father’s camels, about 100 meters off, grazing on the spring bounty. He is particularly watchful of the young ones. It has been a long morning, and he now waits for the return of his brother’s white pickup truck. Suddenly a rare flash of dark red color catches his eye. Down under the saltbushes to his left, he spies three little dark red club-like shapes poking up from the sand. Tarthuth! Ahmad is hungry and thirsty, and nature has furnished him with one of its tastiest snacks. Taking his pocketknife, he digs into the sand at the base of one of the stalks and cuts it off at the root. The pungent smell brings a smile to his face. Ahmad cuts away the reddish skin—tightly covered with tiny button flowers—and exposes the succulent white flesh beneath. He slices off a wet piece and pops it into his mouth. It’s sweet and juicy, refreshing, like ripe fruit. He chews contentedly.
Tarthuth emerges from the sands only for a brief period each year, following the rains of winter. After he has finished his snack, he cuts off the remaining red clubs to take back to his family.

The people of the desert have been harvesting tarthuth like this for thousands of years. It has pleased the palates of passing Bedouins and their camels, filled grocers’ baskets in local markets and served as survival food in times of dire famine. It is traditionally known for a wide range of medicinal properties as well—properties now being studied seriously by researchers in the Middle East.

Tarthuth today is barely known outside the region, though it was once harvested around the Mediterranean and was bestowed as a special gift on European royalty in the 16th century. In those days it was known to Arabs and Europeans alike as a wonder drug—a heritage largely forgotten in the rush of modern medicine. But things may be changing. Now, as pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers take a closer look at traditional remedies derived from plants and herbs, tarthuth may once again have an opportunity to rise to prominence.

Tarthuth (pronounced tar-thooth) is the popular Arabic name for the parasitic plant Cyno-morium coccineum. Medieval Europeans called it fungus melitensis—”Maltese mushroom” or “Malta fungus,” names by which it is still known today. Sometimes it’s called “desert thumb” or “red thumb.” The plant is found growing—usually ignored nowadays—in a wide swath that extends from southern Portugal and Spain across the Mediterranean region, including North Africa. Tarthuth even pokes above the remote sands of the Sahara: Botanists have identified it as far south as the central Hoggar range of Southern Algeria. It latches onto salt-loving bushes on Mediterranean islands like Ibiza, Sicily and, of course, Malta. Its range passes through the Levant to the northern and eastern regions of the Arabian Peninsula and vaults across the Gulf into Iran—and perhaps beyond.

Well known in Saudi Arabia—its burgundy spikes emerged this year in late January near the colossal Ghawar oil field and at Lake Lanhardt in Dhahran—tarthuth also makes its home in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In February 1999, Canadian explorer Jamie Clarke spotted the bright red flowering stems growing on a rocky shelf nearly five meters (16′) up a cliff wall in Wadi Ghadun, in Oman’s southern province of Dhofar. “Traditionally the Bedu…ate it during long camel caravans across the Empty Quarter,” Clarke reports in his book Everest to Arabia. “The entire plant is only ten inches [25 cm] high and has an awkward appeal, much like a mushroom’s…. Camels love to eat it and I gather this particular plant has been spared that fate by its lofty perch. In a tropical forest it would go unnoticed. Here, its vivid colour and unique character make it stand out against the starkly barren wadi cliff.”

Tarthuth is a highly specialized parasite with some fungus-like properties. It grows underground for most of the year, feeding on the roots of saltbushes and other salt-tolerant plants. When the winter rains come, its extensive root system shoots fleshy red stems up through the sand and into the open air. The plant has no green color because it’s a parasite and thus needs no chlorophyll to feed itself.

The leafless red stems or spikes, fully grown, range in height from about 15 to 30 centimeters (6-12″). The spikes have tiny scarlet flowers so small that they can hardly be seen individually. Tightly packed and scale-like, they look somewhat like coarse fur. Pollinated by flies attracted by the plant’s sweetish, somewhat cabbage-like aroma, the flowers eventually wither and the spike turns black.

When the January and February rains are good, the young fleshy stems of tarthuth can be “sweet tasting and edible raw, with a pleasant crisp, succulent texture,” reports a botanist in his Flora of Eastern Saudi Arabia. The flesh is apple-like, with an astringent quality that freshens the mouth. Just picked, tarthuth can be very sweet; left to sit for a few days, it can be somewhat bitter on first taste, but stays tartly refreshing. The Bedouins clean the just-picked spikes, peel off the outer skin and eat the flavorful white interior. The mature, blackened spikes are sometimes ground and made into a sweetened infusion used hot or cold to treat colic and stomach ulcers.

Botanist James Duke cites tarthuth’s traditional use as a medicinal tea in Qatar. Botanist Loutfi Boulos says North African medical tradition regards the entire plant as an “aphrodisiac, spermatopoietic, tonic, [and] astringent.” In traditional medicine, it is mixed with butter and consumed to treat obstructions of the bile duct. Maltese mushroom has a close relative in the East Asia, C. songaricum or suo yang, whose brownish spikes have long been regarded as an effective medicinal agent in Chinese medicine, used to treat kidney problems, intestinal ailments and impotence. Recent studies in China show that Cynomorium, like green tea, has “very strong antioxidant effects.”

As recently as the 1920’s, villagers from the Saudi coastal oasis of Qatif would head into the desert in early spring and return with their donkeys loaded with sacks of tarthuth for sale in the local suqs, or markets, Mandaville notes. The plants are still a popular treat for Bedouins and other desert travelers, according to wellsite inspector and desert expert Geraiyan M. Al-Hajri. He says tarthuth can be found in springtime in the suqs of al-Hasa in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. In the Maghrib, Arab North Africa, the dried and pulverized plant is used as a spice or condiment with meat dishes.

The red pigment in the plants provides another benefit: It has been used as an effective fabric dye by the women of at least one Arabian tribe, the Manasir, many of whom now live in the United Arab Emirates. The dye produces a rich, colorfast crimson hue known as dami or “blood-red.”

Maltese mushroom’s use as both foodstuff and medicine goes back thousands of years. Arab physicians of the Middle Ages considered tarthuth “the treasure of drugs” because it had a wealth of traditional therapeutic uses, particularly as a remedy for blood disorders, digestive ailments and reproductive problems, including impotence and infertility.

An early philosopher of the Arabs compiled a medical formulary, or aqrabadhin, that mentions tarthuth as the main ingredient of a salve used to relieve acute itching caused by foreign matter under the skin. An influential Islamic physician prescribed tarthuth as a remedy for hemorrhoids as well as for nasal and uterine bleeding.

To be continued.

01.22.08

Updated: Natural “Girly” Remedies…Very Interesting!

Posted in Girls Only, Herbs tagged , , at 12:41 am by Desert Diaries

girly curesAs salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. The following info was given to me from sister Fatimah in Indonesia. Maa Shaa Allaah the remedies are interesting..smiles. She gave me permission to share with you, jazaahallaahu khairaan. Enjoy!
Haneefah


Wassalammu’alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh,

Alhamdulillah I know some of the Indonesian traditional herbs for women after having baby or to make women private firm hehehehehe. It’s like generation to generation. These herbs have been used for centuries:

This is for single or married women. After having baby is good or before wedding (but for a single better not too much because it will make women hard to have a baby).

Betel leaf is known very well in Asia continent starting from India to south East Asia. Betel leaf is good to wash or steam women’s private; you can drink it or use it to wash your private.

For drink:

1.     5 or 6 betel leafs

2.     2cm cinnamon (not powder)

3.     5 or 6 coriander (not powder)

4.     5 or 6 peppercorns

5.     3 glass of water

Boil the entire herb (do not use aluminum pan) from 3 glass water into 1 glass leave. Drink it when it’s warm.

For washing women private or steam:

1.     10 betel leafs

2.     plastic jar

3.     small plastic chair with hole in the middle

Boiled the betel leafs; you can use it to wash your private when the water little bit warm or if you want to use it as steamer water. Place the betel leaf water into plastic jar and put your small plastic chair and your can sit on your chair (cover your body with sarong for better result). You can feel the difference after that insha Allah.

After labors you can use the above and for better result try this herb:

1.     5 betel leaf

2.     100gram curcuma xanthorriza

3.     75gram curcuma longa linn

4.     400gram tumeric

5.     50gram boesenbergia pandurata (finger root)

6.     10grm dried tamarind

7.     Blender machines

8.     sieves

9.     salt (just little of half tea spoon)

10. 800ml water

11.honey

12.lime fruit

Blender herbs from number 1- 6. When finishes add with water and salt, sieves the herb juices .Drink it with honey and fresh lime. You can store the herbs juices in the refrigerator. But u needs to boil it first.

To add your breast milk volume your can boiled 20gm of Boesenberigia pandurata with 2 glass of water. Boiled until the water only 1 glass leave.

Barakallahu feeki…….Fatimah

Note: herb recipes no 3 can make your fat body after having labor to the normal size very quick. Proven by my family n friends. Especially my friend after having a baby and consumed the above herb juices her body more firm.


Subhana Allah here Karkade known as bunga sepatu, I never knew of its has many benefits, we just know the leafs and flowers good for hair, to make hair thick and dark. We mix it with fresh coconut milk and tamarind. Sis if you like to scrub your skin you can try this, we called it boreh (people know this scrub as Balinese boreh) it is believe to warm the body, relieve arching joints as well as soothe sore muscles also can make your skin smooth.

Clove, cinnamon, rice powder, ginger essential oil if you don’t have ginger essential oil you can use olive oil.

300gr rice powder (soaked the rice over night, drained), then crushed the drained rice together with a table spoon of clove and cinnamon.

Relax your body by adding 3 spoonfuls of boreh powder, with ginger essential oil or olive oil mix with warm water until it becomes a paste. Apply to skin and enjoy its deep warming heat, you may wrap yourself in old sheet or sarong to intensify the warmth. Leave on for 10 minutes and scrub it gently until all boreh is clean from your skin then rinse of with warm water.

If you want more Indonesian traditional body scrub I will share it with you insha Allah.

Wassalammu’alaikum……..Fatimah

Note: if you want to make it more warm add little more clove and cinnamon.

01.11.08

Sisterly Advice Regarding Ummul Quraa University

Posted in 'Arabic, FYI, Girls Only, Seeking Knowledge tagged , at 8:23 am by Desert Diaries

As salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. I’ve sought permission to share some sister to sister advice concerning Ummul Quraa University. We’d like to stress that our sister in the deen is not a representative for the university. Her answers are based off of what she knows as a current student. Her answers were not verified by any faculty member of the school. Ummul Quraa’s rules and regulations are subject to change.  May Allaah bless her and her family in their studies and allow them to be a benefit to the Ummah, aameen.
An excerpt regarding the permissibility of sisters “travelling” from Jeddah to Makkah is forthcoming. I hope this is of some benefit to you In Shaa Allaah.
Haneefah
KSA
BTW, the questioner is not me (smiles)….really - it’s not.


Questioner: Can I live in Jeddah with my mahram and still attend the school? 
Sure. There are a lot of students who travel back and forth to the University from Jeddah. There is even a group of students from the Language Institute who all live in Jeddah with their families (their parents) and they carpool together everyday.


Questioner: Overall, how much would you recommend Umm Al-Qura and how do you like going there?

Alhamdulillah, the University for me has been a beautiful experience. It is, no doubt, A LOT of work, and is very challenging. The Language Institute here is thought to be the most challenging in the Kingdom. I recommend Umm Al Qura to anyone who has the capability and the urge to be a student of knowledge. The life of a student isn’t for everyone. There have been many families who’ve started, but for different reasons were’nt able to finish. There have been many students who’ve failed for various reasons. The Language Institute doesn’t start from “alif baa”. A potential student should come into the institute and at least know how to read ‘Arabic- even if its a slow pace. The curriculum is not impossible, but it definitely takes hard work.

Questioner:  How far is it from the Haram?

The school is in a section of Makkah called Az-Zaahir. It’s about 5-7 mins away (by car) from the Haram on a normal day.


Questioner:  Jazakum Allahu khayran, mashaAllah very thorough. I just want to clarify my mahram: I live in the United States but my grandfather and my materal uncles live in Jeddah and inshaAllah I am going to live with them. Will this be acceptable?

That’s fine maa shaa Allah. The only question would be would you have an iqaamah (residency) through your relatives, or would you want an iqaamah from the school? It might be to your advantage to have one through your relatives to start out with, then switch over to the school. Maybe you should look into seeing if they can add you onto theirs…that might be quicker than waiting for the school..especially since your mahram wouldn’t be attending with you. Wallahu ‘Alam.

Questioner:  The application process: 

You can go to Bakkah.net they have everything you need to know. If you don’t have 1 of the required documents they won’t accept your application plain and simple. They won’t even consider it beacuse it’s incomplete. You have to straighten out your situation before applying.


Questioner: After the Language Institute, does a student automatically get accepted into the Islamic Sciences Department? So they have an Uloom al-Hadeeth major/school? Barak Allahu feekum.

No, after the language program only a selected few are accepted into the actual Univeristy. 1) You have to have an accumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher- nothing less than mumtaaz (some students have been accepted w/an overall jayd jiddan), 2) your mahram has to still be present, 3) you also have to take an entrance exam. There are other rules that apply but these 3 seem to be the most important as far as women are concerned from what I’ve seen, Wallahu Alam. The University does have a Kitaab was Sunnah department, in which Uloomul Hadeeth is studied in depth.
Sahar Gordon
Sharee’ah Student- Umm Al-Qura University
Makkah, KSA

12.30.07

FYI on Gold & Silver Jewelry

Posted in FYI, Girls Only tagged , at 5:47 am by Desert Diaries

الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن
اهتدى بهديه إلى يوم الدين أما بعد
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

 jewels
The women of Saudi ‘Arabia are known for toting some of the world’s finest Gold & Silver jewelry. People come from all over to purchase it. There are many streets and districts with nothing but Gold for sale. Generally the people are “spoiled,” - even some of the beggars and maids have arms full of Gold, Tabaarakallaah.
I’d like to share the following excerpts with my sisters in Islaam, as there are some who believe that the Muslimah must pay Zakaah on her everyday jewelry. In Shaa Allaah you’ll benefit from this info.
  • Women are allowed to wear Gold and Silver in whatever way they are accustomed to.
  • Allaah has permitted adornment to them absolutely. Muslim scholars have unanimously agreed.
  • No Zakaah is to be given from Gold or Silver jewelry of women if used for ornaments or lending.
  • Using Gold for adornment is not an act of investment, but a lawful act that resembles wearing a suit, having servants and possessing houses for dwelling.
If the jewelry is set to be used for the purposes of renting, spending, (in case of need), possessing, saving, or is meant for any purposes other than those of using and lending, then it is subject to the original ruling of giving Zakaah and Zakaah is to be observed.
Excerpts taken from Shaykh Fawzaan’s Mulakhkhas al Fiqh
Vol. #1 
Chapter #4 - Zakaah Gold & Silver
Page 343
Haneefah

10.22.07

Hair Care Products?

Posted in Girls Only tagged at 5:53 pm by Desert Diaries

As salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Hair care products are a major concern for a lot of sisters. Na’am akhawaat, these products are readily available here in Saudi.

comb-and-brush.jpg

 

You can purchase a “Soft N Beautiful” no lye cream relaxer at any grocery store. All the supermarkets and pharmacies carry just about every name brand relaxer you’re used to. No, I did not see “Hawaiian Silky,” but I think I saw “Motions” and a straightening comb in Sooq al Yemen. The women here are no different than the women in the West when it comes to girly things. They have perms, little pink sponge and plastic rollers, gel, hair spray, pink hair lotion, hair grease, hair dyes, kits for highlights, shower and silk caps, flat irons, blow dryers and beeswax for my sisters who love to keep it natural.

There are bows, headbands, ribbons, barrettes, “ballies” sparkly bobby pins, clips and “Just for Me” for your girls too.

If you bring your plug in curlers (or anything with a cord attached) be prepared to purchase many outlet adapters. The sockets here are not like the sockets in the West. We have 2 or 3 prong sockets that can stand only 220 volts. They tend to temporarily blow out some of the appliances, or catch a spark and melt the adapters. Be careful and try not to leave appliances plugged in after you’re done using them (something I often forget).

Haneefah

10.21.07

The Maxi Pad Myth

Posted in Girls Only, Hijrah Humor! tagged , at 8:22 pm by Desert Diaries

As salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. I’ve been asked if maxi pads are available here. LOL…Yes. You can get brand names like “Always” and “Stay Free.” They don’t come individually wrapped like the ones in the West, however you do have a nice selection to choose from. Longs, overnighties, heavy-flowies, liners, and wingies…lol…whatever you want In Shaa Allaah. “Faam” is a good Saudi brand if you can’t find the ones you prefer. They are available in every corner store, pharmacy and supermarket.

A friend a mine was told that maxi pads were not available in KSA, so she packed a suitcase full of pads before making hijrah only to find out that they are here…lol.

Haneefah