Dowra Reflections 1: Journey to Tarim

As many of you may know, our beloved teacher, Mualima Radia Bawa Hendricks and her family, have travelled to Yemen to immerse themselves in 24th annual summer Dowra, a 40-day Islamic Studies programme held at Dar-ul-Mustafa in the blessed city of Tarim between 26 June-03 August 2018 (12 Shawwal-21 Dhul Qa’dah 1439).

“It was said that even the streets of Tarim are blessed. Its streets have been tanned by the feet of great masters, full moons of guidance, who light up all darknesses.” – Imam al-Adani

This is the first of several updates that they have shared with us. We invite you to follow their journey, by following their updates on our blog, Facebook and Instagram pages.

Dowra Reflections 1: Journey to Tarim

Aslm from Tarim

Pray that all of you are well iA..

The journey to Tarim

We travelled by bus from Oman to Tarim on a journey that took us 20 hours in total. The road was long, and the lands barren and desolate. On the bus, our guide reminded us about the importance of niyyah and how we should even feel honoured to have come this close to Tarim as only those who are invited, will reach 😭.

He also spoke to us of the words of his teachers who told him that on this journey of purification of the heart, some people require many years in Tarim to better the state of their hearts, some require forty days and some merely require a moment. We prayed to be of those who are able to constantly improve ourselves and to leave this place in a state of renenewed rejuvenation.

The last five hours of the drive was extremely unnerving for me. The descent into the valley of Hadramout was terrifying but spectacular at the same time. The road is extremely damaged and the winding road leads downwards in a series of sharp bends, which took my breath away 😅. There is also no cellphone reception on the journey and I thought that this is how journeys were travelled before – with no contact from the outside world, just you and Allah.

The girls were extremely well behaved and patient for the entire journey and positively embraced the new experiences along the way. I really appreciated the ardent prayers of their grandparents whose prayers were felt along the entire journey, Alhamdullilah.

As we finally reached the bottom of the valley, we entered Tarim, an oasis nestled between two spectacular mountains. The roads were busy and vibrant – hundreds of people gathered around a huge open area to watch a camel race. Such pure entertainment in a time when we have become so accustomed to other forms of recreation.

We were relieved to reach our home away from home and were pleasantly surprised to find that we had a cute and spacious flat, Alhamdullilah.

A knock on the door startled us, and it was someone dropping off some food for us – this gesture was so appreciated as we had not eaten a proper meal since we left by bus.

We ate and quickly had to freshen up to attend a gathering at Habib Umar’s house. Upon arrival at his house, it felt surreal being there. Our hearts are filled with many hopes, intentions and ambitions and we pray that Allah accepts us and our lowly efforts to gain closeness to Him.