23rd and 27th July
Edinburgh and Rochdale in one week. Is Rochdale a city though? Never mind.
The talk was in fact my one day Dawa seminar, and I
have to say the two groups were amongst the best I have delivered too so far.
Well done to everyone!
The original plan was to deliver the dawa seminar in Edinburgh and then over the next week gradually make my
round the Seven Staines, down to the Lake District and then finish up in Rochdale a week later. However, we have our plans, but
Allah has other plans. My beloved GarryFisher X-calibre had been badly damaged
by zealous Estate manager in the mosque who thought that my bike was one of
many dumped in the masjid by some Muslims who seem to think that that is what
the railings in the masjid are for! Hiring bikes for a week was not really
going to be and option. Still, I was going to play it by ear and see how
everything went.
Now, if there are any of you out there that I have
managed to enthuse with the idea of taking up mountain biking Seven Staines are
seven mountain biking areas scattered around Southern
Scotland and are rated amongst the best in the world. Check out
the comprehensive web site. More of that
later!
It’s a ten hour drive from London to Edinburgh,
and I had as company “the” teenage son, Bilal. ‘Nuf said.
What amazed me was that he actually sat through the
whole dawa seminar, and even complimented me on how it was conducted!
The seminar was held in the Edinburgh central mosque in preparation for
the Exhibition held there every year during the Edinburgh Theatre festival, for
which they get about four thousand visitors. The brothers and sisters were full
of ideas and competitive contributions, and it was very well attended. A
special mention has to go to top man Sufyan for organising the whole event and
sister Janis. For being the most clued up in answering very difficult questions
posed by me in high pressure scenarios.
For anyone interested in organising such an event here is the basic schedule/programme.
10am Registration
10:30 Induction
11:00 The Importance and status of Dawa and Diaee.
12:00 Essential Guidlines and aspects of the Fiq of Dawa
1:15 -2:30 dhur and lunch
2:30 Uncomfortable Questions
3:00 Workshop
3:30 Answers to Uncomfrotable questions
4:30 Essential methods
5:30 Practical
6:30-7:30 Questions and conclusion
The days in summer are long in Scotland, and after the seminar ended, earlier than expected, we eventually manage to persuade Bilal, after much protestation, to go for a small walk round the centre of Edinburgh. It really is a picturesque city, and in certain places it has a distinctly medieval feel. Even the architecture of the mosque manages to blend into the theme of city.
The end of our “tour” took us to Blackfriars Bobbitt.
This is a statue dedicated to a dog that sat on his masters grave for fourteen
years…dedication or stupidity? They made a film about this dog, which I didn’t
see, but the kids loved it.
Some very kind brother lent us his flat and it was
midnight by the time that we got to sleep.
The next day Bilal and I headed off to Glentress, the
biggest and best of the 7staines sites, where I had hired, by phone, earlier in
the week two Scott Ransoms, a 150mm front and rear travel, freeride, carbon fibre
modern wonder of a bike that weighs a mere 30lbs!
How perfect and sublime Allah is, the Generous, the
Bountiful Bestower!
The first problem we encounter is that the guys in
“The Hub” are insisting that I should supply a photo ID. They had a bike stolen
recently and are refusing to hire them without it. Now for some extraordinary
reason my driving licence is not in my wallet, and I don’t have my passport
with me either! I’m really upset and tell them that I have come all the way
from London,
and no one told me to bring photo ID. The man in the shop grumpily insists that
I was told, everyone is told! He can hire me a basic hardtail but not a £3000 bike!
I go to my car in desperation, hoping that something
might be there, and then I remember! In my bag I have my Cannons Membership
card! I take it triumphantly. “Here, this proves who I am!”
He grudgingly accepts, but wants my credit card, car
keys and tax disc just to be sure!
Well, was it worth it?
Firstly you need to know that the Glentress Red Route (which we opted for)
starts with what seems like an eternal climb. You keep thinking you’ve reach
the top, but there is still more to go. We climbed up and up for what must have
been at least twenty minutes. This is where you really start to feel the weight
of the bike. 30lbs is, no doubt, light for a bike with that amount of travel,
but that’s an extra 4-5lbs on my Garyfisher. On top of that the water we had
was all frozen from leaving in the freezer the night before and was obstinately
refusing to melt.
Keeping hydrated is essential to keeping focused. I
had already suffered a nasty fall and badly scrapped raw the entire lower part
of my left leg. I had to bandage it up, and the ride had barely begun! When we
eventually reached the top the initial descent is a superb combination of berms
and bumps which experts fly over...literally! I was taking it fairly easy, but
some other riders encouraged us to try it again, and described the short cut
back up. We left the water in the sun hoping it would melt, and made our way up
to the top. Things started well. The suspension was soaking up the bumps and
encouraging me to go faster and faster. I took one of the jumps at speed and
took some air. On the landing I made a fatal mistake. I touched the powerful
front break. I realised my mistake, and for a moment thought I was going to
pull through, but it wasn’t to be. Clipped into the pedals I went flying over
the handlebars, crashing onto my head, the bike following me and landing in a
heap in the trail. It was a painful, horrible crash. The bike was fine, but I
was less well off. We managed to ride the rest of the tail. Bilal in all
fairness styled it the whole way down, skidding round the corners and hammering
it on the down hills. He had a few crashes too, and if it wasn’t for my body
armour that I had lent him he would have been more mashed than me.
Our deadline to return was 4pm. We made it with half
an hour to spare.
One of the delights about a hard days riding is how
satisfying a cup of coffee and slice of cake is. It’s one of those times you
really appreciate Allah’s bounties, something that is all too rare in our
luxury lifestyle world when we eat what we want, when we want, and often when
we don’t even want!
Glentress really is a fantastic place to ride. The
trails are amazing; with a specific “beginners” practice area, a freeride park
and huge ridding opportunities and views with stunning scenery.
We returned to Edinburgh and after showers headed to the mosque where I met my old friend Sheikh
Abdurrahma Damishqi who was there to help out for the duration of the
exhibition. We talked a while about all that is happening in the world, but I
was tiered and looking forward to sleep. It was to be an early start the next
morning and I decided to take it easy on the drive down to London. We took the scenic route down the A702 along the Pentland Hills that
revealed from the side of the road more great MTB opportunities. I wondered how
I could get to live in this part of the world!
The further south we headed the hotter it got, and
soon enough we were sweltering. We decided to take a diversion to the sea for a
swim, and ended up heading for Morecambe, a typical run down semi squalid
British seaside resort, which did not seem very inviting. We kept on until we
reached or Haysham, a small and pretty village at the tail end of the town. We
had lunch and headed down to the beach. The tide was out and we had to walk a
fair way just to get to the sea. It was worth it. The water was cool and
refreshing. Bilal was encouraging me to swim more, but the salt was stinging
the cuts and scrapes that covered most of left leg and parts of my arms. I
reminded him that putting salt in wounds was a form of torture!
Overlooking the bay was the ruin of a chapel. It seems, according to the plaque, that it is the ruins of one of oldest churches in the country, and had unique graves dug into the rock.
It’s a reminder to all those involved in Dawa, that this
land was once a pagan country. Christianity was an alien, unknown religion from
a far away place in the Middle East, but the message of Isa (as), albeit somewhat
changed and corrupted, reached these shores, and today its ruler is called the
defender of the faith!
Every drop raises the ocean!
see album for more photos
When you said soon... alhamdullilah. Sounds like you had fun mashallah. But for me, of the sports i've played with, it's gotta be ice skating all the way. Hee hee, love that. BTW, when you are fasting, do you get the giggles? I do lol, ill be all calm and then for some really small reason ill fall into hysterics. I was in tears before over nothing. It usually happens when its nearly time to break my fast, but not today. I could barely contain myself. Ahh, the joys of fasting... :)
ARG comment: That happens sometimes when I'm skiing, especially when people start falling left, right and centre..cracks me up. I used to ice skate alot when I was little, and took the kids last eid...what a laugh!
Posted by: Yahya | Monday, 14 August 2006 at 23:32
Salaam dear brother, now that the Islam Festival Edinburgh is over, I've remembered to check your blog... nice to read your summary. It was really nice to spend the time with you and Bilal.
I have one important correction: it's Greyfriars Bobby, not Blackfriars Bobbit! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby
Posted by: Sohaib | Saturday, 02 September 2006 at 06:51
Assaalamalykum
Great website, jazakAllah khair for the audio download section, i will download all these talks to listen and if you dont mind can i pass them on to my family and friends? inshaAllah will keep making donations aswell
wsalam
H
ARGcomment: May Allah reward you with goodness. Please pass on whatever you feel will be beneficial. There's no copyright on my stuff, so feel free. Will be working on brand new web site for audio/visual soon inshallah, so donations much appreciated!
Posted by: Hasan | Monday, 02 October 2006 at 03:11