Forum Menu - Click/Swipe to open
 

Karguzari (Report) on Islam in Damascus

You have contributed 0.0% of this topic

Thread Tools
Appreciate
Topic Appreciation
ssaad, bint e aisha, seeker123
Rank Image
Muadh_Khan's avatar
Offline
UK
11,537
Brother
112
Muadh_Khan's avatar
#1 [Permalink] Posted on 30th May 2020 12:06
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh

Previous Episodes

  1. 2013: Karguzari (Report) on Islam in Balkans
  2. 2014: Karguzari (Report) on Islam in Sri Lanka
  3. 2016: Karguzari (Report) on Islam in Al-Andalus (Spain + Portugal + Gibraltar)


Connection to Damascus

I also have a spiritual connection to Damascus and also aware the Sayyiduna Isa (AS) will land in Damascus. In addition, my teacher Imam Yusuf (HA) is from Damascus. He is suffering from Parkinson's disease and has lost his memory so I request all to make Dua for him.

His teacher was the foremost Scholar in Damascus in 1960s when Maulana Yusuf Kandhalwi (RA) wrote Hayatus-Sahaba and sent it to him to write the foreword, I have described this story before.

Background

I had no intention or planning to go to Damascus but it happened by accident. During the war on Terror, most airlines had stopped going to Pakistan and the one which did charged a premium.

I was looking for a cheap flight to Karachi and London to Karachi via Damascus was the cheapest ticket. They told me that there may be a few hours stay in Damascus and I will be provided a Hotel in Syria so I booked.

They also said that during the stay the Syrian Government will provide free tour to Damascus while we wait for the flight to Karachi.



What I did not know was that Syrian Airlines (like Iran) to Karachi ends up cancelling and stranding passengers for days!
report post quote code quick quote reply
+1 -0
back to top
Rank Image
Muadh_Khan's avatar
Offline
UK
11,537
Brother
112
Muadh_Khan's avatar
#2 [Permalink] Posted on 30th May 2020 12:21
The Shia Connection

My flight to Karachi was a few days after Hajj. What I did not know is that Shia Hajj is not complete without visit to Iraq (Karbala etc) and Shrine of "Imam" Hussain (Damascus).

When we landed in Damascus, a large number of flights landed in Damascus (from India and Pakistan) and there was total chaos and everything was cancelled.

The Indians and Pakistanees came to visit the Holy places. The British (passengers) were simply going to Karachi and everything on Damascus Airport came to halt due to technical and Administrative issues.

I also learned that Shias deliberately take Syrian airlines to have a stay over on Damascus while I was the only Sunni on the airport. I knew that there may be a temporary stay but didn't know about the Shia connection at all.

I had not told anyone that I was coming to Karachi so nobody was waiting for me so I didn't care. I simply put my feet up and started reading "Lord of the Rings" which I had bought because there was nothing else to do.

There were arguments and fights at the Airport between Passengers and staff to no avail until someone noticed me with my feet up in a chair (totally relaxed) and reading a book.

Almost everyone from London was Pakistani so the 3-4 flight passengers combined and started talking about me and I could hear them. They concluded that I was "ISI"!

They wondered how can someone be so relaxed when stranded on an airport but they didn't dare speak to me so they sent women to speak to me.

In 5 minutes I was surrounded by women all crying and asking for help. There was an Afghani girl (living in Karachi) who was crying because her parents would have been at the Airport (in Karachi) looking for help.

I had no idea that these were Shias and lying to me (as you will discover later).

All these women ganged up on me and they all made me the leader of all the Passengers and demanded that I fix everything.

I went to the Syrian Airlines and by that time they had already arranged for Hotel, buses etc so I didn't have to do anything but I became an instant Hero for rescuing all these passengers.

They had also arranged for Tours to Damascus so I became a "legend"

Syrians had also opened the Hotel and fresh food was ready and served to all the Passengers.

I did absolutely nothing but got all the credit :P


report post quote code quick quote reply
+5 -0Like x 3Winner x 1
back to top
Rank Image
Muadh_Khan's avatar
Offline
UK
11,537
Brother
112
Muadh_Khan's avatar
#3 [Permalink] Posted on 30th May 2020 12:36
Maghrib and Esha

The whole administrative issues took hours to resolve for which I was in hurry. I performed Asar in a corner of the Airport but then found a small prayer area, I immediately realised that the place was catered for Shia.

There were no Hotels close to Damascus Airport at the time so the Bus took a long time to cover a distance of about 40 KMs. Syria is a poor, desolate country with broken infrastructure and I had never seen such poverty and (bad) Road conditions.

I was in a hurry to get to the Hotel to pray Marghib, the other passengers were in absolutely no hurry which intrigued me. This made sense because they were Shia and could combine prayers while I had to pray.

We got to the Hotel, I immediately tried to run to the Hotel room (for Wudhu), again passengers were in no hurry whatsoever for Maghrib.

I read the riot act and forced all of them to pray (not knowing they were Shia) and it was in the Masjid I discovered that they were all Shias.

They had deliberately come to Damascus while I was there by accident. Their travel agencies had deceived them so once they were in Damascus they had no help so they wanted my help to fulfil their religious obligations.

They started crying and making a scene that they had nobody but me they still thought I was Pakistani Army or ISI and I should help.

I point blank refused to be part of any Shia rituals A compromise was reached that no Shia rituals will be performed while I was in charge (they lied again and I believed them) as they said that we are all Muslims and nothing but Qur'aan and Sunnah will be adhered to.

I was fooled again and again by over 50 women crying around me with tears etc. I was deceived so completely and thoroughly and made into a toy by the Shias so completely that its unbelievable.

What could you do if you had over 50 women crying and created a false narrative that they are stranded and need help?
report post quote code quick quote reply
+0 -0Agree x 1
back to top
Rank Image
ssaad's avatar
Offline
India
1,539
Brother
-169
ssaad's avatar
#4 [Permalink] Posted on 30th May 2020 15:35
@Muadh Sab; Jazakallahu khair for sharing this karguzari.

This helps us when we are in similar situation.

What surprised us is that your experience didn't help you in identifying the Taqiyyah.

Eagerly waiting for rest of the karguzari
report post quote code quick quote reply
+2 -0Like x 1Winner x 1
back to top
Rank Image
Muadh_Khan's avatar
Offline
UK
11,537
Brother
112
Muadh_Khan's avatar
#5 [Permalink] Posted on 30th May 2020 16:25
After Esha: First Impressions of Damascus

After settling the Shias and Esha issues (which I led), I decided to sneak out of the Hotel and to get some intelligence on what needs to be done.

Unfortunately, I was caught in the Hotel lobby and 3 Pakistani uncles decided to come with me.

You will be surprised to know that over 60% of the population of Syria is “Sunni” and yet less then 40% Alawai (heretical Shias) dominate the country in each and every aspect. From Hotels, Taxis, Mosques majority Sunees lived a miserable existence.

The Shias routinely bullied the Sunnis and their business OPENLY and BRAZENLY.

The Shia Taxi drivers carried pistols and they were able to get passengers OPENLY from Sunni Taxi drivers and there is nothing anyone can do.

All Foreigners are openly snatched up by Shia Taxi drivers and it is routine.

We were snatched by a Shia Taxi driver (with a Pistol in his Holster) and dropped near the Ummayd Mosque.

The Sunni Taxi drivers just looked on and then drove off.

By this time, much of the indoor Market was closed. I decided to take a walk and we drank some Juice and asked for general information and told everyone we were from Pakistan.

  1. Sunni: The Sunni Arabs loved Pakistan so you got good information and intelligence about Damascus.
  2. Shia: The Shia Arabs didn’t really care much except for money


Syria is an extremely poor country with poor infrastructure and uses Russian technology so nothing really works. Unofficially, the entire country runs on US Dollars and everything is transacted in US Dollars.



After drinking our Pomegranate Juice, we walked through the streets and onto the courtyard of Ummayd Mosque. It is a magnificent structure but you have to think that Sayyiduna Isa (AS) will descend on this Mosque so you cannot but get very emotionally when you look at the Minarets and stand in the Courtyard.







Blessings of Allah Ta'ala

Before going to Syria, I had only known that this is one of the blessed lands on Earth.

Loading Qur'aan Verse

But within a few hours, you realise how everything just tastes infinitely better in Syria. Olive, Figs are served with every meal and easily available. The Syrian Olive are bitter and juice literally flows out of the (dry) Olives and I have never experienced anything like this.



The figs in Syria are sweeter then Honey



The staple drink of Syrians in Pomegranate Juice and I challenge anyone to find Pomegranates which are Juicier and sweeter then Syria. It is common on the sides of the streets in Syria for the vendor to crush ONE Pomegranate and fill an entire BIG glass with Juice. I have never experienced anything like this.



The Masjid was locked so we could not go inside but we had a stroll in the courtyard
report post quote code quick quote reply
+2 -0
back to top
Rank Image
Offline
Unspecified
156
Brother
124
#6 [Permalink] Posted on 31st May 2020 05:16
Is this travelogue of last year??
@colonel_hardstone
report post quote code quick quote reply
No post ratings
back to top
Rank Image
Maripat's avatar
Offline
Gham-o-Huzn
3,269
Brother
3,503
Maripat's avatar
#7 [Permalink] Posted on 2nd June 2020 07:25
I think the Shias took the Colonel for Imam Mehdi AS.
report post quote code quick quote reply
+2 -0Like x 1Agree x 1Creative x 1
back to top